Bay Daily

More Toxic Gas from ODEC

A spokesman for Old Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) had some curious things to say in an op-ed this week in the (Norfolk) Virginian-Pilot newspaper.

Readers will recall that ODEC is proposing to build a $6 billion coal-fired power plant in Surry County, Va. If built as proposed, the plant would be the largest coal-fired power plant in Virginia and, by ODEC’s own accounts, emit millions of pounds of nitrogen oxides (smog-causing chemicals) and carbon dioxide (a major greenhouse gas), as well as soot, mercury, lead, benzene, and other toxic air pollutants.

Because they are concerned this pollution poses significant risks to human health, the environment, and the economy, numerous local health organizations, environmental groups, nearby localities, and hundreds of local citizens oppose the plant or have expressed serious concern about its likely impacts on the Hampton Roads region.

David Hudgins, ODEC’s director of member and external relations, wrote in the newspaper that such concerns amount to “fear-mongering promulgated by environmental organizations and financed in part by energy competitors who claim, as a Virginian-Pilot editorial did, that coal ‘would pollute the air and water, sicken children and the elderly and worsen air quality problems.’”

Tiny Fish Swimming Toward Big Court Battle?

Is the battle over the “most important fish in the sea” headed to court?

Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler has said he may take legal actions to push an Atlantic states regional fisheries management commission to create more protections for menhaden. These are small, oily fish that were called the “most important” fish by author H. Bruce Franklin because they feed so many other species of fish and filter the Chesapeake Bay and other waterways.

“In an ongoing effort to combat further environmental and economic damage to the Chesapeake Bay from the historic decline of Atlantic menhaden, Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler…asked the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission (ASMFC) -- the interstate body tasked with managing menhaden - to move quickly and adopt stronger menhaden protections,” according to a press release on Gansler’s website.

"’The ASMFC must rise to its responsibility and protect the Atlantic menhaden,’" Gansler said in the release.

"True Blue" Crab Program Seeks to Stop Seafood Shell Game

This weekend, Maryland officials are launching a new program that will help consumers know whether restaurants that sell “Maryland-style” crab cakes are actually selling crab from the Chesapeake Bay, or imported meat from Asia.

So far, 40 restaurants have signed up for the voluntary “True Blue” program being run by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.  Participating businesses can display an official “true blue” crab logo with a Maryland state flag image on their menus if they agree to occasional inspections, according to Stephen Vilnit, Director of Fisheries Marketing for the state agency.

“What we are going to do is follow up behind the restaurants and we are asking for them to show us invoices every now and then to prove that they actually are using Maryland crab meat, if they are going to be part of this program,” Vilnit said.

Vilnit recently visited one of the first restaurants to sign up for certification: The VIN 909 Wine Cafe, at 909 Bay Ridge Avenue in Annapolis.   There, Justin Moore, one of the owners (shown in the picture at top), prepared one of his specialties: a blue crab roll on brioche with creamy shellfish bisque.

Water Trails, Hydro-Fracking, and Bay Grasses

New National Water Trails Connect to Bay
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar designated four new national water trails this week, all in the Chesapeake Bay watershed and each connecting the existing Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail to additional natural, cultural, and historic sites.

The newly designated trails include:

• The Susquehanna River, a 552-mile system of water trails along the main stem and West Branch of the Susquehanna River in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York. The southern end of this trail links directly with the John Smith National Historic Trail at Conowingo, Md.
 
• The Chester River, a 46-mile system that connects to the John Smith Trail at its mouth just south of Rock Hall, Md.
 
• The Upper Nanticoke River, an existing state water trail of approximately 23 miles that links directly with the John Smith Trail.
 
• The Upper James River, a 220-mile water trail that crosses nine counties and connects to the John Smith Historic Trail at the fall line of the James in Richmond, Va.

Name the Critter Contest

Gaze into the waters of the Chesapeake Bay, and behold this...monster from Mars? What the heck is this? The first reader to correctly identify this Bay critter will win a free Chesapeake Bay Foundation t-shirt. Enter your guesses as comments below. Ready, set, go! 

UPDATE: It is a Mantis Shrimp, or Squilla Empusa, and the winner is Jenny Bahr.  Congrats to Jenny, and thanks to everyone for playing.

 

Pollution Is Now Driving Evolution

A water snake slides into the reeds under the hanging branches of a sweetgum tree.  Rotting logs lie half submerged in Blackwalnut Creek, a Chesapeake Bay tributary south of Annapolis.   And in the water around the logs dart little fish.
 
The striped Atlantic killifish –- also known as mummichogs -- swarm in brackish water up and down the East Coast. They are as common as pebbles, but also extraordinary.
 
Scientific research, explained in toxicologist Dr. Emily Monosson's fascinating and meticulous new book, Evolution in a Toxic World, suggests that toxic chemicals like PCB’s and dioxins that poison other species do not kill killifish, which have developed resistances to these deadly chemicals.  Killifish are an example of how pollution is driving evolution.
 
This may be surprising to some people, who thought evolution was something that progressed gradually, over thousands or millions of years. But as it turns out, some species adapt their DNA rapidly, sometimes in just a few years, when threatened with chemical annihilation, Dr.  Monosson writes in her book, published last month by Island Press.  Other species do not, and some die.

Potomac Listed as "Most Endangered" River

American Rivers has listed the Potomac as “America’s No. 1 Most Endangered River for 2012” in its annual listing of waterways faced by threats.
 
“While the Potomac River is cleaner than it used to be, pollution is still a serious problem -– and it could get much worse if Congress rolls back critical clean water safeguards,” the environmental group wrote on its website.  “As we commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Clean Water Act this year, the Potomac -– known as ‘the nation’s river’ as it flows by the capital -- is emblematic of what’s at stake for rivers nationwide.”
 
In December 2010, EPA created pollution limits (called the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load) to force a roughly 25 percent reduction in nitrogen, phosphorus, and sediment pollution pouring into the Bay by 2025.  The Bay area states drew up plans to meet those limits.  But the American Farm Bureau, The Fertilizer Institute, National Homebuilders Association and other special interest groups have sued to overturn these pollution limits.  And their allies in the U.S. House of Representatives have been seeking legislation to weaken EPA and clean water protections.

Bay Money in Virginia Budget

Virginia is well on the way to approving critically needed funding for Chesapeake Bay restoration.

Late last week, Gov. Bob McDonnell released his proposed amendments to Virginia’s new two-year budget adopted earlier by the Virginia General Assembly. This was the next step in approving a budget that includes $87.6 million to help Virginia localities pay for upgrades to their sewage treatment plants, among the larger sources of pollution plaguing the Bay.

While the Assembly will have the last word on the governor’s amendments, it’s likely the Bay funding will remain intact. That’s very important for the Bay, local rivers, and local governments.

Carbon Dioxide Pollution Bulks Up Blue Crabs

Acidification of the world’s oceans by carbon dioxide pollution could destabilize an age-old evolutionary arms race between predators and prey. Blue crabs could grow larger, while they creatures they eat, including oysters and clams, could have weaker shells and slower shell growth, according to Dr.Justin Ries, a marine geologist at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

“One of the oldest predator/ prey relationships in the ocean is between shell crushers and shell builders --for example, between lobsters and crabs, and their prey, clams, oysters, and mussels,” said Ries, author of reports on the impact of acidification on marine life.

“My experiment suggests that the predators are going to become stronger from the C02 based ocean acidification…while the prey become weaker,” Ries said in a recent interview.

The background is this: The world’s oceans are changing, with waters today about 30 percent more acidic than they were two centuries ago, before the Industrial Revolution, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Scientists say this is because the burning of coal, oil, and gas released a huge amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere that was absorbed by the water.

The Economic Case for Cleaning Up the Chesapeake Bay

Why invest in pollution reduction projects to meet new EPA pollution limits for the Chesapeake Bay?  Because it is essential for our region’s economy, as well as the Bay’s ecology. 

Here are some facts about the economic value of the Chesapeake Bay and cleanup projects that you might not know:

• The commercial seafood industry in Maryland and Virginia contributes more than $3 billion in a year in sales, $890 million in income, and almost 34,000 jobs to the local economy.