Like many of you, we seek a future where the Potomac River is swimmable and our fish are healthy. Unfortunately, a bill introduced by Representatives Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) and Tim Holden (D-PA) would effectively block us from reaching that visionary future by rolling back protections made under the Clean Water Act for the Chesapeake Bay, and by extension, our precious Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers.

Chesapeake WATERKEEPER® ALLIANCE programs react strongly to Maryland Department of the Environment’s (MDE) use of the Chesapeake Bay (CB) Model in a widespread, proposed reclassification of 139 water segments in 49 watersheds currently on the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) 303(d) Impaired Waterways List.

Why has the long effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay failed? Initiatives to fix the Bay date back to at least the mid-1960s, before the passage of the Clean Water Act. The Bay has now seen four “landmark agreements” passed to great fanfare from politicians and environmentalists alike – the 1983 and 1987 Chesapeake Bay Agreements, Chesapeake 2000, and recently the Chesapeake Bay Executive Order, all leading to the Chesapeake Bay TMDL.

Potomac Riverkeeper, Inc. called on Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell to either get serious about Virginia's growing list of polluted waters, or else face outside regulation from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

"A Virginia problem deserves a Virginia solution," Jeff Kelble says, "but Virginia residents are demanding results either way. It's time to fix this problem."

Kelble is the Shenandoah Riverkeeper, which is a part of Potomac Riverkeeper, Inc.

Taking on import of sewage sludge and the threat of fracking in the Shenandoah. Time for action with the Bay TMDL. Taking action against Ox Paperboard.. Read the newsletter =>

WATERKEEPERS PETITION EPA TO PROTECT MARYLAND WATERWAYS
Environmental Groups Ask Federal Agency to Oversee Clean Water Act in the State

Baltimore, MD  --  December 7, 2009 – Waterkeepers Chesapeake of Maryland and Waterkeeper Alliance (collectively “Waterkeepers”) today filed a detailed, 58 page petition seeking major changes in the way Maryland operates and enforces the Clean Water Act in order to better protect the Chesapeake Bay.  

Submitting public comments on Virginia's poultry litter regulations, clean up at Poplar Point (DC), Maryland improves construction sites, Bay TMDL and Choose Clean Water Coalition, Potomac River Gala thank yous. Read the newsletter =>

Virginia and Maryland general construction permits, Maryland's poultry farm nutrient management plans open to the public, challenging DC's TMDL, success at Seneca Creek with clean up and monitoring, information on coal, lead in DC's water. Read the newsletter =>