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For Immediate Release
May 21, 2009
Contact: Nathan Flood
717-787-4420
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Brubaker, Local Leaders Meet With EPA, DEP to Discuss Chesapeake Bay Cleanup
HARRISBURG - Sen. Mike Brubaker (R-36) and members of the
Chesapeake Bay Tributary Strategy Task Force met with state and federal
environmental officials today to discuss cleanup goals for the Chesapeake Bay.
Brubaker met with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) Water Protection Division Associate Director Bob Koroncai, Pennsylvania
Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Chesapeake Bay Program Coordinator
Patricia Buckley, DEP Water Planning Office Acting Director Andy Zemba and DEP
Program Analyst Ann Smith to discuss Lancaster County’s role in reducing the
amount of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment that pollutes the Chesapeake Bay.
“I am thankful that state and federal government officials
are taking the time to address our concerns and consider our suggestions about
cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay, and I look forward to continuing to work with
these agencies and the Task Force to improve the health and vitality of these
waterways,” Brubaker said.
The EPA recently announced that more frequent evaluation
periods would be established for pollution reduction, changing from 10-year
assessments to two-year assessments. The Chesapeake Bay Commission will seek to
reduce nitrogen pollution by 7.3 million pounds and phosphorus pollution by
300,000 pounds by the end of the first assessment period in 2011.
The DEP and EPA will hold a series of public meetings
throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed area this fall to draft Total Maximum
Daily Load (TMDL) limits on pollution. The EPA and DEP will begin working on a
new implementation plan to help meet these goals, and the agencies expect to
have a draft of the TMDL requirements this spring.
As a result of the meeting, the EPA also agreed to develop
a new cleanup model that recognizes the impact of legacy sediment, the thick
layers of sediment that resulted from past land use and dams.
“Legacy sediment is a major contributor to pollution in the
Bay and should be an important factor in dealing with cleanup efforts,” Brubaker
said.
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