EPA KILLS CHESAPEAKE

Positive Growth Alliance members and interested parties:

We urge you to study the picture of the Chesapeake Bay in this message to see how EPA neglect is likely killing the Bay as we speak. Torrential rains caused by Hurricane Irene a few days ago caused historic flooding in Pennsylvania. Now the mud, silt, and phosphorus is descending from the Susquehanna River (top of the picture) in a deadly plume that will likely smother bay grasses, oyster beds, and other delicate habitat for years to come.

SEE THE LATEST PICTURES OF THE MOVEMENT OF THE SILT SMOTHERING THE BAY (choose a date, then click on "view selected")
http://mddnr.chesapeakebay.net/eyesonthebay/satellite_result.cfm#picview

Was this just a tragic accident with natural causes? NO!!!

Read this article that describes exactly what happened in 1972 as a result of Tropical Storm Agnes. To summarize, Agnes washed countless tons of silt through the flood gates of Conawingo Dam that smothered much of the bay. The article below describes why a comparable storm today would be much worse because the Conawingo dam silt trap is almost full.

QUOTE FROM THE ARTICLE
A filled reservoir also poses a greater threat to the Upper Bay in the event of another storm like Hurricane Agnes, which in 1972 scoured huge amounts of sediment from behind the dam and smothered much of the Upper Bay in several inches of sediment, obliterating underwater grass beds and other habitats.
A similar storm today would flush even more material downstream because of the additional sediment buildup.

http://www.bayjournal.com/article.cfm?article=3650

WHY EPA IS TO BLAME!!
About two years ago, EPA sent incredibly threatening letters to the six states that drain into the bay. (Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, and West Virginia) These letters told them in no uncertain terms that there would be draconian punishment for any state that dared to ignore the new mandates contained in their Chesapeake Bay Initiative, supposedly to clean up the bay.

Maryland and Delaware both immediately kneeled to kiss the EPA ring. As best we can tell, both states' Natural Resource Departments (DNREC in Delaware) seemingly offered to do anything EPA wanted, regardless of how much harm it would cause the citizens of their two states. Here's an article that estimates that it will cost the citizens of Maryland alone somewhere between $15 and $30 billion to comply.

http://www.bayjournal.com/article.cfm?article=3816

We say "supposedly to clean up the bay," because EPA knew the measures it was forcing on the states would be totally overwhelmed by one major storm washing the silt from the almost full trap behind Conawingo Dam. Their Chesapeake Bay Initiative, by contrast, consists of a whole series of measures, many of which we predict will never show any measurable benefit despite absurd costs. In our opinion, EPA's real motive is control, not cleanup!

In fact, just a few weeks ago, in a meeting with EPA, we asked them what they intended to do about the Conawingo trap. Their answer was that they were "starting" to work on a solution. Now, it's almost surely too late. It will take time to evaluate exactly how much damage has been done, but we predict that any possible environmental benefit that might have been created by the Chesapeake Bay Initiative has been more than overwhelmed.

No doubt EPA's response will be that the Conawingo Dam silt reservoir is the responsibility of the Army Corps of Engineers. That may be the case, but EPA is the prime environmental protector in our country. They should have done whatever it takes to resolve the politics of this problem and get the job done.

To ignore the "ticking time bomb" of the Conawingo reservoir while foisting a travesty like the Chesapeake Bay Iniative on states in a possible depression is an example of "government gone wild." We will either elect politicians who will clean up the EPA bureaucracy in the next election or Americans will reap the whirlwind of lost freedoms and a destroyed economy, not to mention a devastated Chesapeake Bay.

Also, as you study the picture, notice how little sediment is coming down the Nanticoke River from Delaware. Overwhelmingly, most of it is coming from the Susquehanna River through the Conawingo Dam.