Chesapeake Bay Foundation settles lawsuit

ANNAPOLIS | The Chesapeake Bay Foundation on Tuesday announced the settlement of its lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency, a day before the federal agency is to announce a major cleanup strategy mandated by a presidential executive order.

Foundation President Will Baker predicted the settlement would lead to pollution reductions in the nation’s largest estuary “and if it doesn’t the Chesapeake Bay Foundation will be back in court.”

An EPA official attending the environmental group’s announcement in Annapolis said the agency shared the foundation’s goals and commitment to Bay restoration. “That’s the key point, moving on to getting this work done,” EPA Deputy Administrator Bob Perciasepe said.

The foundation sued the federal agency over what it called the slow pace of cleanup efforts. But it said it put the suit on hold while the EPA developed a restoration strategy.

The foundation said that unlike previous agreements, the settlement is a legally enforceable commitment that requires EPA to take specific actions to cut Bay pollution.

Retired Maryland Sen. Bernie Fowler, who has worked for decades on Bay restoration efforts, said the settlement was a firm agreement that would be difficult to renege on.

West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and New York are all at least partly in the Bay’s watershed along with Maryland and Virginia. Pollution that flows into many of their rivers and streams makes its way to the Chesapeake and two top problems are nitrogen and phosphorous that fuel oxygen-robbing algae blooms, along with sediment runoff that kills vital underwater grasses.

While much effort has been focused on reducing nutrient runoff from farms and animal feeding operations, EPA officials have said the only source still growing is suburban and urban runoff from lawns, roads, rooftops and other surfaces.

Experts also say yearly weather affects how much pollution washes into the Bay.

President Obama’s executive order last year put the federal government at the helm of efforts previously led by the states, establishing an EPA-supervised Federal Leadership Committee to oversee restoration programs. He also ordered the EPA to research its authority under the Clean Water Act to restore the estuary.

The strategy mandated by the executive order is to be released Wednesday in Washington, a year to the day after the order was issued. The EPA has said it will put the Bay on a “pollution diet” that will require limits in specific areas.