West Virginia Blue
The Best Blogging Community in West Virginia Democratic politics, progressive policies, the good life and free living in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia.
UPDATE: On Wednesday the WaPo article outlines the executive order to get the EPA involved in the health of the estuary. Seems that the governors had been setting 10 year goals, so if they were not met, they suffered no political consequences. It is sad that the Gov. Manchin's name is not mentioned in the article, and the 2010 goals set in 2000 are no where close to being met.
The new nitrogen goal is 68 million pounds per year higher than the old 2010 target. The new phosphorus milestone is 3.8 million pounds higher than what was projected for 2010.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some of us are in the Chesapeake Bay water shed and some are not. I think there is something more to this story. There are more ties to the Bay than just the Forks of the Potomac.
CHARLES TOWN - Environmentalists are applauding the veto of a bill that would have enabled existing sewage treatment plants to delay compliance with Chesapeake Bay discharge requirements.
"We're happy. We think it's wonderful," said John Christensen, a member of the West Virginia Environmental Council's lobbying team.
Berkeley County Planning Commission has thousands of outstanding approved building permits. The recent North Berkeley Waste Water Treatment Plant, USDA Rural Development funds used, was built with this future capacity need in mind. Existing homes along planned sewer lines were required to hook on to the new system. Waivers were given to small trailer parks, which makes you wonder where the faith in their private systems is rooted.
When you drive to Morgantown from Jefferson County you pass over the Eastern Continental Divide.
It's a possibility in which Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley, said he is interested. While he backed many components of the legislation, he said he did not support the delay provision. He said he is still interested in seeing the state create a means to finance the millions of dollars in plant upgrades that will be needed in the local area.
"The entire burden should not rest on just the residents of the Eastern Panhandle," he said.
The bill's lead sponsor, Sen. Herb Snyder, D-Jefferson, said the bill could be addressed when lawmakers return to the capital in the coming weeks.
The Bay has long been a source of wealth. In general, trading was between the interior and the Atlantic Indians was established before Columbus. Copper and flint was traded for shark teeth and pearls.
We learned five years ago that the reduction of nitrogen and phosphorus in the Bay were based on a faulty computer model, as pressure to save the North America's largest estuary mounted in 1987.
Many in the Charleston area with the means vacation on the Virgina side of the Bay. Having Maryland lump crab cakes and wild Chesapeake Rockfish on the menu seems to be something that comes all the way out to Sam Snead's and the Greenbrier.
Virginia studied replacing the native oyster population with a non-native trial project. Think what you want of the "benefits" of eating oysters, they are the natural filters that the Bay has been missing. It is hard to connect the extra runoff here from paving over paradise to this problem in the Commonwealth.
Sen. Unger comments leads me to wonder if this will be seen as a problem for residential customers only. The utility providers in Jefferson County implicate the Snyder family in water utility business. No one is talking about the obvious, to me at least, industrial "component", the poultry industry, with all the complications and politics this brings. It has been ten years since Ken Ward, Jr.'s looked into this, and with the faults found in the way success has been measured, I wonder if it is time to look again.
"We're happy. We think it's wonderful," said John Christensen, a member of the West Virginia Environmental Council's lobbying team.
We know that the Eastern Panhandle was shorted Senators in the Legislature after the 2002 census. So right now we have two less voices speaking up for us and the Bay. Issues like this add to the interest we should take in the results of the 2010 census and redistricting.
Copyright 2011 West Virginia Blue
Site content may be used for any purpose without explicit permission unless otherwise specified.
This site exists thanks to financial support from BlogPAC, dedicated volunteers and participation by members of this community. The views expressed at West Virginia Blue belong solely to their respective authors.
