EPA direction sought

EPA direction sought

What direction do you think the EPA Chesapeake Bay Program should take in 1979? The joint Committee on Appropriations has approved 94.9 million for the Chesapeake Bay Program. How do you think this money should be spent by EPA in its efforts to solve Chesapeake Bay Program environmental problems? Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and the Environmental Protection Agency have initiated cooperative effort to find major Bay-wide environmental problems in the Chesapeake and to formulate strategies for solving those problems. In the first two years of the program, working arrangements among the participants have been solidified, an initial list of problems defined, work plans for the top priority studies developed and $7,624,790 million in research grants and contracts awarded. Research institutions are investigating the decline of submerged Bay grasses, the accumulation of toxics in the food chain and eutrophication (the effects of excessive nutrients). What has been achieved to date has resulted from the efforts of four working committees composed of EPA staff, state representatives and the public. These work groups developed plans for each problem area and are reviewing the progress of ongoing research. They have outlined what they see as the priorities for 1979. The ten major problem areas defined by EPA, the states, the scientific community and the public are 1) Toxic accumulation in the food chain; 2) Eutrophication; 3) Submerged aquatic vegetation; 4) Dredging and spoil disposal; 5) Shellfish bed closures; 6) Fisheries modification; 7) Hydrologic modification; 8) Wetlands alteration ; 9) Effects of boating and shipping; and 10) Shoreline erosion. The first three were tackled during 1978. The group which developed the scope of work for the toxics study outlined a course of action which will provide information on where toxic substances come from, how they travel in water and what effects they have mi the Bay and its biota. This work is underway now, with the funding of a number of two-year studies on toxics. An important area which current work does not adequately address is where do toxic substances come from? The work group has recommended that this be a priority item for 1979. Submerged aquatic vegetation is being investigated through a number of grants. Many of these studies are two-year efforts also and will yield information on grasses, their role in the Bay and what causes them to die. The work group believes that the work underway will provide answers to most of the pressing issues. Questions not fully addressed by the current research include the effects of turbidity and chemical herbicides on submerged grasses. The eutrophication group designed a plan which includes the development of mathematical models, as well as intensive non-point source pollution studies in selected watersheds around the Bay. The work group has recommended funding the development of the mathematical models as a top priority for 1979. Unlike the hydraulic model of the Bay built by the Corps of Engineers, mathematical models are computer tools which can describe a number of natural processes in the Bay which the hydraulic model cannot. The EPA models will be developed using data generated by the Corps model. The management work group has developed a scope of work for reviewing and evaluating the management of the Chesapeake vis a vis the three problems being

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