On Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:12:09 -0500, wrote:

On Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:55:43 -0500, John H
wrote:

http://www.mde.state.md.us/assets/do...als_Per _Year

Wow, that sure doesn't speak highly of Maryland's waterways. I'll probably stick
to store-bought, farm-raised, which are probably worse.
--

The Potomac river and south bay are also Virginia waters but it is
pretty dismal all around. The real question is where are all of the
PCBs coming from? Baltimore seems to be ground zero based on the
"avoid" areas. That is usually industrial pollution. It has been clear
for a long time that we can't use our waterways as chemical dumps and
sewers but the people just won't stop. When I was up there, oil
pollution was a big concern and they blamed most of on people flushing
motor oil down the toilet or dumping it in a storm drain. I think they
now have a law that any place that sells oil has to also recycle old
oil. People really have to treat waterways a little better or we won't
have water to drink and a seafood industry.. That is one reason why I
got involved with the water quality program here.

If you take a boat up the Potomac, and vere right at the Anacostia River, you
can immediately see where a lot of the crap in the Potomac originates. It is
like a sewer up the Anacostia, with some garbage floating in the water about
every five feet. It's definitely a mess. Not to say it all comes from there, but
a hell of a lot does.

North of Baltimore is the Susquehanna. It gets blamed for a lot of the problems
in the Chesapeake. Pennsylvania seems not to care too much about the Chesapeake.

"The environmental group American Rivers named the Susquehanna "America's Most
Endangered River for 2005" due to the excessive pollution it receives. Most of
the pollution in the river is due to excess animal manure from farming,
agricultural runoff, urban and suburban stormwater runoff, and raw or
inadequately treated sewage. In 2003 the river alone contributed 44% of the
nitrogen, 21% of the phosphorus, and 21% of the sediment flowing into the
Chesapeake Bay. Pennsylvania may be subject to EPA sanctions if it does not
reduce its pollution in the watershed by 2010.[3] It was designated as one of
the American Heritage Rivers in 1997.[4] The designation provides for technical
assistance from federal agencies to state and local governments working in the
Susquehanna watershed."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susqueh...iver#Pollution
--

John H