Land Use & Environmental Compliance Advocacy News, Opinion, Science & Strategy

NOVEMBER 2014 UPDATE

In September Baltimore County finally directed the owner of the Nottingham Ridge site to halt erosion, but is unclear whether this applied to a couple of acres or all 23 acres of exposed soil on the site.  We are awaiting recent aerial photos to determine the extent of stabilization.

On October 21st Baltimore County Administrative Law Judge John Beverungen ordered Nottingham Ridge to comply with the 2000 Maryland Stormwater Design Manual.  As you will see in the graph below, this provides 70% of the benefits which would result from compliance with Environmental Site Design.

Proposed Development at the Nottingham Ridge Site

Original Article: Nottingham Ridge is an 83-acre Planned Unit Development (PUD) proposed for a site adjoining Whitemarsh Run, in Baltimore County, MD.  The site also drains to the Bird and Gunpowder Rivers, then the Chesapeake Bay.  Presently, two office buildings occupy a small percentage of the site.  A development company is proposing to intensively build-out the site.

Muddy Water Discharged From Nottingham Ridge

The project would needlessly add a tremendous quantity of nutrients and other pollutants to the Gunpowder and Chesapeake Bay.  The site has also been needlessly discharging large amounts of muddy water (like that pictured to the left)  for more than a decade!  Why the emphasis on the word needlessly? Continue reading →

The 4th Street Rain Garden

After 8 Months It’s Finally Restored

The following article was posted last March.  A few weeks ago the 4th Street Rain Garden was finally restored, thanks to the City of Annapolis.  So, one BMP restored; several tens of thousands in the Chesapeake watershed to go.

Restoring the Bay is dependent upon keeping thousands of Best Management Practices (BMPs) working.  The following article illustrates why this task cannot be accomplished without a tremendous increase in public participation.  It shows how even the most dedicated agencies cannot cope with a tremendous workload.  It also shows how even the most Bay-knowledgeable among us are not aware of this need, which speaks loudly to the need for better public education. Continue reading →

Maryland and other Bay jurisdictions now require keeping cattle out of streams.

In the 1970s I had the honor of serving on the Baltimore County Soil Conservation District Board of Supervisors.  I was the “urban” supervisor.  My four fellow Board members were farm owners.  At first our relationship was strained to say the least.  But as I came to understand the difficulties farmers faced and that they cared for land as much as me (perhaps more so), I developed a deep respect for these people and the dedicated, underpaid District employees who support the farming community.

There are 122 Districts throughout the Bay watershed who employ about a thousand people serving on the front lines of the effort to reduce agricultural nutrients and sediment while keeping farms in business.  However, excessive paperwork and a lack of enforcement authority makes the task of convincing farm owners to implement practices challenging, to say the least.  This is particularly true when those practices may not increase farm profits or could even cost the farm owner money.  To learn more about the vitally important work performed by the Districts, the challenges they face in restoring the Bay, and why it is critical that each of us actively support our local District (especially when local budgets are debated)  see: Don’t Fence Me In: The Race to Save Chesapeake Bay.

A few years ago CEDS helped organize a 40-member coalition of local, state and national organizations who had a number of very serious questions about a $1.2 billion, multistate transmission line project known as MAPP (Mid-Atlantic Power Pathway).  This project was mostly about opening up markets in New York and New Jersey to electricity produced by Midwest coal-fired power plants.  Had this and related projects been built it would have increased climate-changing gas emissions, increased electricity costs and arguably made our electric grid more vulnerable to outages.

We thought MAPP was defeated and gone for good in 2012.  However, a recent decision will require electricity customers in Maryland and 12 other states to reimburse PEPCO for $80.5 million in expenses for this failed project.  Also, large tracts of land in Maryland are held in easements obtained to construct the transmission line making it easier for MAPP proponents to resurrect this project in the future.

For further detail see PJM Consumers on the Hook for $80.5M for Failed MAPP Project.

The title slide from the Big Six Pollution Sources training presentation

CEDS has uploaded three narrated presentations to YouTube that would allow both volunteers and watershed organization staff to quickly learn how to:

• Reduce the Impact of the Big Six Pollution Sources in Your Watershed;
• Ensure Stormwater BMPs Provide Maximum Pollution Reduction; and
• Exposed Soil = Pollution: A Better Way to Get the Construction Site Dirt Out. Continue reading →

Well maintained stormwater ponds can be valuable assets to homeowner association members. Photo courtesy of Foster Lake & Pond Management http://www.FosterLake.com

THE PROBLEM:  There may be 100,000 stormwater ponds and other Best Management Practices (BMPs) throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed.  While no one knows for certain, lack of maintenance may have caused a substantial portion to fail.  If this is true then large quantities of pollution are needlessly entering the Bay and her tributary waters.  Most BMPs are privately owned and maintained.  In some jurisdictions a staff of inspectors visit each BMP every three years or so.  These visits help the owner understand the importance of the BMP and maintenance needs.  The owner is then provided with a list of contractors who have the expertise and equipment needed to resolve any maintenance issues.   Most issues are resolved quickly without the need for enforcement action. Continue reading →

Darkest red areas have the most intense development and the most stormwater-polluted waters; yet all could be restored with the stormwater fee.

Though no Maryland home is more than a 15-minute walk from the nearest waterway, the waters closest to 70% of us are unfit for our use due to stormwater pollution and related impacts.  The stormwater fee could restore many of these waters in a few decades.  Imagine, residents of the poorest neighborhoods in Baltimore City, Frederick or College Park being able to wade, fish or swim in neighborhood waters without fear of contracting a disease.  But achieving this and many other benefits depends upon the fee and spending the funds very wisely.  It also depends upon achieving a high level of compliance with Maryland’s new Environmental Site Design (ESD) requirements.  It is for these reasons that the Maryland General Assembly must not rescind the stormwater fee law. Continue reading →

Abandoned gas stations can blight a neighborhood for years

This month marks the 100th anniversary since the first modern gas station opened in the USA.   Today there’s nearly 153,000 stations nationwide, but they’re closing at the alarming rate of 2500 per year!

A substantial number of the closures are due to the proliferation of  the combination gas station, convenience store and even service bays.  These businesses are usually part of regional or national chains which can negotiate unbranded gasoline purchases at a price far lower than independent stations, many of which must purchase branded gas. Continue reading →