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Surf’s up
Just in time for summer, WJZ-TV told its viewers that Ocean City, Md., is one of the cleanest beaches in the country. The OC beach was highlighted with a five-star rating in the Natural Resources Defense Council’s annual report on the nation’s beaches. The report discusses the importance of reducing stormwater runoff that can carry pollutants – something that Maryland is already doing with regulations to limit runoff from development and redevelopment and new stormwater permits for the State’s largest jurisdictions.
MDE oversees the beach monitoring program for the state, working with local jurisdictions to sample and monitor water, issue advisories to keep people informed (through the Maryland Healthy Beacheswebsite) and identify pollution sources. Earlier news coverage, including an article in the Washington Post, reported the potential impacts of a proposed cut to federal funding for beach monitoring.
High stakes and fish kills
In late May, fish started dying in Baltimore-area waterways. The fish kill occurred when a massive algae bloom began to die off, robbing creeks and rivers of the dissolved oxygen needed to support aquatic life. WBAL-TV hopped aboard a boat to join MDE biologists assessing conditions in Anne Arundel County’s Marley Creek. When the unpleasant sights and smells threatened to mar the Memorial Day weekend celebration at the Inner Harbor, The Baltimore Sunresponded with a front-page article on how the event illustrated the importance of restoring the Chesapeake Bay and local waterways.
The Sun then followed up with an editorial explaining the link between clean water and the Bay’s enormous value “in plain old dollars and cents.” The editorial concluded: “If it takes a fish kill to remind people of that fact, then those thousands of creatures will not have died in vain. Restoration of the Chesapeake Bay is still possible, but what must be accomplished is neither simpler nor cheap. It first requires people to appreciate how much is at stake — and how much worse its circumstances could become.
Air time
As the summer heated up, MDE’s Tad Aburn appeared on WYPR-FM’s Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast to talk about air quality. Aburn, who is director of MDE’s Air and Radiation Management Administration, explained how ground-level ozone, or smog, can form on summer days. He also explained that while there have been a number of bad air days during this summer’s heat waves, the overall quality of Maryland’s air has increased in recent years thanks to such programs as the Maryland Healthy Air Act. A big part of the problem, he added, is pollution that blows into Maryland from other states. Maryland is working toward tougher regional and federal standards for air pollution.
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