If you've been asking yourself lately what all this fuss about the Chesapeake Bay means to you here in Lower Allen Township, allow me to boil it down to a fairly simple equation.
Gov. Rendell signed a compact committing Pennsylvania to meet nutrient discharge limits for nitrogen and phosphorous by 2010. According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) (Link):
"Nitrogen and phosphorus pollution causes algae blooms that block sunlight to underwater grasses and remove oxygen from the water, creating “dead zones” -- areas of the Bay that have too little oxygen to support a healthy ecosystem. These problems degrade habitat for key plants and animals in the Bay’s ecosystem, including underwater grasses, crabs, rockfish, and oysters."
Nitrogen and phosphorous are discharged into the Bay watershed via point sources and non-point sources. Point sources, like the Lower Allen Township Authority, are licensed, and failure to achieve suitable discharge levels will threaten those licenses. Non-point sources like farms and fields are not similarly regulated.
According to CBF, sewage treatment plants are actually the second leading source of nitrogen pollution discharged into the Bay. From a 2003 study on the CBF's web site (Link) titled "SEWAGE TREATMENT PLANTS: THE CHESAPEAKE BAY WATERSHED’S SECOND LARGEST SOURCE OF NITROGEN POLLUTION":
"Wastewater discharged from sewage treatment plants is the second largest source of nitrogen pollution to the Chesapeake Bay... Agriculture contributes 42% of the nitrogen loading and is the largest source of nitrogen pollution to the Bay. CBF is working on both the voluntary and regulatory fronts to secure the necessary nitrogen reductions from agriculture.
So, you may reason that since agriculture is the largest discharger, it should bear the largest cost burden to improve its systems in order to reduce nitrogen discharge. After all, according to the CBF, we will only achieve 20% of the necessary pollution load reductions by upgrading sewage treatment plants. It seems to make sense that agriculture will bear the brunt of this initiative.
Wrong. It's you and me and our wallets in the crosshairs.
State government is using Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) licensing as its cudgel to compel sewage treatment plants to upgrade in order to meet discharge limits. And that cudgel comes with a hefty cost.
Upper Allen Township has informed its residents of a possible 12% quarterly sewer rate increase due to the Bay strategy. Fairview Township residents may be faced with a 16% increase in the second quarter of this year.
Coupled with pending electric deregulation, the cost of living in Pennsylvania is about to rise even more than it has already thanks to $4 per gallon milk and $3 per gallon gas.
Now, any post on this would be remiss if it didn't mention that State Sen. Pat Vance and State Rep. Jerry Nailor have been vocal opponents of the Bay strategy. They have done everything except deliver the requested state funding necessary for the upgrades, but the dollars won't flow.
As a result, most member municipalities of the Capital Region Council of Governments (Link) have joined in a lawsuit against DEP to halt the implementation of its Bay strategy. LAT and the Authority have both respectfully declined to participate, reasoning instead that the dollars each would spend on legal fees are better spent at home to provide services.
You can argue this one until you're blue in the face, but if you believe the Bay must be saved, then somebody's going to have to foot the bill.
For now, it's up to you and me.
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