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Is Pennsylvania the ‘broken’ link when it comes to curbing water pollution?

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A field of corn is seen on a farm, Wednesday, July 11, 2018, Lancaster County, Pa. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

(Harrisburg) — For years, Pennsylvania failed to meet federal mandates to clean up the waterways that feed into the Chesapeake Bay — and also serve as sources of local drinking water and recreation.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other watchdogs have issued failing grades, threatening letters and even withheld millions of dollars in federal grants to spur the state to action.

This week, the nonprofit Chesapeake Bay Foundation minced no words in releasing its report on a multi-state pact to control pollution running into the estuary.

“A chain is only as strong as its weakest link, and that is also true for the partnership working to restore water quality across the region,” President William C. Baker said. “Today, unfortunately, Pennsylvania’s link is not only weak, it is broken.”

In its the report, the nonprofit that tracks pollution into the bay argued that Pennsylvania has lagged Maryland and Virginia in addressing agricultural and stormwater runoff. It also criticized Pennsylvania’s new plan to reduce pollution by 2025.

The state Department of Environmental Protection admitted in its own draft plan that it didn’t have the money to follow through with a 67 percent reduction of nitrogen flowing into local waterways.

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The Susquehanna River.

“Total investment needed to achieve the 2025 goals is estimated to be $485 million per year — an annual gap of $257 million,” the DEP report read.

According to that report, the DEP currently has about 32 staff members involved in programs that curb runoff into the vast estuary that drains into the Chesapeake Bay. It would need to increase that number to 80 in order to meet the goals of the plan.

This is hardly a new problem for the state agency tasked with protecting the environment and public health. A succession of budget cuts over more than a decade left the DEP short staffed everywhere. PennLive has reported extensively on shortcomings in the agency’s drinking water and oil and gas programs.

Last year, the agency turned to fee increases on drinking water utilities in an effort to boost staffing of inspectors. A similar proposal that would help it hire additional biologists to tackle water pollution faced recent opposition in the Legislature.

DEP spokeswoman Elizabeth Rementer said Wednesday the agency does not believe the report accurately describes the state’s plans with regard to the Chesapeake Bay program.

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FILE PHOTO: A farmer cuts a field as a horse-drawn cart heads down a county road in Lancaster County. (Matt Slocum/The Associated Press)

“While Pennsylvania only quantified practices that achieve 67 [percent] of the nitrogen required, that is not the entirety of the reductions described in the plan,” she said, in a written statement. “Our plan is grounded in reality and was developed with unprecedented stakeholder engagement and buy-in.”

Rementer did not respond to questions about funding the draft plan but said the DEP “will continue those efforts despite the lack of support from the Foundation or the federal government.”

Earlier this month, state Environmental Secretary Patrick McDonnell joined 19 attorneys general from across the country in signing a letter urging Congressional leaders to increase funding for the EPA, which in turn passes funding down to the states.

Congress’ proposed budget, the letter argued, would cut the EPA’s budget by $2.8 billion — 31 percent — and undermine environmental and health protections in the process. That includes $1.4 billion in funding for states and Native American tribes across the country.

The DEP’s Chesapeake Bay plan emphasizes the need for additional federal funding and cooperation to achieve its pollution reduction goals.

“I know all about Pennsylvania’s budget woes and the difficulty in putting forth funds — but it’s a matter of choice,” said Bill Chain, the CBF’s agricultural program manager in Pennsylvania.

Chain pointed to Virginia’s cost-share program, which helps farmers pay for conservation measures to curb runoff of manure and other pollutants, as one example of a successful state-run program Pennsylvania could emulate.

“We have to reckon with the importance of our environment,” he said. “Farmers aren’t going to be able to do this all on their own. It’s a public good.”

Pennsylvania’s DEP may be feeling the pinch — stuck between federal budget cuts and regulation-averse state politicians — but Chain said that’s when it needs to get creative. That could involve tax incentives or public-private partnerships, he said.

Chain said the state has laid out a plan to reduce pollution but it stopped short of explaining how it’ll get there with the current funding gap.

“We’d be happy to sit down around the table to help the state figure out how to do that,” he said.

You can read the DEP’s draft plan here. You can comment on the plan through June 7.

 

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