Despite efforts to reduce overall discharges in D.C., Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and other bay states, significant violations added nearly 700,000 pounds of additional nitrogen to the bay in 2012.
January 9, 2014
Efforts to reduce Chesapeake Bay nitrogen pollution from industrial and municipal sources continued to make progress in key Bay states in 2012, according to researchers at the Environmental Integrity Project (EIP). Nitrogen discharges from point sources dropped significantly in Virginia, the District of Columbia, West Virginia and Pennsylvania between 2011 and 2012, while Maryland, Delaware, and New York actually increased nitrogen pollution. Unfortunately, progress is slowed due to illegal discharges continuing at a regular pace across the Bay watershed. EIP announced today newly compiled data for the entire year of 2012, serving as an update to its December 2012 report, which examined 2011 nitrogen and phosphorus loadings from industrial and municipal facilities as a major source of Chesapeake Bay pollution.
For the report, click here.
For the press release, click here.
