Fish frenzy
The Maryland Department of the Environment announced that you can safely eat more Maryland striped bass – and, it seemed, mouths began to water.
“Dig in,” The Baltimore Sun instructed in a front-page headline. Later, an editorial in the same paper welcomed the good news about the delectable “culinary delight.”
It was all in response to revisions to MDE’s fish consumption advisories that showed a healthy diet can include more Maryland striped bass than previously recommended. The revised advisories increase the recommended meal limits for striped bass from Maryland waters for nearly every population. The new recommendations stem from recent test results that showed a significant drop in the levels of contaminants in striped bass.
The Department also unveiled data that suggest that contaminant levels are even lower in fillets prepared, as MDE recommends, without fatty portions of the fish. The Capital posted an online video of MDE’s Charlie Poukish demonstrating how to fillet your fish. WJZ-TV also showed a portion of the demonstration as part of its coverage.
The timely announcement – made in advance of the start of the spring recreational fishing season for striped bass – earned approval from anglers, Chesapeake Bay advocates, and the president of the Maryland Charter Boat Association, The Sun reported.
According to Tony Friedrich, executive director of Coastal Conservation Association Maryland, said it was heartening to hear some good news on bay quality.
“Striped bass are such a significant part of Maryland,” he told the newspaper. “You want to believe that something we are doing is having a positive effect. If this is a positive trend then maybe this could be a template for other things and remind us that it is worth watching what we put in our water.”
Marcellus Shale Executive Order
On June 6, Governor Martin O’Malley issued an Executive Order establishing the Marcellus Shale Safe Drilling Initiative. The Order requires MDE and the Department of Natural Resources, in consultation with an advisory commission made up of a broad array of stakeholders, to undertake a study of drilling for natural gas from the Marcellus Shale in Western Maryland.
“While we are mindful of the potential economic and energy benefits that could arise from the production of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale reserves in Maryland, we are also very concerned about an array of issues that have been raised regarding the use of hydraulic fracturing to extract this fuel,” said Governor O’Malley. “Our decisions must be guided by scientific knowledge about the effects of this type of drilling to ensure that we protect public safety and health, groundwater, surface water, and the rural lifestyle and natural resources in Maryland.”
Opinionmakers applauded the move, with The Capital in Annapolis saying the Governor was taking the right approach and the Carroll County Times calling the Order a "good step in light of concerns that have arisen in nearby states from similar drilling."
Maryland lawmakers this year considered, but did not approve, legislation that would have required MDE and the Department of Natural Resources to conduct a comprehensive, two-year study addressing the risks presented by gas extraction from the Marcellus Shale. The study would have been funded by the industry that would ultimately profit from gas extraction.
Under the Executive Order, the study will be conducted in three parts:
- A presentation of findings and related recommendations
regarding the desirability of legislation to establish revenue
sources, such as a State-level severance tax, and the
desirability of legislation to establish standards of liability
for damages caused by gas exploration and production. These
findings and recommendations will be made by December 31, 2011.
- Recommendations for best practices for all aspects of natural gas exploration and production in the Marcellus Shale in Maryland by August 1, 2012.
- A final report which will include findings and recommendations relating to the impact of Marcellus Shale drilling including possible contamination of groundwater, handling and disposal of wastewater, environmental impacts, impacts to forests and important habitats, greenhouse gas emissions and economic impact. This report will be issued no later than August 1, 2014.
The Study will also include a review of available results from studies on the issue being done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Interior, the U.S. Department of Energy, the State of New York, and the Delaware River Basin Commission, among others.
Earlier, MDE Secretary Robert M. Summers urged the federal government to take a more active role in studying and regulating activities relating to drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale.
Testifying before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, Secretary Summers described Maryland’s experiences and concerns about hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking.” He said Maryland is aware of the potential benefits to the environment and the economy of exploiting natural gas reserves, but added that protecting ground and surface waters remains a paramount concern.
“Having observed events in Pennsylvania during the first few years of Marcellus Shale drilling there, Governor O’Malley, the Department of the Environment, and the Department of Natural Resources are determined to ensure that drilling will not start in Maryland until we know whether, and how, it can be done safely. We are proceeding cautiously and deliberately and do not intend to allow drilling and fracking in the Marcellus Shale until the issues are resolved to our satisfaction,” Secretary Summers told the lawmakers.
In his testimony, he added: “We need the federal government to take a more active role in studying and regulating activities such as deep drilling, horizontal drilling, hydraulic fracturing, and waste disposal."
Sparrows Point study supports need for further cleanup
A new environmental study of an area offshore the Sparrows Point steelmaking property suggests that long-term exposure to contaminated sediments and surface waters there may result in elevated risks to human health. The results of the study, which focused on the waters and sediment offshore the Coke Point area of Sparrows Point, support the need for cleanup measures to address the contamination.
The study was commissioned by the Maryland Port Administration, which is evaluating a portion of the Coke Point peninsula as a potential site for a new Dredged Material Containment Facility. As part of its evaluation, the Port Administration will examine the feasibility of incorporating remedial measures to address offshore contamination at the site in any future design.
Since the entry of a 1997 Consent Decree with Bethlehem Steel Corporation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and MDE have been actively overseeing the ongoing cleanup efforts.
“The completion of this risk assessment is an important step in moving to the next phase of the cleanup work,” said MDE Secretary Robert M. Summers. “It begins to lay the foundation for an expanded assessment of the remaining offshore area, and selection and implementation of remedial measures by the property owners, subject to the approval and oversight of MDE and EPA.”
The potential health risks identified by the study are conservative and long-term in nature -- based on 30 years of exposure over a 70-year lifetime. People who do not fish, crab, or swim regularly in the waters immediately offshore Coke Point have no reasons to be concerned for their health by the findings of the study.
After the release of the study, representatives from MDE and the Port Administration met with the community to discuss the findings and the ongoing cleanup efforts.
Gauging the effects of radiation from Japan
When Maryland air monitors detected trace amounts of radioactivity from the nuclear incident in Japan, MDE along with the Department’s of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH), Agriculture (MDA) and Natural Resources (DNR) and the Maryland Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) jumped into action. Fortunately, to this point, radiation from the incident in Japan has posed no threat to public health in Maryland. The amount of radiation in the air and in rainwater here has been near the lowest levels that can be detected, and within a few weeks after the initial detections in air and rainwater samples, results returned to “background,” or normal, levels. No levels of radiation have been detected in drinking water supplies or in milk from Maryland cows.
DNR’s Power Plant Program collects air and rainwater samples around the two nuclear power plants closest to Maryland, Calvert Cliffs in Calvert County and Peach Bottom in Pennsylvania. Samples are analyzed for radiation levels by the DHMH Laboratories Administration. When elevated radiation levels were observed in air and rainwater samples, MDE worked with local water utilities to quickly collect drinking water samples and MDE radiation experts helped interpret the monitoring results. MDE emergency preparedness officials coordinated the response, which involved multiple State government agencies and private utility companies.
Maryland’s preparedness and training for radiation emergencies is paying off, and the State remains vigilant. After initial monitoring showed trace amounts of radiation, the State’s Ingestion Pathway Committee decided to test rainwater, drinking water, and air at least once a week. In May, after monitoring results of air and rainwater had consistently returned to normal, the Committee suspended the testing of rainwater in Western Maryland and the supplemental testing of drinking water.
Maryland’s Radiation Monitoring and Response Programs are the result of collaboration among several state agencies, including MEMA, MDE, DNR, MDA, and DHMH. Two nuclear facilities – the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant and the Peach Bottom facility – have the potential to affect the health and safety of Maryland residents. The operators of both plants are required to monitor and inspect their facilities, and they are partners in the Maryland plans and in any response to a radiation emergency.
In the unlikely event of a release of radioactive material in amounts greater than normal, MDE has procedures, equipment, and trained personnel to provide radiation survey teams that respond to the affected facility. Those teams provide critical information regarding the location and level of hazards of the radioactive material that is then used by a decision maker, usually the MDE Secretary, for making directives to protect general public. Such decisions – which are made in conjunction with local emergency officials – may include evacuation, sheltering, ingestion of potassium iodide, protection of agriculture items, controlling of roads, airways, and waterways just to name a few. MDE’s Emergency Response Vehicles also have emergency radiation monitoring capabilities.
Tackling toxics
MDE Secretary Robert M. Summers is among a group of environmental leaders from across the country urging Congress to reform a decades-old federal chemical safety law.
Secretary Summers joined environmental officials from California, Illinois, Oregon, Minnesota, and Washington to commend Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., for introducing legislation to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The environmental leaders say TSCA, the primary federal environmental law that regulates the safety of tens of thousands of chemicals used every day, is outdated, ineffective, and in need of an overhaul.
TSCA gives EPA the authority to require reporting, record-keeping, testing, and restrictions relating to the production, importation, use, and disposal of many chemicals. The state leaders say that in the absence of an effective federal law states have provided leadership in the effort to advance sound chemicals management policy. They say that states have increasingly grappled with the unintended consequences of unsafe chemicals in commerce.
“Protecting people and the environment from exposure to toxic chemicals is an important responsibility,” Secretary Summers said. “We need a strong state/federal partnership in this effort. The introduction of the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011 by Senator Lautenberg and his co-sponsors is a big step forward toward that end.”
|
