Road Map Shows How to Tackle Nitrogen Pollution
A new study provides a road map for cities and towns in the Great Bay watershed to tackle nitrogen pollution and improve the health of the estuary.
A new study provides a road map for cities and towns in the Great Bay watershed to tackle nitrogen pollution and improve the health of the estuary.
“Nitrogen pollution is wreaking havoc on the Cape’s bays, beaches, and economy,” said Christopher Kilian, Vice President of Strategic Litigation at CLF. “These waters belong to all of us, and large sources must do their part to protect these precious resources. This proposed settlement will lead to a cleaner Wychmere Harbor and we’re happy to be working together with the resort to reach that goal.”
“The Seacoast’s beautiful rivers and bays are in danger,” said Melissa Paly, Great Bay-Piscataqua Waterkeeper at CLF. “Under the surface, we’re losing the meadows of seagrasses that support the fish, shellfish, and wildlife that call the waters home. Towns have made progress reducing nitrogen, but we need to get much more serious about curbing the nitrogen that flows into our waters from septic systems and stormwater every time it rains. This report gives us a path to reach that goal.”
“With the nation’s landmark clean water protections in peril, the Supreme Court made the right call today,” said Heather Govern, Director of CLF’s Clean Air and Water program. “The Trump Administration attempted to open a serious loophole in the Clean Water Act and was roundly rejected. This decision will prevent pollution and help repair the rivers, streams, and marine waters throughout New England that so many of us depend on.”
“This rule green-lights the dumping of pesticides and toxic chemicals into our waters,” says Heather Govern, director of the Conservation Law Foundation’s clean air and water program. “Drinking water in New England is threatened by rule changes like this, because you just won’t have those same protections for smaller streams.”
Nitrogen pollution is one of the biggest threats to the Great Bay estuary. A new, comprehensive “Nitrogen General Permit” could help cut that pollution in half.
“Pollution is killing the Cape bays and beaches that resorts like Wychmere depend on,” said Chris Kilian, Vice President of Strategic Litigation at CLF. “Instead of wasting everyone’s time and expense seeking to justify continued pollution, the resort should clean up the mess it has created in Wychmere Harbor. CLF will continue this fight against the destruction of Cape waters that belong to all of us.”
“An increase in rain and snow is not an emergency,” said Jen Duggan Vice President and Director of CLF Vermont. “Vermont is a wet state and it is getting wetter as a result of climate change. The State should be focused on real solutions instead of relying on blanket waivers that are inconsistent with clean water laws and result in polluted waterways.”
Jen Duggan, director of CLF Vermont, said in an interview that the ban should remain due to the “greater risk” of manure spread on snow running off into water. The Vermont Attorney General’s Office is looking into possible stream pollution by a Highgate dairy farm based on an Agency of Agriculture enforcement staff video of manure-laden water flowing off a field into a nearby ditch.
Andrew Gottlieb, Executive Director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, discusses the organization’s recent report, which showed that many of the Cape’s coastal waterways fail to meet basic water quality standards.