You Gotta Know When to Sue 'Em...

Late last week, the Capital reported that the South River Federation had reached a settlement with the developers of Annapolis Towne Centre at Parole over their discharge of sediment-laden water into the River during construction. The lawsuit claimed that the development project had violated the Clean Water Act by allowing the pollution of Church Creek as a result of stormwater runoff.

Greenberg Gibbons Commercial Corp., the group developing the site, denied the allegations, but agreed to pay $120,000 to repair damage to the creek, monitor the site for future compliance, and legal fees.

Some Relief at the Water's Edge

Looks like the General Assembly is poised to grant some much needed relief to our weary shorelines. Rather than continue to allow the rocking (and to a lesser extent, bulkheading) of our shorelines, the new law, requested by MDE, would require shoreline stabilization take the form of "living shorelines", unless "a property owner could prove erosion is so severe that only an armored shoreline will do."

That's great news for the Bay, even though hundreds of miles of of its periphery have already been hardened. Looks like a number of strong environmental bills are going to come out of the 2008 session. I will re-cap them here after the Assembly adjourns.


From L to R: Wooden Bulkhead, Stone Rip Rap, Headland Breakwater with Living Shoreline

Potomac Tests Bode Ill for Local Waterways

Today's Post reports that man made pesticides, herbicides and fragrances are making their way into the Potomac River and wreaking havoc on the hormone systems of aquatic life.

The River is so polluted with hormone disrupting chemicals that some male fish have begun to produce eggs.

This report comes on the heels of last week's release that 56 human and veterinary pharmaceuticals were detected in Philadelphia's drinking water, unable to be filtered out through conventional processes.

How is it that we can tolerate this?

South River Federation Releases Scorecard

Like the Magothy, Severn, and Patuxent, the South River had a rough 2007. The South River Federation's latest report gives the River a 34 out of 100.

The full report can be found here.

Council Appoints Advisory Committee

This evening, the County Council appointed an impact fee advisory committee to help them sort out the issue. Thankfully, there are no representatives from the homebuilders association on the committee. The committee is being headed up by former County Executive, Robert Neall, and will include, among others:

• Bob Burdon, Head of the Annapolis and Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce
  
• Al Johnston, a former planner and member of the the Greater Severna Park Council
  
• Ann Fligsten, a local attorney
  
• Bob Gallagher, West/Rhode Riverkeeper
  

The full list of appointees can be found here.