Targets Tackle Chesapeake Bay's Nutrient Needs

摘要

Efforts to clean up the polluted Chesapeake Bay on the United States' east coast are having a major impact on municipal wastewater treatment throughout the Bay's 64,000 square mile (166 km2) watershed. States and localities are spending billions of US dollars to upgrade plants for improved nutrient removal. And now the US Environmental Protection Agency and its governmental partners are pursuing a new plan to establish 'pollution caps' for nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment that flow into the Bay from the watershed that includes over 400 municipal wastewater treatment plants and is home to 17 million people in six states and the District of Columbia. The capping plan, known technically as Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), depends on successful collaboration between EPA and the affected states. It calls for each state to identify targets for reduction of these pollutants, resources required to meet the targets, and resources available for the task.