E22—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 2,1984 Chesapeake cleanup dependent Bay Foundation is tak ing legal action to enforce pollution-control regulations, said that as many as a dozen industries are “seriously in violation” and other larger plants, operating within legal limits, are dumping even greater amounts into the waters. Together the excessive nutrients and toxic substances are blamed for killing the bay grasses. “If we see the bay grasses coming back,” waterman Russell Dize said, “then maybe we’ll know something’s being done to save the Bay.” Keep From Getting Worse “The pressures are so great that the most we can hope to do is stop the water from getting worse. For vast areas of the Bay that’s all that ail of this hard work is going to do. And they could get a lot worse,” said lan Morris, director of the University of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay laboratories. “In certain hot spots, such as Baltimore Harbor, where the water is virtually dead, it could get better.” EPA’s Chesapeake Bay Program director, William Home, said “We should concentrate on saving what we have as of today. What’s urgent is to hold the Bay at the level that we found in 1980.' ’ Cronin is more optimistic, predicting that the Bay can be restored to the 1950 s level if there is full and sustained support from federal and state governments. “The Bay can bounce back. It’s fragile, but basically healthy and resilient.” Even with the exhaustive EPA study, no one is sure exactly what causes to link to what effects. Quite probably there is “no single bullet,” EPA concluded, “but rather a myriad of ecological stresses:” Toxic chemicals, nutrients, sediments, overfishing, dredging, natural cycles, and disasters, such as 1972 Hurricane Agnes, which washed so much j/ JOFX i*» “3 HESSFON FARM EQUIPMENT I 1505 PIT AGITATOR Keep your pit or lagoon liquefied and spreadable with Hesston’s Slurry Agitator. We IMEW IDEA 404 5-WHEEL RAKES Get quality at a budget price rake a variety of widths fast and clean in smooth or uneven fields with a mm imum of maintenance ZIMMERMAN’S FARM SERVICE (Continued from Page E2O) sediment down from the Susquehanna that it “aged” the Bay about 100 years in a few days. EPA also does “not know with certainty” to what level pollution must be reduced to improve water quality enough to sustain desired living resources. Perhaps only the Bay has the answer-so big and complicated a body of water that scientists have tried, but so far failed, to make a complete mathematical computer model of it. Nearly 200 miles long and 30 miles at its widest (near the mouth of the Potomac River), the Chesapeake ranks as the largest estuary in the country. Its tidal shoreline totals more than 8,000 miles, with so many nooks and crannies that it is possible to spend most of a lifetime exploring by boat without ever returning to the same cove. Mix of Salt, Fresh Water More than 150 rivers, creeks, and streams pour fresh water into the Bay, about half coming from a single source, the Susquehanna, the largest river. The Bay’s three largest rivers, Susquehanna, Potomac, and James, also carry most of the damaging nitrogen, phosphorus, and metals. And almost everything that comes into the Bay stays there, the EPA study discovered. The Bay acts as a giant sink, trapping and recycling sediments and toxic substances. Like other estuaries or inlets of the sea, it is a mixture of fresh and salt water, the salty water pushed in from the ocean by the tides. Generally the lighter freshwater flows south along the top layers of the Bay; the saltier water, north in the bottom layers. To complicate matters, tides, winds, and seasons stir up the waters into a vertical mix. The Bay’s shallow depth, averaging 28 feet, makes it vulnerable to winds and temperatures. The creatures » w <l - - Special $ ll5O Bethel, PA Phone 717-933-4114 that live there must be hardy to survive. More than 2,700 species of animals and plants live in its waters and on its shores, all dependent on the Bay and each --t 1505 Agitator Dimensions and Weight* Told' weight 840 lbs Overall length (18 5 l Overall width 39 Overall height 3’ Working depth 10? (from ground level may vary from tractor to tractor) Propeller dia 22 Drive Weasier LSS telescoping U jo nt issembly with 2 shear * oils Tractor Requirements 3 point hitch Category II or (It Narrow (Category IK Narrow requires reducing spaiers m Dali |omts ot lower lift arms ) Hydraulics single remote outlet ASAE 8 inch stroke cylinder required mot (urmshed) PfO 540 rpm HP - 6S PTC minimum SPECIAL *ll5O At the turn of the century when this skipjack was built, about 1500 harvested oysters in Chesapeake Bay. Today, there are only about 35 left. THANKS and CONGRATULATIONS! ROTHROCK GOLDEN HOLSTEIN FARM (Lehigh County, Pa.) On Their New Heifer and Horse Barns Another Quality Job By Triple H Construction! • Contact; Glenn Horst, Luke Hibshman or Nevin Wagner • Quality Custom Builders of: Dairy, Hog, Horse, Poultry, Storage, and Light Commercial Buildings! other. The Chesapeake is one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. An “immense protein factory,” Baltimore journalist H.L. Mencken called it. One year’s harvest of seafood f V Triple H Construction Co. Pictured Above: 40'x48' Naturally Ventilated Heifer Barn, Loose Housing. Pictured Above: 22'x42’ Horse Barn With Three Box Stalls and Tack Room. yields about 600 million pounds, about $750 million for the regional Chesapeake economy. Despite overall declines, the Bay is still the leading producer of oysters and v t * 14 N. Church Street Ephrata. Pa. 17522 717-738-2142 The Farm Building Specialists To (Turn to Page E 24)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers