Senate Environment and Public Works Committee

Water and Wildlife Subcommittee

Chesapeake Bay Restoration: Status Report and Recommendations

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:00:00 GMT

Witnesses

Panel 1
  • J. Charles Fox, Director, Chesapeake Bay Program, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Panel 2
  • Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-Virginia 11th), Former Chairman, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors
  • Will Baker, President and CEO, Chesapeake Bay Foundation
  • Robert Hutchison, Partner, Hutchison Brothers (Grain Operation)

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation released a report last week that found phosphorus loads, water quality, dissolved oxygen and toxin levels in the bay had either remained static or worsened over the last year.

And in a report issued last month, the Chesapeake Bay Program found that the continued flow of nutrients and sediment from sewage treatment plants, farms, air pollution and urban and suburban runoff have prevented the bay from progressing toward a full recovery. The Bay Program consists of Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia; the Chesapeake Bay Commission, a federal, state and local body; U.S. EPA; and citizen advisory groups.