CHESAPEAKE BAY: GLENDENING SEEKS TO LIMIT FERTILIZER USE
Hoping to curb Chesapeake Bay pollution and prevent future
outbreaks of the toxic microbe Pfiesteria piscicida, Maryland
Gov. Parris Glendening (D) yesterday said he would propose mandatory
limits on the use of agricultural fertilizers.
Dru Schmidt-Perkins of Clean Water Action said the bill would
include regulations recommended by a state commission that analyzed
policy responses to the Pfiesteria problem and would phase them
in by 2002. Glendening has not finalized details of the bill,
which he presented to environmentalists yesterday in Annapolis.
The panel determined that Pfiesteria outbreaks were partially
caused by excess nitrogen and phosphates that washed into the
bay from manure-based fertilizers used on Maryland's poultry farms
(Greenwire, 11/3/97).
Lobbyist Gerard Evans of the Delmarva Poultry Industry yesterday said the industry would fight the governor's proposal because the link between agricultural waste and Pfiesteria had
not been proven. Glendening "often has said" that any impact of the new regulations on state farmers would be offset by state programs to help them adjust to the new policies (Peter Goodman,
Washington Post, 1/15).