CHESAPEAKE BAY: MD COMMISSION URGES PHOSPHORUS CUTBACKS
A Maryland commission investigating outbreaks of the toxic
algae Pfiesteria piscicida in Chesapeake Bay tributaries on 10/13
called on the state to reduce phosphorus pollution from poultry
waste.
"The informal agreement among members was the strongest
indication to date that the commission is likely to recommend
changes in the way the poultry industry handles chicken manure
on Maryland's Eastern Shore." Commission chair and former
Maryland Gov. Harry Hughes (D): "There's a consensus here
that phosphorus is a problem" (Peter Goodman, Washington
Post, 10/14).
A coalition of farmers and environmental groups, including
the Sierra Club, yesterday called for a two-year moratorium on
new commercial poultry houses in Maryland to limit runoff from
chicken manure (Marcia Myers, Baltimore Sun, 10/16).
Meanwhile, North Carolina officials on 10/9 began posting
signs at waterways where Pfiesteria-related fish kills have occurred,
including parts of the Neuse and New rivers and Pamlico Sound
(AP/Raleigh News & Observer, 10/10).
Florida is convening a task force to study the microbe, which
has been found in the St. Johns River near Jacksonville (AP/Greensboro
[NC] News & Record, 10/9).
Maryland yesterday kicked off a $500,000 marketing campaign designed to overcome "Pfiesteria hysteria" and boost sagging seafood sales (Ted Shelsby, Baltimore Sun, 10/16). The state this week has taken out full-page ads in the Washington Post and Baltimore Sun assuring that Maryland seafood is safe to eat (Greenwire sources).