EPA reaches settlement over Pa. pollution to Chesapeake Bay

• Rachel McDevitt
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  I report on energy and the environment for StateImpact Pennsylvania at WITF.
  
  My work focuses on responses and solutions to climate change in the state legislature and communities around the state. I trace my interest in these issues back to my time as a Girl Scout and this episode of Rocko’s Modern Life.
  
  I look forward to winter just for the chance to ski a few times each season. I try to keep myself from doom-scrolling on my phone by keeping my hands busy knitting and learning to play the piano.
  
  I grew up in Cambria County, Pa. and graduated from Temple University. I started at WITF just after Christmas in 2014.

Marie Cusick / StateImpact Pennsylvania

The Pinnacle Overlook offers views of the Susquehanna River's Lake Aldred in Susquehannock State Park, Lancaster County.

Federal environmental regulators are agreeing to work harder to stop pollution from flowing out of Pennsylvania to the Chesapeake Bay.

It’s the result of a 2020 lawsuit brought by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation as well as Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC. The suit claimed the EPA violated the Clean Water Act by letting Pennsylvania move forward with inadequate plans.

Pennsylvania has been lagging behind other bay states in meeting clean-up goals set for 2025.

Under the settlement, EPA must use existing authority to investigate farming and urban stormwater issues, help the state clean up those areas, and issue penalties where appropriate. EPA must also post all findings online.

“This settlement agreement really puts things in writing and makes sure that we have clear deadlines, and so we think that that makes it a significant moment today,” CBF President Hilary Falk said during a news conference Thursday.

Pennsylvania is not a part of the settlement agreement.

Jon Mueller, the foundation’s Vice President for Litigation, said the EPA already has the authority to carry out the actions listed in the agreement.

“Whether that all comes true, we don’t know. But we believe that there are mechanisms built into this agreement that requires EPA to report to us–and the public–so that we can monitor its progress,” Mueller said.

Mueller said they can go back to court if they feel EPA is not meeting its commitments.

EPA voluntarily stepped up oversight in Pennsylvania last year.

The state has updated its most recent clean up plan three times, but each version has failed to meet the commonwealth’s pollution reduction goal.

Neil Shader, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, said the agency is reviewing the settlement and the state is committed to working with partners at all levels to clean up waterways and the bay.

“We have seen both our Watershed Implementation Plan and the historic $220 million Clean Streams Fund serve as catalysts for action to restore and protect the waters in our local rivers and streams, and the Chesapeake Bay,” Shader said.

Falk called the Clean Streams Fund an “important down payment” but said more state investment is needed, especially to help farmers stop pollution from escaping their land.

The EPA did not respond to a request for comment for this story.

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About StateImpact Pennsylvania

StateImpact Pennsylvania is a collaboration among WITF, WHYY, and the Allegheny Front. Reporters Reid Frazier, Rachel McDevitt and Susan Phillips cover the commonwealth’s energy economy. Read their reports on this site, and hear them on public radio stations across Pennsylvania.

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