THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 3, 1996 TAG: 9604030409
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ANNAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium: 97 lines
They call it ``Bay-Melt'' or ``Meltdown '96.'' By whatever name, scientists are reporting some of the highest amounts of mud and nutrients swamping the Chesapeake Bay in 20 years, raising concerns about ecological damage to the already fragile estuary.
At a press briefing Tuesday, the U.S. Geological Survey released figures showing that in January alone, 2.7 million pounds of phosphorus, 44 million pounds of nitrogen and a staggering 7 billion pounds of sediment washed into the Bay from its largest and most important freshwater source, the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania.
The trend has slowed since then in the many river systems that feed the Bay. But officials noted that springtime is usually when most flooding occurs each year, and they warned that even normal seasonal rains would likely pound the Bay with more pollutants from farm fields, parking lots and urban storm drains.
So far, Virginia has faired better than its neighbors. Flood waters caused by fast-thawing snows this winter were not as bad as in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Washington, officials reported Tuesday. They were bad enough to overwhelm a Richmond sewage plant in mid-January, however, when an estimated 100 million gallons of untreated waste overflowed into the James River.
The resulting high bacteria counts forced a ban on shellfish harvesting.
Scientists and officials leading a tri-state effort to clean up the Chesapeake Bay said Tuesday they will be anxiously watching for signs of resulting water-quality problems in Virginia's half of the Bay. Some experts suggested the problems could harm oyster and crab populations and stymie a recovery of underwater grasses.
``Absolutely we're concerned,'' said Bill Matuszeski, director of the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake office in Annapolis.
``There isn't a whole lot of confidence how all this is going to play out .
It also is too early to detail any serious damage to the upper half of the Bay.
But during a boat trip Tuesday on the Severn River, a short but scenic waterway running through Annapolis to the Bay, scientists noticed high levels of tiny plankton in several water samples.
This indicated that nutrients are active in the river, especially nitrogen stirring the early stages of algae blooms.
Nitrogen and phosphorus are the principle nutrients targeted for reduction under Bay cleanup plans, and are blamed for encouraging algae blooms, which can rob water of life-sustaining oxygen. The nutrients often are found in discharges from sewage treatment plants and in many fertilizers spread on lawns, gardens and farms.
Sediments, meanwhile, wash off of almost every unprotected tract of land.
When they reach the Bay in heavy doses they can bury underwater grasses, block sunlight from spurring grass growth and transport toxins and other pollutants.
Leonard Haas, an associate professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, said he can look out his office window onto the York River and tell something's wrong. ``As much rain as we've gotten, levels of (nutrients) are certainly high, and that's going to have an effect,'' said Haas.
It was the third winter in four years that the Bay has been struck by an unusually strong and unpredictibly early flood of freshwater, known as a freshet, Matuszeski said.
The ecological damage from each has varied, from large algae blooms last year to little trouble in 1994.
Experts still aren't sure why.
This winter's influence could be the most dramatic, if only because of sheer force.
Not since Tropical Storm Agnes in 1972 has the Bay received so much rain, mud and nutrients, said Linda Zynjuk, of the U.S. Geological Survey.
The average flow of the Susquehanna during January is 1.7 trillion gallons of freshwater, she said; this year, that number was five trillion gallons.
Likewise, the average amount of sediments from the big Pennsylvania river is 168 million pounds; this January it was 7 billion pounds, or more than double what an entire year usually brings, Zynjuk said. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos LAWRENCE JACKSON\The Virginian-Pilot
This osprey's survival may be threatened if a surge of fresh water
nutrients harms its fishing grounds or simply clouds the water.
Dr. Kent Mountford, the Environmental Protection Agency's senior
scientist on the Bay, tests salinity in the waters around Annapolis
below the Susquehanna River.
Graphic
TARGETED NUTRIENTS
Nitrogen and phosphorus are key nutrients targeted for reduction
under Bay cleanup plans, and are blamed for encouraging algae
blooms, which can rob water of life-sustaining oxygen.
KEYWORDS: CHESAPEAKE BAY RUNOFF by CNB