DATE: Monday, September 8, 1997             TAG: 9709080046

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B9   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: RICHMOND                          LENGTH:   45 lines

CLEANING THE CHESAPEAKE BAY JUST GOT TOUGHER

Cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay will be more difficult because a new computer projection shows more nitrogen pouring into the Bay than thought.

Virginia and its Chesapeake Bay neighbors have labored for the past decade toward a joint goal - slashing the pollution that enters the estuary by 40 percent by 2000.

But the new, more accurate, computer model shows the Bay receives 226 million pounds of nitrogen a year from controllable sources including farms, septic tanks and sewage treatment plants. The old model rated the annual load of controllable nitrogen at 185 million pounds.

That difference means eliminating 90 million pounds of nitrogen a year - instead of the original 74 million pounds - if the 40 percent reduction goal remains in force.

That raises the cleanup costs if Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia and the federal government decide to remain true to the 40 percent goal.

Because the region appears unlikely to meet even the original goal, many in the Bay cleanup program are suggesting the region abandon the 40 percent goal in favor of a more achievable target.

Under the old model, once 40 percent of the nitrogen was eliminated, 230 million pounds of the chemical would reach the Bay every year when uncontrolled sources were added in. But computer studies said the Bay still would show visible improvements.

As a result, Virginia and its Bay neighbors pledged to maintain a nitrogen ``cap'' of 230 million pounds.

``People have always focused on the 40 percent number,'' said Rich Batook of the federal Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay Program office. ``But the cap is what the Bay sees.''

But Will Baker, president of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, doesn't like the notion of backing away from the 40 percent goal.

``It is a difficult target to hit, but constrained only by our willingness or lack of willingness to make tough decisions,'' Baker said.

The issue goes next to the Chesapeake Bay Executive Committee - made up of the governors of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania, Washington Mayor Marion Barry and EPA Director Carol Browner. The group meets Oct. 30. KEYWORDS: ENVIRONMENT CHESAPEAKE BAY

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