We Need YOU to Speak up for Clean Water!
Public Comment Period for Maryland’s Watershed Implementation Plan:
Now through March 9, 2012
The Chesapeake Bay and most of Maryland’s rivers and streams are polluted, which endangers
public health and damages our economy. But there is a solution! The Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) has put Maryland and five other Bay watershed states, and Washington, D.C., on
a mandatory “pollution diet” that involves all the players, has an end date, and includes proven
actions that we know can work. To comply with this “pollution diet,” Maryland has drafted a
new clean water plan to reduce pollution at the local level.
Maryland submitted its draft Phase II Watershed Implementation Plan to the EPA on January
26th to show exactly how the State intends to get the job done, and it is taking public
comments through March 9, 2012 at: wipcoordinator@mde.state.md.us.
Please take a few minutes today to let Maryland officials and the EPA know you want a strong
plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and our local rivers and streams! You don’t need to be a
technical expert, and your comments do not need to be lengthy. With well-funded industry
opposition fighting hard to stop progress, we just need to make sure voices for clean water are
heard.
Here are some suggested comments for you to use and edit when submitting your comments.
Please also take a minute to add a few sentences about why clean water matters to YOU, to
your family, and to your community.
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I support EPA and Maryland efforts to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and my local rivers
and streams because I want safe places to swim and to fish, protected drinking water,
local jobs, and thriving seafood and recreational industries.
Maryland must verify that pollution from agriculture – the single largest source of Bay
pollution – will be reduced and demonstrate how it will hold offenders accountable if it
is not.
Maryland needs to hold local governments accountable for implementing the necessary
actions to meet the Bay “pollution diet”; we cannot solely rely on the EPA to impose
consequences, since they will not do this at the local level. Local leaders must be
engaged in this process, because they will play a crucial role in achieving pollution
reduction goals.
Maryland must provide clearly articulated “backstops” showing what the state will do to
make sure both state and local governments actually meet their commitments – and
detail what consequences the state or EPA will impose if they don’t.
Add your reason for wanting clean water! Is it for your local river? Is it so you can catch
more fish? Feel safe swimming with your kids and pets? More local jobs? Tell your
story!
Please email your comments by March 9, 2012 to wipcoordinator@mde.state.md.us.
Learn more and show your support at public informational meetings!
Monday, February 6, 2012, 1:00 – 3:30 pm
Washington College
Hodson Hall, Hynson Lounge, 300 Washington Avenue, Chestertown, MD
(Participants should park in lot next to Kirby Stadium or behind the Gibson Center for the Arts.)
Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
Meeting to be held at the 4‐H Center in College Park and video-conferenced to Frostburg
University, Salisbury University, and College of Southern Maryland
The Maryland 4‐H Center
8020 Greenmead Drive, College Park, MD
Video-conference sites:
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College of Southern Maryland, Center for Business and Industry, Room # BI 113,
8730 Mitchell Road, La Plata, MD
Frostburg University, Lane Center, Room 111, 101 Braddock Road, Frostburg, MD
Salisbury University, Perdue Hall Auditorium, 1101 Camden Avenue, Salisbury, MD
Wednesday, February 29, 2012, 1:00 – 3:30 pm
Hagerstown Community College
Career Programs Building, Classrooms 210 and 212, 11400 Robinwood Drive, Hagerstown, MD
Thursday, March 1, 2012, 6:30 – 9:00 pm
Baltimore County Agricultural Center
1114 Shawan Road, Cockeysville, MD
Monday, March 5, 2012, 2:00 – 4:00 pm
Maryland Department of Environment
1800 Washington Boulevard, Baltimore, MD
Information regarding cancellations or weather-delayed events will be posted on http://www.agroecol.umd.edu
The Choose Clean Water Coalition brings together people and more than 230 organizations from Pennsylvania,
New York, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia, working together to ensure
clean rivers and streams flowing to a restored Chesapeake Bay.