Clearer heads prevailed in Annapolis, and funding for the University of Maryland's law clinic won't be held hostage over the controversial lawsuit filed against a Worcester County farmer and poultry giant Perdue Inc. But possibly lost in the dust-up is exactly where the O'Malley administration stands on water quality enforcement.
The lawsuit filed on behalf of Assateague Coastal Trust and the Waterkeeper Alliance seeks to protect the health of the Pocomoke River and the Chesapeake Bay. At issue is runoff from the farm that carries excess nitrogen and phosphorus from improperly stored sludge and/or poultry manure.
Earlier this month, Maryland Agriculture Secretary Buddy Hance decried the litigation as a threat to "thousands of farmers." In a written statement, he said the farm's owners have already taken corrective action, have suffered "negative public opinion" from the suit and are just "trying to make ends meet."
In his defense of the farm's owners, Mr. Hance is also undeterred by the fact that they've already been fined $4,000 by the Maryland Department of the Environment for improperly storing sludge near a drainage ditch. Instead, he notes that tests do not link the sludge with elevated bacteria levels in the local water.
While it's all very well for an agriculture secretary to promote farming, Mr. Hance ought to show the same enthusiasm for protecting the health of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The two goals ought not be mutually exclusive.
Agricultural runoff is a serious threat to water quality. And farmers can't continue to be treated as if the litter from 80,000 chickens is somehow less polluting than the equivalent discharge from an industrial site or urban wastewater treatment plant. The owners of such facilites are no doubt "just trying to make ends meet" too.
It is the failure of government agencies to monitor water quality and enforce existing laws that have given rise to lawsuits like the one filed in this case. A recent report issued by a Washington-based think tank reinforces that view. It found MDE underfunded and understaffed, with the effect of negating Maryland's relatively strict water quality regulations.
So instead of taking sides in the case, the O'Malley administration would be better off looking for ways to improve compliance with the Clean Water Act and other water quality standards that are meant to protect the state's most precious natural resource. If that were to happen, perhaps there would be no need of lawsuits.