The Chesapeake Bay isn't the only estuary in trouble. Its smaller neighbor, Delaware Bay, has its share of woes, too, spelled out in a new report issued today.
Though the states of Delaware and New Jersey have made some strides in reducing sediment and nutrient pollution, waters in every part of the 13,600-square-mile Delaware drainage basin are impaired, tainted in many cases with toxic arsenic, dioxins, mercury, PCBs and chlorinated pesticides. State and local governments have failed to act on some of the most toxic contaminants, the report says, and both states are losing forests and wetlands at an alarming rate.
Environmental advocates describe the Delaware Bayshore as a "national gem," with the world's largest population of spawning horseshoe crabs and a major stopover for migrating shorebirds. Doug O'Malley, field director for Environment New Jersey, calls it "an oasis of beauty and open space in one of hte most densely populated areas of the United States." It's also worth noting, with the Gulf of Mexico disaster, that Delaware Bay is the conduit for 70 percent the oil shipped to the East Coast.
"We have made progress," O'Malley said, "but too many waterways are still polluted, and cleanup plans, if htey exist, haven't been up to the job."
Sounds all too familiar. To read the report, go here.
(2007 Baltimore Sun photos of Slaughter Beach by Glenn Fawcett)