The Chesapeake Bay Commission is asking Congress for $4 million to help pay for improvements to the Blue Plains sewage treatment plant in Washington, a massive facility that each day discharges more than 300 million gallons of treated wastewater into bay tributaries.
The plant was upgraded just a decade ago, when the Environmental Protection Agency said it had to reduce its discharge of nitrogen pollution into the Potomac River. But the agency is holding plants to even higher standards now, and getting a huge plant such as Blue Plains to meet them would make a significant difference in the bay's health, advocates say.
"If the country is going to have a state-of-the-art facility, it should be in the nation's capital," said Ann Swanson, the bay commission's executive director. "This single-handedly represents a 4 million-pound reduction in nitrogen. It's immediate, and it's sure-fire. And when you remove it, you remove it forever."
Though nitrogen is essential for plant and animal life, it is a major environmental problem when too much is released into a body of water such as the Chesapeake Bay. It causes algae blooms, which block light essential to grasses, and can harm or kill marine life.
Sewage treatment plants are responsible for about a fifth of all the nitrogen going into the Chesapeake Bay, with the other sources including farm fertilizer, urban runoff, storm water and septic waste. Upgrading the plants has become a major focus of anti-pollution efforts because, unlike with farms, major results are possible with a single project.
Blue Plains serves more than 2 million customers in Washington, Maryland and Virginia, making it one of the largest sewage treatment plants in the nation. Reaching its new nitrogen limits will cost about $800 million over the next decade. Maryland and Virginia customers will pay for more than half of that - with much of Maryland's share coming from the state's 2004 flush tax. But the District of Columbia is still on the hook for about 41 percent of the costs.
The bay commission, which advises Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the federal government on Chesapeake Bay policy, believed it was unfair to ask Washington residents - some of the watershed's poorest residents - to shoulder so much of the cost. Commissioners also worried that, without the federal government's assistance, Washington's Water and Sewer Authority could be forced to claim economic hardship and either delay the upgrades or persuade the federal government to loosen requirements.
Because neither was an acceptable option, Swanson said, the commission instead decided to lobby Congress to pay for the district's share of the upgrade costs, which will be $4 million next year. According to commission figures, Washington's share will be about double that amount in 2009, and more than four times that amount in 2010.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who represents Montgomery County, said he will lobby for at least $4 million, and possibly more to address storm water.
"The federal government is a big user of our water and sewer resource, and they should pay their fair share," Van Hollen said. "I don't want to suggest this is a panacea, but this is an important part of the overall strategy to clean up the bay."
Blue Plains discharges have a major impact on the Potomac River, which is one of the bay's largest tributaries. Regulators have ordered the plant to nearly eliminate its "combined sewage overflows," releases which occur when storm water mixes with sewage and, during heavy rains, overflows into the river. The authority is fixing that problem, but it will cost more than $2 billion.
David J. Bardin, who serves on the Washington Water and Sewer Authority's board, said the new requirements will place a "terrible burden" and, in his view, an unnecessary one on district residents. Blue Plains is regarded as one of the best-managed plants in the watershed, and in recent years it has reduced nitrogen even more than the old permit required. He says the federal government should give the district more money if the upgrades are such a high priority.
"I think the federal government should step up with more dollars," said Bardin, an attorney and former government regulator. "This is the Chesapeake Bay. There's nothing like it in the whole U.S. of A."
Bill Matuszeski, a district resident and former director of the EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program, said his water bills run about $140 a month - far higher than the quarterly bills most Baltimore residents pay. But he said the price is worth it because, in a watershed with pollution coming from many sources, Blue Plains offers a rare opportunity to make major progress in one location.
"People are going to have to get used to paying these kinds of revenues to clean up the bay. They should at least be relieved that it's fair and cost-effective," he said. "It's the cheapest way to get nitrogen out of the bay."
rona.kobell@baltsun.com