environmental science

• News

Experts warn of 'dead zone' in Chesapeake Bay from pollution

The Conowingo Dam, full of sediment, can't contain pollutants coming down the Susquehanna from Pennsylvania, which heavy rains flush into the bay.

• Opinion

Maryland estimate for seawalls against rising tides: $27 billion

A new study estimates seawall costs to support bringing climate liability lawsuits against fossil fuel industry.

By Dan Rodricks

Jun 28, 2019

• Opinion

Trump's impeachable offense: Ignoring climate change

The impeachment noise in Washington is a distraction from an existential threat to life on Earth

By Dan Rodricks

Jun 21, 2019

• News

Regulators pressed Western Maryland paper mill to cut pollution but preserve jobs. Now, both will vanish.

Maryland environmental regulators were in talks with a Western Maryland paper mill about how to significantly reduce the facility’s output of a harmful pollutant when its owner shocked state officials last week by announcing plans to shutter the 131-year-old factory.

By Scott Dance

May 9, 2019

• Opinion

It is disappointing the General Assembly didn't pass ban on chlorpyrifos

The Maryland General Assembly should have passed a ban on the toxic pesticide chlorpyrifos, which can cause neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

• News

Maryland Gov. Hogan issues eleventh-hour veto of bill to permanently protect oyster sanctuaries from harvest

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed a bill Thursday night that would have permanently barred oyster harvesting in five waterways targeted for restoration work. The legislation had the support of environmental groups and was a top priority House Speaker Michael Busch, its sponsor.

By Scott Dance

Apr 4, 2019

• Obituaries

Former Maryland Gov. Harry Hughes, champion of clean government and a clean Chesapeake Bay, dies at 92

Harry Roe Hughes, the 57th governor of Maryland who was a champion of clean government and a clean Chesapeake Bay, died Wednesday, according to his family. He was 92.

• Maryland

State says pilot project to collect, test dredge material from Conowingo Dam will be completed this year

Maryland officials said Monday they expect a pilot project to test removal of a portion of dredge materials from Conowingo Dam to be “substantially complete” later this year.

• Opinion

A third Chesapeake Bay bridge is no road to the future

Building another bridge will mean more traffic, more development at a time when Maryland and the world needs less of each.

By Dan Rodricks

Feb 19, 2019

• Maryland

Baltimore Mayor Pugh plans to sign bill that could close trash incinerators

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh said she will sign air quality legislation that could close a pair of trash incinerators in the city, upending how the region disposes of its waste, according to a video published by an environmental organization.

By Ian Duncan

Feb 12, 2019

• Opinion

Protect Maryland: Ban chlorpyrifos

Maryland has taken several important stepsto protect our state and its residents from the harmful decisions of the Trump administration. Another crucial step we must take: ban chlorpyrifos, a toxic nerve agent pesticide proven to cause brain damage in children and harm the environment.

• News

Maryland will test to determine if Eastern Shore chicken farms are polluting the air

A year after fighting off a proposal to monitor air pollution levels around industrial-scale chicken houses on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the poultry industry has joined with state environmental regulators to study whether the farms are polluting the air.

By Scott Dance

Jan 29, 2019

• News

Maryland leading challenge to Trump administration's decision allowing seismic testing off Atlantic coast

Maryland is leading a group of Atlantic states in challenging the Trump administration's decision allowing energy companies to conduct thundering seismic tests off the coast. The states are joining in a lawsuit filed by environmental groups in South Carolina last week.

By Scott Dance

Dec 20, 2018

• News

Sea level rise to cause near-daily flooding in parts of Baltimore region by end of century, new report says

A new report from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science predicts sea levels around the state could rise by as little as 1 foot or as much as 7 feet by the end of the century — it all depends on how much carbon the world emits into the atmosphere.

By Scott Dance

Dec 14, 2018

• Opinion

Oyster losses are not due to climate change alone

It's a mistake to overlook overfishing and pollution as factors in decline of Chesapeake Bay's oyster population.

• News

Trump administration approves seismic surveys for Atlantic drilling, including off Maryland coast

In addition to harming sea life, acoustic tests — in which boats tugging rods pressurized for sound emit jet engine-like booms 10 to 12 seconds apart for days and sometimes months — can disrupt thriving commercial fisheries.

• Maryland

Citizens ask council to seek more environmental tests for Hampstead Overlook property

Hampstead resident Brittany Phillips implored the Town Council at its Nov. 13 meeting to employ environmental tests organized by the Environmental Protection Agency. Mayor Christopher Nevin asked Phillips to meet one-on-one to discuss the matter. She and others in the audience were not satisfied.

• Commentary

Zirpoli: Who is the EPA protecting?

The next time you hear someone complaining about unnecessary environmental regulations, point them to North Carolina and the environmental disaster millions of citizens there face. As a result of lax state environmental regulations and new EPA rules favoring polluters, the health of a million Nort

• Environment

From environmental hazard to water feature: Tradepoint Atlantic touts cleanup of polluted canal at former steel mill

Tradepoint Atlantic touted its progress in cleaning up Tin Mill Canal, a man-made ditch that carried stormwater at the old Bethlehem Steel mill in Sparrows Point.

By Pamela Wood

Sep 26, 2018

• Opinion

Hurricane Florence may reshape the climate change debate

With potentially historic Hurricane Florence fed by warm ocean waters bearing down, the EPA looks to relax more greenhouse gas emission rules.

• Maryland

'You can see your efforts': UMBC students work through dreary weekend to clean campus

About a dozen students worked to collect trash and clear invasive species as part of UMBC's Welcome Week of Service.

By Cody Boteler

Sep 10, 2018

• Maryland

Battle brewing over Howard's plans to ban pavement coating linked to cancer

Councilman Jon Weinstein introduced legislation to ban coal-tar at the county council meeting Tuesday night after a group of Centennial Lane Elementary fifth graders presented their case as to why it should be banned to Weinstein, who represents Ellicott City where the school is located, in June.

By Jess Nocera

Sep 7, 2018

• Opinion

The hidden agenda of the EPA 'transparency rule'

On the surface, the proposed EPA 'transparency rule' sounds harmless, even open-minded, doesn’t it? After all, transparency is an important principle of good science. But, the truth is, President Trump and his band of climate changers, has pulled a fast one. Here’s why.

• Opinion

Set tough limits on city incinerator

Maryland environmental regulators appear to be serious about reducing air pollution from Baltimore incinerator.

• News

As another surge of stormwater and pollution flows through Conowingo Dam, scientists worry about impact on oysters, grasses

As another surge of stormwater and pollution flows down the Susquehanna River, requiring Conowingo Dam floodgates to open for the second time in weeks, Chesapeake Bay scientists are concerned about the potential impact on oysters and still watching closely for other impacts.

By Scott Dance

Aug 16, 2018

• Maryland

Advocacy group aims to improve health of Roland Run in Lutherville

A new stream restoration group, Friends of Roland Run, formed by three Lutherville residents to improve the quality of the local tributary, held its first public meeting Tuesday evening.

By Libby Solomon

Aug 2, 2018

• News

Pair of studies criticize Maryland renewable energy policy as 'cleanwashing' pollution

A pair of critical new studies say a Maryland program designed to promote renewable energy projects is also helping fossil fuel power and other sources of air pollution. In its study, environmental group Food and Water Watch accuses the state of "cleanwashing" dirty sources of energy.

By Scott Dance

Jul 29, 2018

• News

Flooding causes sewage overflows, raises other pollution concerns for Chesapeake Bay

The heavy rains over the past week and a half have washed millions of gallons of sewage into Chesapeake Bay waterways, including Baltimore's Inner Harbor, along with unknown amounts of nitrogen and sediment pollution.

By Scott Dance

Jul 27, 2018

• Opinion

EPA's reversal on trucks: a sign of things to come?

EPA's new administrator saw the harm in allowing more highly-polluting big rigs on the road - could it be the start of a trend?

• News

Air quality study over Chesapeake Bay seeks to understand pollution

State and federal agencies initiated a research study aimed at providing more detailed data on how and why the Chesapeake Bay seems to act as a magnet for ozone pollution.

• Maryland

North Shore's annual 'wade-in' offers a glimpse of Magothy's improving water quality

In the neighborhood of North Shore, locals wade in to the water to test the cleanliness of the Magothy River.

By Christina Tkacik

Jul 11, 2018

• Maryland

At county council president's invitation, Harford group talks about human activity's impact on climate change

Representatives of Harford County Climate Action make it clear for the County Council that human activity is driving climate change, and that Harford County faces significant dangers in the coming decades.

By David Anderson

Apr 18, 2018

• Maryland

Getting greener: Howard expands recycling to help achieve environmental goals

Expanding household waste composting is one part of the county’s multi-pronged approach to sustainability efforts, headed by the county’s Office of Community Sustainability and the Department of Public Works’ Bureau of Environmental Services, which houses the recycling division.

By Kate Magill

Apr 18, 2018

• Environment

Study confirms what environmentalists knew about water quality: 'Sewage bad, stormwater projects good'

A study of 20 years of precipitation, pollution and water quality data has traced degradation of Baltimore's Gwynns Falls to frequent sewage leaks, and some environmental improvements to projects to clean up or reduce stormwater runoff.

By Scott Dance

Apr 16, 2018

• Opinion

A scientist's reflection on coal and coral

Marching with the horde of physicists, economists, biologists and others during the March for Science last year, I knew I could not work for a president who attacks the very foundations of knowledge. So I left the EPA behind, but I held on to my appreciation for nature.

• Opinion

Supporting fracked gas is a problem

Hogan may claim to be pro-environment but his support of fracked natural gas proves otherwise.

• Politics

Federal funding bill eases fear of deep cuts, would fund Chesapeake Bay restoration, other Maryland initiatives

A $1.3 trillion federal spending bill working its way through Congress this week sets aside $73 million for Chesapeake Bay restoration and would continue to provide funding for other Maryland priorities previously threatened by deep cuts.

By John Fritze

Mar 22, 2018

• Maryland

Editorial: EAC keeps conversation moving forward on solar

While findings and reports are not expected to be available until the summertime at the earliest, we were excited to learn that research into community solar is a part of the Environmental Advisory Council’s 2018 work plan.

• Maryland

Several residents challenge Harford council president's remarks about climate change

Palmer was one of more than a dozen people who spent 45 minutes Tuesday rebuffing claims made last week by Council President Richard Slutzky that global warming is “bogus.”

By Erika Butler

Feb 21, 2018

• News

Environmentalists push to improve Maryland conservation law: 'The most forested areas are the least protected'

Environmentalists and lawmakers are hoping to revise the Maryland Forest Conservation Act this year because they say over the past 17 years, it has failed to protect the state's largest, densest and most ecologically valuable woods.

By Scott Dance

Feb 18, 2018

• Harford

Harford council president says he's a human climate change denier

Harford County Council President Richard Slutzky disputes public consensus that humans are responsible for climate change, citing his research of scientists that have expressed skepticism on the subject.

• Commentary

Zirpoli: The water will come, whether you believe in climate change or not

In his book “The Water Will Come,” Jeff Goodell outlines what is happening to cities along the coasts as the Earth warms, polar caps melt and our oceans rise. His presentation is not just about what will happen in years to come, but what is happening now in cities along the coasts as oceans rise.

• Commentary

Batavick: EPA cuts will have real consequences

Under EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt, the agency is slowly being dismantled. He and Trump have already canceled or overridden some key environmental regulations on coal waste and vehicle emissions, and the 2018 appropriations bill cuts the EPA’s budget for the Superfund program and climate change

• News

Maryland Democrats, environment and health advocates call on EPA to maintain Obama-era emissions goals

Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh and General Assembly leaders held a hearing Thursday calling on the Trump administration and Environmental Protection Agency to keep the Obama-era Clean Power Plan in place.

By Scott Dance

Jan 11, 2018

• Opinion

Let the Eastern Shore be

The best future for the Chesapeake Bay Bridge is not to add capacity at all.

• Environment

Advocates pushing lawmakers to clean up Maryland's renewable energy supply

In 2018, Maryland environmental advocates will press lawmakers to clean up the state's renewable energy supply, which subsidizes some polluting power sources. But it could be difficult to reach consensus on what changes need to be made.

By Scott Dance

Dec 27, 2017

• Maryland

Invasive fish, Part 2 — the managing

Since the invasives cannot be eliminated from most current locations with current technologies and management practices, controlling populations and distributions is the major strategy.

• Power struggle

How a trash incinerator — Baltimore's biggest polluter — became 'green' energy

A state renewable energy program is sending millions of dollars of ratepayer subsidies to Baltimore's biggest polluter, the Wheelabrator incinerator. Community activists in South Baltimore are trying to increase recycling to essentially put the incinerator out of business.

By Scott Dance

Dec 15, 2017

• Business

Johns Hopkins to stop investing in thermal coal over climate change concerns

Johns Hopkins University's board voted to divest from investments in companies that produce coal for power

By Lorraine Mirabella

Dec 12, 2017

• Health

Scientists call on US to allow research on pot meds for pets

Dr. Byron Maas surveys a supply of marijuana products for dogs that lines a shelf in his veterinary clinic. They're selling well.