Maryland delegates speak up for agricultural community

The Maryland House Environmental Matters Committee heard several interpretations of the state of the Chesapeake Bay on Jan. 24. One was a four-headed presentation by officials from the departments of agriculture, environment, planning and natural resources.

Kim Coble and Ann Pesiri Swanson, executive directors of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Chesapeake Bay Commission, respectively, also issued a report.

Kim Coble and Ann Pesiri Swanson, executive directors of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Chesapeake Bay Commission, respectively, also issued a report.

All agreed continued nitrogen runoff into the Bay and its tributaries are stunting efforts to clean the estuary, and all seemed to accept the current state of water quality is poor to very poor.

But a vocal portion of the delegates who listened to each of the presentations — specifically Richard Sossi, R-Dist. 36; Anthony J. O'Donnell, R-Dist. 29C; and Paul Stull, R-Dist. 4A — cautioned how much the agricultural sector should be blamed, pointing to the preponderance of growing housing developments and the outpouring of its 420,000 collective septic systems.

"I don't understand why we keep pounding on the agriculture community when we have all these septic systems along the Bay," Stull said.

"I'm getting a sense there's a renewed assault on agriculture," Sossi said. "Farmland has not increased. ... The worst areas to the Bay seem to be on the Western Shore. I guess my concern is if we think it's cheaper to try to squeeze another drop out of agriculture, (farmers) won't think it's viable to continue farming. What happens when farmland isn't used for farming? They build houses."