That’s what Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) secretary Krancer essentially told 22 retired DEP water
quality experts who wrote
to him asking for 90 miles of the Susquehanna River to be officially designated
as polluted. In a patronizing
letter denying the request, Krancer attacked the credentials of the
signatories to the request and said that putting the river on the official list
of polluted waterways would be a “publicity stunt.”
Something in the water is
killing off young bass and causing disease in adult bass. The problem has
gotten to the point where the Fish and Boat Commission has put new restrictions
on bass fishing. Anglers can catch bass, but they must release them. Many of
the bass in the river also now have both male and female characteristics.
Putting the Susquehanna on
the official list of polluted waters would trigger an all-out effort to
discover what exactly is causing the fish to die and then to write a plan
called a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) to legally limit that pollution. In
fact, Krancer says in his letter, “Consider that just the watershed from
Sunbury to Holtwood encompasses 5,500 square miles, five major tributaries, and
a multitude of smaller tributaries. All potential sources within all
tributaries, as well as upstream sources in the main stem must be identified,
sampled and modeled in one massive TMDL. It would take many years to complete
any TMDL.”
Exactly. That’s why the river
should be put on the list of polluted waters now so the work can get underway
to clean up the pollution. According to Krancer’s letter, more studies are
underway and that information will help shed light on the river’s problems.
Getting the river on the polluted waters list would hold DEP’s feet to the fire
as the department would have a legal obligation under the Clean Water Act to
bring the river back to health.
What won’t work is shutting
out expert voices when they don’t agree with you.
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