Bay Journal

Alexandria’s plan to deal with sewage overflows draws criticism

Whenever it rains hard in Alexandria, VA, millions of gallons of sewage-fouled stormwater pour untreated from the city’s aged, overwhelmed sewer system into the Potomac River and its tributaries.

It’s a problem caused by centuries-old infrastructure that the city has been studying and slowly working on for decades. Under a plan endorsed by Virginia’s environmental regulators, it may take the city another 20 years or more to fix it and stop routinely polluting the Chesapeake Bay tributary.

That’s too late for environmental activists and some city residents, who say bacterial contamination from the sewage overflows — which totaled 130 million gallons last year — pose health risks for adults and children who kayak, row and otherwise recreate on the river.

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Whitney Pipkin
December 19, 2016
Politics + Policy, Pollution

Oyster reef restoration resumes in Tred Avon River - Timothy B. Wheeler | 12/15/16

Eden sprouts from VA church’s gardens - Timothy B. Wheeler | 12/14/16

Goldsborough has been the calm in the storm of fisheries management - Rona Kobell | 12/11/16

Conowingo’s, Bay’s mutual relationship finally ran its course - Karl Blankenship | 12/08/16

MD watermen want 14,000 acres of oyster sanctuary open to harvesting - Timothy B. Wheeler | 12/04/16

Big changes in the air over little menhaden - Timothy B. Wheeler | 12/03/16

Soft shell clam making a modest comeback in Bay, on menus - Whitney Pipkin | 12/01/16

After 10 years, Smith Trail slowly coming together - Lara Lutz | 11/28/16

From the Blogs

Many Pennsylvania farmers have stepped up to curb pollution, survey finds
For several years, regulators have been sounding the alarm about Pennsylvania agriculture’s lagging pace in meeting its Chesapeake... - Rona Kobell | 12/20/16

Maryland’s shoreline protections keep getting nibbled away
Maryland’s Critical Area law was part of a revolutionary suite of environmental protections passed in the wave of enthusiasm to... - Rona Kobell | 12/18/16

DuPont agrees to pay $50 million to restore contaminated Virginia rivers
Chemical giant DuPont has agreed to pay more than $50 million to deal with mercury contamination of two Virginia rivers caused by the... - Timothy B. Wheeler | 12/15/16

Richmond council rejects state funding for contested stream restoration
A disputed stream restoration project in Richmond faced a major setback last month when the City Council rejected state funding that... - Whitney Pipkin | 12/11/16

Features

Wish list!

It’s the time of year when many of us make wish lists about what we would like to find under our trees. Here are some Chesapeake Bay watershed creatures, and lists of what they might want to find in or under a tree as...
Kathleen Gaskell | Bay Buddies 12/22/16

Mistletoe’s berry special for humans and birds alike - Kathy Reshetiloff | Bay Naturalist 12/14/16
National parks - Kathleen Gaskell | Bay Buddies 11/22/16
Heroes are at the heart of these memorials - Kathleen Gaskell | Chesapeake Challenge 11/10/16
Only clever observers realize just how intelligent fish crows are - Michael Burke | On the Wing 11/08/16
Got brook trout? Then you’ve also got a healthy stream - Kathy Reshetiloff | Bay Naturalist 11/02/16
Bones! - Kathleen Gaskell | Bay Buddies 10/19/16
Refuges offer many recreational opportunities to go wild this fall - Kathy Reshetiloff | Bay Naturalist 10/13/16
Connect the bones - Kathleen Gaskell | Chesapeake Challenge 10/06/16
Lightning-fast little blue heron could disappear in a flash without help - Michael Burke | On the Wing 09/30/16

Opinion

To make Chesapeake great again, red & blue must strive for green

All of us awoke on Nov. 9 to some unexpected feelings. Whether you felt joy or fear, the future seemed a bit more uncertain. That uncertainty extends to the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed as well. For...
Al Todd | Message from the Alliance 12/21/16

Here’s to a holiday when there are plenty of oysters for plate & reef - Peyton Robertson | Forum 12/13/16
Bay Program teams using cross-project initiatives to reach goals - Nick DiPasquale | Around the Watershed 12/07/16
Let your grave enter the circle of life, not a dead zone - Liza Field | Forum 11/30/16
We must count our numbers as well as actions we’re taking to be sustainable - Tom Horton | Chesapeake Born 11/15/16
As storms overwhelm Hampton Roads, CBF’s Brock Center shines - Mary Tod Winchester | Forum 11/03/16
New monitoring cooperative aims to expand role of citizen science - Nissa Dean | Message from the Alliance 10/28/16
It will take sea change in land policies to cope with vanishing shorelines - Liza Field | Forum 10/18/16
MD smart growth going down the toilet under septic regs rollback - Tom Horton | Chesapeake Born 10/12/16
Indigenous Cultural Landscapes allows tribes to ‘go home again’ - Joe McCauley | Forum 10/06/16

Travel

Loudoun County state park new but not unknown

Robert and Dee Leggett wanted to buy a little natural land in Virginia, to preserve it and provide a local campground for Boy Scouts. But, in 1998, they ended up with closer to 900 acres of deep woods, babbling brooks,...
Whitney Pipkin | Bay Journeys Article 12/18/16

First Day hikes - Lara Lutz | Bay Journeys Article 12/14/16
Magothy River map, videos reveal ‘hidden gems’ for paddlers - Lara Lutz | Bay Journeys Article 12/05/16
Theodore Roosevelt Island, a forested DC memorial hidden in plain sight - Whitney Pipkin | Bay Journeys Article 11/16/16
Getting to know Michaux Forest will rock your world - Lara Lutz | Bay Journeys Article 11/04/16
Museums, trails, river lure visitors to Port Royal, VA - Leslie Middleton | Bay Journeys Article 10/28/16
Love of ducks, geese extends from table to tableau - Lara Lutz | Bay Journeys Article 10/19/16
Virgina oyster trail promotes bivalve-lovers paradise - Whitney Pipkin | Bay Journeys Article 10/11/16
Preserve walks celebrate VA Natural Heritage Program’s 30th year - Leslie Middleton | Bay Journeys Article 10/06/16
Oyster festival in St. Mary’s County, MD, draws fans from across US - Lara Lutz | Bay Journeys Article 09/27/16