On Tuesday morning, Dominion Power representatives opened the doors of Bremo Power Station to show off the new water treatment facility to members of the media. If the facility passes inspections Tuesday night, it will start pumping treated coal ash pond water into the James River on Wednesday morning.

..."In North Carolina, they were able to get it as small as 13 parts of arsenic per water unit," said Pat Calvert, the Upper James River Keeper. "Here in Virginia, they are calling for about 500 units of arsenic."

Read more CBS 19 WAHU , April 27, 2016

On April 22, we will celebrate the 46^th annual Earth Day. Our Chesapeake Bay Waterkeepers will be celebrating with some special events and activities (details below) throughout the week and the month.

We can tell you that your local Riverkeeper (or Shorekeeper or Coastkeeper) is busy monitoring water quality in the tributaries and rivers where you live, work and play.

This year, on Earth Day, the United States, China and some 120 countries from around the globe will sign on to the Paris Agreement, a climate protection treaty developed at the Paris Climate Summit in 2015.

Did you know that the 19 Waterkeepers from the Chesapeake Bay watershed are part of a global network from New York to California, Iraq to India? They are fighting for clean water, holding polluters accountable and advocating at all levels of government for policies that advance the goal of swimmable, drinkable, fishable water.

Visit our website calendar to keep up to date with our Waterkeepers activities and events!

Here’s what they are up to in your community (listed alphabetically by state):

Pennsylvania

• Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper 
  • Earth Day Festival: April 23, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Lewisburg. Join the Middle Susquehanna Riverkeeper at Riverfront Park to make gyoataku (fish prints) using smallmouth bass fish replicas.

• Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper 

Maryland/DC

• Anacostia Riverkeeper
  • Earth Day Boat Tours of the Anacostia: Thursday, April 21 to Saturday April 23, starting at 10 a.m. Tour the Anacostia River by boat with Anacostia Riverkeeper Emily Franc. Full tour is 2 hours, partial tour is 1 hour. Join an existing tour a schedule your group of up to 13 people. 

• Assateague Coastkeeper 
  • Sonic Sea Film Screening on April 25 at 7 p.m. in Lewes. The oceans are not a silent world, but a dynamic symphony of sounds. Marine mammals depend on a delicate acoustic balance to hunt for food, find mates and detect predators. The film, narrated by Rachel McAdams, features interviews with marine experts and wildlife activists (like Sting!) who offer solutions.  

• Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper
  • STATE OF THE HARBOR Report Card release on May 9 at 10 a.m. at Columbus Park in Baltimore. Join Baltimore Harbor Waterkeeper David Flores, Del. Brook Lierman, Councilman James Craft and Baltimore City Department of Public Works director James Craft for a report on how the waters in the Baltimore Harbor are faring. Stay for a tour of the historic Eastern Avenue Pumping Station.

• Chester Riverkeeper
  • STATE OF THE RIVER Report Card Release: April 21, 5 p.m. at Washington College, Chestertown. Is the Chester River healthy? Getting better or worse? Chester Riverkeeper Isabel Junkin Hardesty and Watershed Manager Tim Trumbauer will give a presentation. Enjoy oysters and cocktails while learning about the health of the river

• Gunpower Riverkeeper 

• Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy (Choptank Riverkeeper and Miles/Wye Riverkeeper)
  • Earth Day Film Screening “Beautiful Swimmers Revisited:”April 20 at 6 p.m in Easton. This documentary film celebrates the 40^th anniversary of William Warner’s Pulitzer Prize winning book “Beautiful Swimmers,” which introduced readers to the blue crab. This book is considered by many to be the consummate work featuring the Chesapeake Bay. The film crew traveled from Baltimore Harbor to Virginia’s Tidewater to retrace the life cycle and story of the crab. 
  • STATE OF THE RIVERS Report Card Release Party, April 29, 5 p.m. at Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, St. Michaels. Midshore Riverkeeper Conservancy (Miles/Wye Riverkeeper and Choptank Riverkeeper) will release the extensive water quality data collected from last year. The results are assessed by Midshore Riverkeeper scientists from water quality samples taken by volunteer monitors on the Choptank River, Miles River, Wye River, Tred Avon River, Tuckahoe River, Harris Creek, Broad Creek, Island Creek, La Trappe Creek, and Eastern.

• Sassafras Riverkeeper
  • STATE OF THE RIVER Report Card release on May 19, date and location TBD. Check their website for further details.

• South Riverkeeper 
  • STATE OF THE RIVER Report Card was released earlier this month (April 12, 2016). Check it out here (PDF). 

• Severn Riverkeeper 

• West/Rhode Riverkeeper 
  • Pigs & Pearls BBQ fundraiser on April 30 at 2 p.m. in Galesville. Enjoy resh shucked oysters from the West and Rhode Rivers, live music by Eastport Oyster boys and fun stuff for kids (pirate face painting and Bay educational activities).

Virginia

• Eastern Shorekeeper 

• James River Association (Upper James Riverkeeper, Lower James Riverkeeper)
  • Earth Day Volunteer Training: April 21, at 4 p.m., Riveredge park, Madison Heights. Make a commitment to improved water quality by training to become a volunteer water quality monitor on the James River.  

• Potomac Riverkeeper Network (Upper Potomac Riverkeeper, Potomac Riverkeeper, Shenandoah Riverkeeper)
  • Mason Neck Eagle Festival: Saturday, April 23, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mason Neck Eagle Festival. Enjoy a day of celebration and learn about nature! 
  • National Park Service Centennial: Saturday, April 23, 10 a.m. Join the Potomac Riverkeeper in celebrating the National Park Service 100 year anniversary. 
  • Potomac Riverkeeper Network 2016 GALA: Join us Friday, May 13 from 6:30 pm-9:30 pm aboard the iconic paddlewheel boat, the Cherry Blossom, in Alexandria, VA to celebrate our success over food from Clyde's, drinks, and a scenic cruise of the Potomac River!

UPDATE (July 19, 2016): On July 15, 2016, the D.C. Circuit Court issued their decision to allow the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission permits to stand in a case Waterkeepers Chesapeake has actively been working on - EarthReports, Inc., et al. v. FERC. The case is informally known as the “Cove Point” case. Environmental groups challenged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of Dominion Resource’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility on the Chesapeake Bay at Cove Point, ln Lusby, Maryland.  

The facility would be the first natural gas export facility on the Atlantic Coast. It is expected to send out more than 5 million metric tons of fracked gas a year.  The facility will have a major environmental impact not only because the source of the gas is from hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking” in the Marcellus Shale, which includes the states of New York, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Maryland, but also because there is a potential for catastrophic environmental impacts should a failure occur at any point along the pipeline. Waterkeepers Chesapeake and other groups that work to protect the environment and water quality have been fighting Dominion Resources LNG expansion since 2013.

Fracking is associated with serious negative environmental and public health consequences not limited to groundwater and drinking water contamination, earthquakes and permanent geologic damage, climate change and, according to a recent Johns Hopkins study, even an increase in serious asthma incidents for residents who live near fracking wells.

In the case, environmental groups argued that FERC failed to properly follow the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it issued its Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the facility (see below for information from the April 2016 hearing of the case).  

Although the export facility will likely have a major environmental impact due to increased fracking in the Marcellus Shale region, the Court found that FERC was not required to consider ‘indirect effects’ like increased fracking and associated climate impacts in its approval of the facility.  It is the Court’s view that the Department of Energy (DOE) is the agency responsible for the final decision as to whether exports from the LNG facility will occur, stopping the chain of causation between FERC’s approval decision and the effects of increased fracking.

The purpose of NEPA is to ensure that the federal government gives consideration to environmental concerns prior to taking any major federal action that could significantly affect the environment.  Waterkeepers Chesapeake, as stewards of our local rivers and the Bay, believe there has been a systematic failure among agencies, including FERC, to take environmental considerations more seriously and adequately consider the environmental impacts of major projects.

(Washington D.C.) – Tuesday, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments from Earthjustice and others regarding the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) approval of Dominion Resource’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility on the Chesapeake Bay in Lusby, Maryland. This would be the first export facility on the Atlantic Coast and is expected to send out more than 5 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas every year.

In the early fall of 2014, FERC initially approved Dominion Resources request to convert its LNG import terminal into an export terminal --  a $3.8 billion dollar expansion. Since that time, local residents and businesses, environmentalists and public health advocates, including Waterkeepers Chesapeake, have been actively fighting this expansion and argue that FERC failed to properly follow the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for the facility.

“It is a crime that the construction of the LNG export facility has continued unabated since late 2014. FERC and our public officials have dismissed the health and safety of the residents of Calvert County and people throughout the Chesapeake region,” said Betsy Nicholas of Waterkeepers Chesapeake. “Dominion knows where it will source the fracked gas and knows that new compressor and pipeline capacity will be built. To argue that there won’t be impacts to upstream rivers, streams and drinking water sources is a sham.”

The purpose of NEPA is to ensure that the federal government gives due consideration to environmental concerns prior to taking any major federal action that could significantly affect the environment. Under NEPA, an agency must draft an Environmental Assessment (EA) if the environmental effects of a proposed action are unclear. If it is determined that a proposed action will not have a significant environmental affect, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) will be issued. If, however, it is determined that a proposed action will have a significant impact on the environment, then a more comprehensive and rigorous Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) must be prepared.  

Before the Court, lawyers for Earthjustice mainly argued that FERC violated NEPA by issuing an EA/FONSI for the Cove Point LNG facility, without pursuing the more comprehensive EIS. Further, FERC’s EA failed to consider the predicted increase in development of gas in the Marcellus Shale region, located just nearby the facility. Indeed, the LNG facility at Cove Point is uniquely positioned on the East Coast to transport gas from Marcellus Shale – the 90,000 square-mile porous rock formation containing as much as 500 trillion cubic feet of methane gas – to international markets. There is no getting around the fact that this LNG export facility will be inextricably connected to the hydraulic fracturing that will take place in the Marcellus Shale region – leading to greater environmental degradation in the surrounding environment and communities. It is projected that the Cove Point facility will cause more greenhouse gas pollution than all of Maryland’s coal-fired power plants combined. Not to mention the fact that the Cove Point LNG facility will be built closer to home residences than any other facility across the country.

Lawyers for FERC and the LNG facility argued that upstream fracking is not causally related to the construction of the LNG facility – stating that Marcellus Shale will continue to be developed regardless of whether this specific facility is built.

Judge Judith Rogers seemed receptive to the arguments from environmental advocates, stating “there has to be some cause and effect, we’re not just planting flowers here.”  She went on to talk about the larger issue of FERC issuing FONSI after FONSI for major projects, implying that FERC needed to take environmental considerations more seriously.

The NEPA process is one of the biggest regulatory hurdles Dominion Energy will have to get through in order to conclude construction in early 2018. Lawyers are now arguing that the U.S. District Court vacate FERC’s FONSI for the project, and require FERC to draft an EIS to more fully consider the environmental impact of the LNG export facility.

Documents:

Waterkeepers Chesapeake et al  Amicus Brief filed November 2015

# # # #