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Letters to the Editor We welcome your opinions and letters – with name and address. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 • E-mail them to [email protected]. or submit your letters on line, click here Consider Stormwater Runoff When You VoteDear Bay Weekly: As the director of the Alliance for Sustainable Communities, I lead a public education effort to address storm-water runoff, which has severely degraded Anne Arundel County creeks and rivers. We invited the candidates on a bus tour of damaged waterways. George Johnson brought his campaign managers, stayed throughout the four-hour trip listening to issues described by experts from DNR, Public Works and decided the $750 million backlog in urgent restoration could not be solved without a dedicated fund. John Leopold could not be persuaded to ride the bus; he followed in his car and left after an hour. He has maintained throughout the campaign that the dollars needed could be produced through state, federal sources and by reducing the county budget. The county must show a “good-faith” effort to restore its waterways or risk an EPA lawsuit. Bob Burdon, who has studied stormwater runoff for 18 months with the Annapolis and Anne Arundel Chamber of Commerce, says: “Acquiring the financial resources to meet the mandates of the Clean Water Act will require more than just cutting waste in county government or increasing impact fees.” Dan Nees of the Environmental Finance Center, one of six EPA centers to advise governments on environmental initiatives, says: “To succeed in restoring polluted creeks and rivers, funding must be dedicated, sustainable and sufficient. No federal, state funds or grants are available to fulfill the need.” I ask you to consider those issues as you vote for county executive. —Anne Pearson, Edgewater Department of CorrectionsDear Bay Weekly: I had to laugh quite vocally at the misprint contained in the Way Downstream synopsis of the Oct. 26 Bay Weekly [Vol. xiv, No. 43], to whit: “This week’s Creature Feature, The revenge of the bears: Human Society sets its sights on defeating Gov. Ehrlich.” Considering the vociferous attitudes and partisan maneuvering by both parties in the capitol nowadays, Gov. Ehrlich probably feels like “Human Society” is against him at times. While unintended, thanks for the laugh. —Steve Frost, Pasadena Editor’s note: We appreciate your sharp eyes and good humor; though embarrassed, we’re laughing, too. |
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