Pennsylvania ordered to clean up bay, new Farm Bill may help

With the passage of the federal Farm Bill, conservation funding will increase by an unprecedented $440 million for the Chesapeake Bay region.

That bodes well for stakeholders in Pennsylvania and other states within the Bay watershed that face mandated nutrient-reduction requirements to clean

"These federal mandates were handed down to clean the Chesapeake Bay because it's on the imperiled water list: says Neil Weaver, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection, Harrisburg.

"Not one part of our bonier touches the Chesapeake, but we are one of the major contributors to the pollution to the Bay. Basically, sewage - wastewater facilities - and farming are the two major contributors to that pollution."

More than half of Pennsylvania lies within the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, with two major watersheds that contribute to 40 percent of its entirety: the Potomac with 1,600 square miles, and the Susquehanna, with 2,100 square miles.