July 11, 2008

Howdy River Folks,

What a great month we have had! I spent 3 days in Washington with 100 other river advocates meeting with our elected officials and EPA. Shortly after, the US House passed the Community Sewage Right-to-Know Act, which requires wastewater treatment plants to alert the public to sewage overflows that may cause health risks. We still need to get movement in the Senate (S.B. 2080) and from President Bush. Please write your Senators and President Bush (click here for addresses), so we can protect our families and pets from entering our waterways during sewage releases. This is particularly important for us as there are STILL over 400 pipes that pump RAW sewage into the Susquehanna when it rains too much for treatment plants to control it. Sixty of these pipes are in Harrisburg! I explained to top EPA officials that we have Harrisburg on our list of major polluters that need to be addressed ASAP. We will take action against them if they do not meet their deadline of 2010 to begin significant progress on their problem. American Rivers voiced their interest in being part of legal action that we may take.

We had a great cleanup along Codorus Creek. Thanks to the 48 Stewards who came out over two days to help us remove about 3 tons of bikes, shopping carts, lawnmowers, carpets, and loose trash from the creek. Thanks also to Zero Restriction Outerwear, Gander Mountain Sports, Central Family Restaurant, North York Borough, J&K Salvage, Glatfelter, and PPL for providing gear, lunches, and funding for this project. On a side note, I got up early the first day and fished at the George Street bridge, catching a 17-inch smallmouth out of what was just recently still referred to as the "Inky Stinky Codorus Creek".

After the Codorus Cleanup, I jumped on a plane for the annual Waterkeeper Conference, this year in Seattle. I got to network with and learn from so many other waterkeepers, scientists, and attorneys. Just like we all communicate to share our similar concerns and plan strategies for the Susquehanna, it is amazing to sit down with folks from all over this country, AND Canada, South America, Africa, China, India, Australia and now even Russia. We are definitely a growing movement that is shaking up the whole world and bringing our water resources back to the people who need and love them.

We have some interesting work planned for this summer.

USGS will be conducting mussel surveys in the Susquehanna and we have been asked to join in this. This will include mapping and gridding of areas of the river, and snorkeling and sampling for our freshwater mussel species. Dates have yet to be announced, but contact us if you are interested.

We have received an $18,680 grant from the Foundation for PA Watersheds to produce educational materials and to hold public meetings on the Conowingo sediment threats. Let us know if you would like to help coordinate a meeting near you, or with your elected officials. By the way, yesterday I met with Governor Rendell and thanked him for funding the first study needed to assess the threats at Conowingo Dam. Just to remind you, he provided this funding after we formed a coalition, and received the assistance of Congressman Platts, to address the Chesapeake Executive Council. This is another big 'win' for Stewards of the Lower Susquehanna. Before we stepped in, all work on this issue had stalled due to concerns over funding.

A Cleanup of the Conodoguinet Creek will be held Saturday, July 19th, starting at 9 am. Please call Paul Garrett at 514-3546 or 737-2554 to participate.

Lastly, we have received a $1200 grant from the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network to send out brochures and membership requests. We need to compile lists of organizations and individuals who may have interest in our work. Please let us know if you can help with this. AND... if you haven't become a member yet, need to renew, or have a friend that should be a member, you can get a membership form here. And again remember, ALL DONATIONS ARE DOUBLED by the Keith Campbell Foundation for the Environment. We only have a couple more months left on this challenge, so please give what you can today.

Goodness, if you made it through all of this text, you are definitely dedicated to the Susquehanna. Please let us know how else we can serve you. Thanks.

From the Mighty Susquehanna, Michael R Helfrich
Lower Susquehanna RIVERKEEPER®

Smallmouth in the Susquehanna at Duncannon Looking Good So Far 

It took a little patience to wait for the barometer to change, but once it did the Smallmouth started hitting. We didn't catch anything for the first 3 hours (except a sunburn), but myself, river guide Mike Breeding, and our friend Barry caught about 40 smallmouth from 9 to 18 3/4 inches. Only 2 had any blemishes. Here are shots of the 18 and 18 3/4 inch smallmouth I caught. (Click on image for a larger view.) Both of these fish were caught in less than 2 feet of water. Feel free to email your stories, good or bad, to us.

Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper® Joins in Filing Lawsuit Against MD Department of Agriculture for Transparency to Nutrient Management Plans

“These plans are available for review in Pennsylvania and there is no reason that factory farms in Maryland cannot share their pollution control plans with concerned citizens,” said Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper® Michael Helfrich. Read the full HometownAnnapolis.com article here. Also view the Waterkeeper press release (PDF) about the lawsuit.

Conowingo Dam Sediment Sign-On Letter

We've been working with citizens from Harford and Cecil Counties, and throughout the Bay watershed to have the Conowingo Dam sediment issues addressed. To this end, Stewards of the Lower Susquehanna drafted a letter, got other groups to sign on, and got it to the Governors in time for their Chesapeake Executive Council annual meeting. After last week's meeting, Governor Rendell of PA said it would be one of his, and the Chesapeake Executive Council's priorities. Grassroots work by MD and PA residents got this onto the Council's agenda, and you are responsible for getting this important issue back on the radar. Thanks to everyone who signed on, and its not too late to help. We still need to gain more support from the state legislators, so we'll keep adding signatures and using this letter to gain support. Here's a link to the letter that you or your group can sign:
Conowingo Sediment Sign-On Letter

"The Story of Stuff" with Annie Leonard

Please follow the link below to view the "The Story of Stuff", a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. It just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever – the electronics, toys, clothes, and other material goods that we in the United States use to express the meaning of the holidays and, at other times of the year, our very own personal value.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

Sediments and the Conowingo Dam

In September, the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper visited two U.S. Congressmen and staffers from ten other Congressmen and all four MD and PA Senators on Capitol Hill to discuss the Conowingo Sediment threat. Not addressing these sediments could lead to a catastrophic scouring of tens of millions of tons of sediment and nutrients and/or an annual increase of up to 250% in sediments from the Susquehanna to the Chesapeake. Both of these results could devastate the Chesapeake Bay and wipe out years worth of efforts to restore the bay. These effects have been documented by the agencies concerned with improving the bay, but nothing more has been done since 2001 due to lack of funding.

On November 4th, Congressmen Gilchrest and Platts began talks with SRBC, EPA, the Chesapeake Bay Program, and the Northeast Midwest Institute to determine how we can address this single biggest threat to the Chesapeake Bay. These same agencies have encouraged SOLS to continue our leadership on this issue, and to increase our public education efforts. To this end, we've created a two-page summary to be shared with politicians and other members of the environmental community or academia, and a condensed single page fact sheet for the public. We hope to educate the public and our decision makers on this dangerous situation on the Lower Susquehanna, a situation that some have compared to the failure of government to act on the New Orleans levees before Katrina.

Please download and share this information on "Sediments and the Conowingo Dam : The Biggest Single Threat to the Chesapeake Bay" with anyone interested, particularly your state elected officials.

Conowingo Sediment Scientific Overview
Conowingo Sediment Public Overview

Mud in the Run: Failures at Construction Sites

Runoff from Factory Farms Makes News

• Read the New York Times Editorial article about antibiotic runoff here.
• Be sure to watch Sierra Club's animated video about factory farming practices and take action to stop the Tyson Dirty Water Bailout Bill!
• Also visit the Peach Bottom Concerned Citizens Group's website to find out how Peach Bottom citizens are fighting CAFO's.