Letters to the Editor
We welcome your letters and opinions. 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 us at [email protected].
Our Bay Needs Less Sewage, Fewer Studies
Dear Bay Weekly:
I read with interest Steve Carr’s article in your last issue, “A Modest Proposal for Chesapeake Bay” [Vol. XI, No 50, Dec. 11]. I am so pleased that someone finally had the nerve to point out that the primary issue that does such damage to the Bay is untreated sewage, primarily from residential areas. Also his assertion that the answer is to spend available moneys on new and improved sewage capacity and connections, not more studies of the Bay’s problems.
The only recommendation I would add to Mr. Carr’s article is a shortening of the crab, oyster and clam seasons by one to two months for the next five years to give these species help in recovering their populations. Professional watermen could be employed in seeding instead of harvesting to replace any revenue lost from the shortened seasons.
Thanks to Mr. Carr for also pointing out that the various associations, committees, projects and studies to save the Bay have mostly degenerated into organizations devoted to preserving and expanding their operating budgets.
— William A. Gallagher, Galesville
In Dirty Air, SUVs Not Guilty
Dear Bay Weekly:
Mr. Bob Boxwell, chairman of the Lower Potomac Tributary Team, wrote to remind us [Letters Vol. XI, No. 49: Dec. 4] that sources that contribute to the Bay’s ill health are not always remembered. He cited SUVs and “the gutting of the clean Air Act.”
I don’t own an SUV, but I’m annoyed by the constant anti-SUV attitude. SUVs built for the past several years must achieve low-polluting requirements. You’d be much closer to the mark in pointing the finger at diesel engines (sorry, diesel-owning folks; it’s true). Diesel fuel is a major contributor to particulate air matter around the world. And diesel fuel is the fuel of choice for many, many engines of our local, state and federal governments’ vehicles and equipment, as it is the fuel of choice of many, many engines of world governments and industries.
Since air does literally travel around the world (some of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve seen here in Maryland are thanks to volcanic eruptions in Mexico and farther!), we have to think globally. And we just have to accept that due to the lay of the land surrounding the Bay, we’ll always have a tough battle against pollution. Anne Arundel still is the most polluted county around. It goes with the territory.
There are polluting sources far more damaging than SUVs and family minivans to blame. But you’re right, Mr. Boxwell, we need to leave no rock unturned. With very little exception, cities and suburbs never developed extensive public transportation. So we’re stuck with finding a non-polluting method for creating power to run the things we need and love to use.
— Gabriele S. Koenig, Crofton
Department of Corrections
In the editorial “Home-Grown Shopping for the Holidays” [Vol. XI, No. 50: Dec. 11] Chesapeake Light Crafts, which sells kits to be finished as kayaks, was misnamed.
Whole Food Market and the ALS Association have postponed the first Great Bowls of Fire chili cookoff described in “Calling All Chili Cooks” [Vol. XI, No 49: Dec. 4] from January until the fall of 2004.
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