Farmers, Developers Push Back on “Pollution Diet” for Chesapeake

A Washington Post editorial yesterday noted that while the EPA gets credit for styling a “pollution diet” for the Chesapeake Bay—cutting back on allowable levels of nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment—agricultural and development interests are fighting back in court.

“In mounting a full-court press to clean up the bay, the EPA made it a national test case, a fact not lost on agricultural and other polluters. Now farmers and home builders are pushing back, challenging the EPA in federal lawsuits that, if they succeed, would deal a major blow to hopes that the bay can be restored to any semblance of robust health.”