New Ecological Disaster for Chesapeake Bay Watershed May Be Just 3 Years Away
The Conowingo Dam in Maryland Shutterstock
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Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Detroit’s pet coke proposal; a new Indiana preemption law; and other stories you may have missed over the past few days.
ENVIRONMENT | Sediment has built up behind a dam on the Susquehanna River in Maryland faster than anticipated and if nothing is done to mitigate the situation, sediment flowing into Chesapeake Bay might reverse years of work to restore water quality and sensitive ecosystems in the nation’s largest estuary. The reservoir behind the Conowingo Dam is now 95 percent full and could be at capacity within three years. When it is full, levels of sediment and phosphorous in the bay “would increase by about 250 percent and 70 percent respectively,” according to the U.S. Geological Survey. While the revelations about the Conowingo Dam might be news to many in the mid-Atlantic, what’s not news is that among the states drained by the Chesapeake Bay watershed, official efforts to cut nitrogen in Pennsylvania, much of which is drained by the Susquehanna River, “pales in comparison to that of the others.” And the Conowingo Dam situation may force Pennsylvania to take more decisive action. [The Washington Post]
COURTS | An update to Florida’s “Stand Your Ground” that forces prosecutors to disprove a defendant’s self-defense claim has been found to be unconstitutional by a Miami judge. Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Milton Hirsch ruled that under the state’s constitution, the change to the law should have been made by the Florida Supreme Court, rather than the legislature. The ruling comes as a victory for prosecutors who say the law makes it easier for defendants to get away with murder and other violent crime. [Miami Herald]
PREEMPTION | A new Indiana law took effect Saturday preventing the state and localities from passing legislation prohibiting employers from asking job applicants about their criminal histories. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a Democrat, removed such questions from city government job applications in 2015 but hasn’t tried to make the private sector follow suit. Still he called out the preemptive law as an overstep. Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb signed an executive earlier this year removing criminal history questions from initial applications for state jobs. [Tri-City Herald]
TAXES | Illinois boasts some of the highest alcohol taxes in the Midwest taxing beer at 23 cents per gallon, wine at $1.39 per gallon—second only to Iowa—and distilled spirits at $8.55 per gallon, behind only Michigan. Because the state’s general sales tax is already the highest in the region, coupled with county and city sales taxes, many residents are leaving for July 4 or buying their beer out-of-state. [Illinois Policy]
PUBLIC HEALTH | Detroit City Councilwoman Raquel Castañeda-López plans to introduce a measure on Wednesday regulating the storage and transportation of petroleum coke, a byproduct of the petroleum refining process. People who live near pet coke storage piles have complained of dust and other impacts from the material. The councilwoman’s proposal would require that pet coke be stored in enclosed bins and companies that store the product must develop dust-mitigation plans. [The Detroit News]
ELSEWHERE ...
- “Christie, Lawmakers End N.J. State Shutdown With Budget Deal” [The Record / NorthJersey.com]
- “Why Sacramento Leaders Believe Curbside Vehicle Chargers Will Be a Game-Changer” [The Sacramento Bee]
- “Mayor Emanuel Didn’t Seek Comparison in Mussolini in NYT Op-Ed” [Chicago Tribune]
- “New Mexico Dodges Another Credit Rating Downgrade” [Albuquerque Journal]
- “Deadly Toxins Shut Down Some Southeast Alaska Oyster Farms” [Alaska Dispatch News]
- “Beetle Study shows Speedy Ponderosa Pines Fail Faster” [Missoulian]
- “After Dismal 2016, Shale Gas Drillers Begin to Turn a Corner” [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
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