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Sen. Mary Beth Carozza (R-Lower Shore) loves the Chesapeake Bay, but she continues to make sure her General Assembly colleagues and the public don’t forget about the state’s five coastal bays.

Carozza made that case last month when state officials unveiled new license plates that called for protecting the Chesapeake and as well as the coastal bays.

She did it again Thursday, during this week’s Maryland Association of Counties summer conference in Ocean City, when she took three of her Senate colleagues on a tour of one of those bays between Ocean City and the mainland.

“This is an opportunity to share the beauty of Maryland coastal bays that sometimes is dominated by the Chesapeake Bay,” she said on a boat ramp at the Sinepuxent Bay near Assateague Island in Worcester County.

Sen. President Pro Tem Malcolm Augustine (D-Prince George’s), Sen. Benjamin Brooks (D-Baltimore County) and Sen. Brian Feldman (D-Montgomery), who chairs the Education, Energy and the Environment Committee, felt the warm breeze from the bay and viewed visitors relaxing on the beach.

They also viewed restoration work that was completed about six years ago along the shoreline just north of the Verrazano Bridge that connects Assateague Island to the mainland. Some of that work included importing sand and rock and working to help maintain the habitat of the area’s horseshoe crabs, diamondback terrapins and sea trout.

Marsh grassses were planted along the mainland shoreline by members and volunteers with Maryland Coastal Bays Program, a nonprofit organization that promotes and seeks to protect the coast bays. In addition to Sinepuxent, the other four coastal bays are Assawoman, Newport, Isle of Wight and Chincoteague.

But Carozza and members of the bays program say the eroding shoreline and steep banks south of the bridge need repair. It’s not clear what legislation might be needed to make that happen, but Feldman said part of it would be to assess the state’s permitting and waiver processes.

“It’s something in that space,” he said. “I don’t know all the particulars. We’ll have to take a look, make some tweaks and some changes.”

Augustine brought his family along on the boat ride. His wife, Lauren, is a hydrologist and has done work on the Chesapeake Bay.

“It’s this living shoreline that’s been developed on this end in a very innovative way,” he said. “It’s always best to come and get your feet on the ground and sort of see what’s going on.”

Roman Jesien, science coordinator with Maryland Coastal Bays Program who operated the boat for the lawmakers’ tour, said the restoration work already completed north of the bridge cost $750,000 and stretches 1,000 feet.

The work on the southern shoreline would cost an estimated $1.5 million and stretch about 1,800 feet, Jesien said. In addition, he said part of the land is federal property.

Besides maintaining wildlife, the goal is to also bring the same number of visitors to relax on the sand and frolic in the water that’s done on the opposite shoreline.

“It’s important to not only restore that shoreline, but also make sure we keep the other one intact,” Jeisen said. “This is good for the environment and good for everyone.”

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. – Montgomery County fire and rescue responded to a morning four-story apartment building fire. 

Officials received a call around 8:07 a.m. Saturday morning, for the report of a building fire. Upon arrival, officials located a heavy fire to the rear of a four-story apartment building with an extension to neighboring buildings. 

Fire and rescue assisted with evacuating residents from the inside of the building. 

According to officials, 24 apartments were displaced due to the damage.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

The clock is ticking on a 2025 deadline for a cleaner Chesapeake Bay, and while some regional spots have not fully met their goals, an EPA official said “overall, things are moving in the right direction.”

Every two years, the Chesapeake Bay Program — a partnership between Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York and West Virginia — issues a “milestone report” to document progress on its bay cleanup goals.

According to the latest report, there’s “incremental progress” across the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed.

But Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Adam Ortiz told WTOP there are some standout signs of progress: “The University of Maryland put out a report a month ago, and our report confirms that Pennsylvania farmers have been stepping up. And the water has been getting cleaner in that upstream area.”

Ortiz was referring to the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science and Watershed Report Card released in July. That report card gave the bay a C+, the highest grade since 2002.

Progress by Pennsylvania is important, said Ortiz, because, “that means that the downstream area’s cleaner.”

“We’re seeing improvements in the Chesapeake Bay,” he said, adding that the impact oysters, mussels and the bay grasses have been critical to the health of the bay.

Ortiz said in the past, there was a “blame game” among jurisdictions, and that Pennsylvania had been singled out.

Pennsylvania has invested more than $200 million toward reducing pollution into the bay, he said. The state has also passed a bill that sets standards on the use of fertilizer, which contributes to creating algal blooms that can generate “dead zones” in the bay.

Virginia and Maryland have made progress, said Ortiz, adding that, “In Virginia, they have fully funded their farm conservation programs, Maryland has had a very robust program for a long time.”

“I also don’t want to be Pollyannaish about it. We still have some work to do,” he said. “The toughest area is the area where most of us live. So, these are the urban and suburban areas.”

“Everybody can do something. Native plants help on our lawns, reducing or eliminating our use of fertilizers, and trying to control stormwater coming from our gutters or our driveways can also help in these more suburban areas here in the DMV,” Ortiz added.

When asked about favorite areas and where he’s personally noted progress, Ortiz mentioned Terrapin Run Nature Park on Kent Island and the Anacostia River: “I’m a big fan of all the improvements on the Anacostia River. Kingman Island is a real success story.”

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