BALTIMORE - Taking an eyesore and turning it into neighborhood "eye candy."

Winners are sharing nearly $300,000 in funding in the Growing Green Design Competition: Vacant Lots Transformed. Their projects will improve neighborhoods and include environmental benefits, such as reducing stormwater runoff.

Jon Capacasa, director of the Water Protection Division for Environmental Protection Agency Region III, was on hand for the awards presentation Tuesday night.

"We want folks to be clamoring for these," he said, "these opportunities to 'green' their own neighborhoods and to adopt more sustainable practices that keep water on the land, have cleaner streams, cleaner rivers and a cleaner Chesapeake Bay."

Seven winners were chosen. Projects include a fruit garden, native plant restoration, a green space featuring a walk-through for children on their way to school, and a flower farm.

A project guidebook was unveiled at the same time. Beth Strommen, director of the Baltimore Office of Sustainability, said it will help groups, nonprofits or other organizations interested in turning a neglected lot into a park, community gathering space, or a garden.

"Each lot is unique," she said. "They're not all the same. We have 14,000 vacant lots and - depending on if it's south-facing, north-facing, in the middle of the block - the different designs that you might want to choose come into play."

Strommen explained that projects may be in place for a couple of years, while others might stay longer. The lots will stabilize the land and improve neighborhoods - holding the space and making it more attractive to developers.

"Some of the land, in the long run, will stay green," she said. "Perhaps it might stay an urban farm, or perhaps it might stay a community open space, but most of it is being held for future economic redevelopment."

The competition was sponsored by Baltimore City, the EPA and Chesapeake Bay Trust. A list of winners and projects is online at CBTrust.org.


get more stories like this via email

Despite some progress, Pennsylvania and other states in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed are unlikely to meet their 2025 pollution commitments to reduce nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment pollution. An assessment by the Environmental Protection Agency's Chesapeake Bay Program reveals that more than two-thirds of the Bay and its tidal rivers did not meet clean-water standards between 2020 and 2022.

Harry Campbell, science policy and advocacy director with Pennsylvania office of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said pollution levels vary based on land use, local economies and population, and stresses that a stronger workforce is essential for Pennsylvania to meet its goals.

"There simply are not enough scientists, engineers and planners, even in some cases, construction crews and equipment to meet the demands for conservation assistance that landowners, that farmers and communities are asking for and have resources dedicated for the implementation of those practices," he said.

Campbell noted that Gov. Josh Shapiro reaffirmed Pennsylvania's commitment to bay restoration in June. The $220 million Pennsylvania Clean Streams Fund addresses major river and stream impairments and includes a program to help farmers adopt sustainable practices. This year's state budget also allocates an additional $50 million to the fund, ensuring ongoing support for programs like the farmer-focused cost-share initiative.

Campbell said an updated Bay agreement would unify efforts toward healthy rivers, streams and a vibrant Chesapeake Bay by focusing on the performance and cumulative impact of conservation practices. New technologies help identify specific locations for these practices, optimizing their effectiveness in restoring and protecting the ecosystem.

"One of the things is something like the emerging tools that allow us to actually identify on an individual landscape where to put a conservation practice literally down to the foot, instead of five feet over there. In another place, you put that practice in this location, and it has more effectiveness," he continued.

Campbell added that governors and other leaders from the Chesapeake Bay region, will meet on December 10th. The foundation urges in-person attendance from all members, including the governor, to discuss and commit to updating the Chesapeake Watershed agreement by the end of 2025. This update is designed to address new challenges and incorporate the latest science.

New data show lead levels in Syracuse's drinking water are higher than those in Flint, Michigan, and Newark, New Jersey.

The city's tests show lead levels are at 70 parts per billion with more than 14,000 homes containing lead pipes.

Erik D. Olson, senior strategic director for health at the Natural Resources Defense Council, noted along with corrosive lead pipes, other factors make it a precarious situation.

"When cities have not been doing the kind of upkeep that they need to do and pulling out these lead pipes when they come across them, or having an affirmative program to remove them, which some of the cities that are sort of looking forward have been doing for years, what we have is these situations where we are one mistake away from a public health crisis," Olson contended.

To remedy it, Olson feels the city must better inform residents, noting public officials downplaying the severity of this can lead to long-term health impacts. He believes Syracuse should provide residents with certified water filters to remove lead and premixed baby formula so families are not making it with lead-contaminated water.

Another way the city can reduce lead levels is by re-evaluating how it treats water so lead is caught quickly. If there are legal impediments or the city cannot access a home, Olson said Syracuse has to do what places like Newark did in the same situation.

"Adopt a local ordinance that said that any adult occupant of the home can give permission to replace the lead pipe," Olson urged.

He added the city must ensure the water utility picks up the tab since billing homeowners could be an environmental justice issue. Replacing every lead pipe in Syracuse could cost as much as $98 million but the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law allocates $15 billion for lead pipe replacement.

October is National Seafood Month and the fish on your plate might not be coming from where you think.

The U.S. imports 90% of the seafood it consumes. Offshore fish farming has come to dominate wild harvest in recent decades, with farmed salmon making up 80% of global salmon supply. Oregon does not have regulations to stop the practice.

Johnny Fishmonger, executive director of the group Wild Salmon Nation, said legislation proposed in Congress could make fish farming more prevalent in federal waters. He compared large-scale fish farming practices to dairy and poultry farms.

"It's like on land -- concentrated animal feedlot operations, CAFO -- so concentrated aquaculture feedlot operations where the fish are farmed intensely in high densities," Fishmonger explained.

Fishmonger noted sea lice infestations are common and devastating problems for fish farms. The AQUAA Act would allow aquaculture companies three miles offshore in federal waters. The SEAfood Act would create aquaculture assessment and grant programs. Supporters of large aquaculture operations said they are needed to feed the world's population.

Fishmonger stressed the aquaculture companies wanting to operate in federal waters are not mom-and-pop operations.

"One of the real distressing parts of that is there's no such thing as a small, family owned fish farm, except for like trout farms on land," Fishmonger contended. "Every farm in the ocean has been taken over by huge, multinational corporations."

Rob Seitz, a fishing boat captain, who opened South Bay Wild Fish House in Astoria, said there is other legislation to boost his line of work, the Domestic Seafood Production Act. The bill would require congressional approval for offshore aquaculture operations and invest in local fishing communities. Seitz argued fewer fish farms would be good for the environment.

"Wild catch fishing has the lowest carbon footprint of any form of food production," Seitz pointed out. "All of our fisheries in this country are sustainable pretty much now."


get more stories like this via email