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Help Save the Chesapeake Bay!

MaryPIRG’s latest tabling efforts garnered support for the Chesapeake Bay through signatures for a petition in support of smarter disposal of harmful runoff water that sends pollutants into the Bay. Over two days outside the STAMP Student Union last week, we were able to gather over 200 signatures for the petition.

According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the Chesapeake Bay watershed encompasses six states and is the largest estuary in North America and the third largest in the world. 

Pollutants from anywhere within this sizable watershed can end up in the Bay itself, partly thanks to storm drains and other management systems. The petition is aimed at limiting these harmful pollutants and thus protecting the Bay. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s State of the Bay Report from 2008 rated the Bay with a score of 28. Considering that a “saved” bay is a score of 70; the Chesapeake has a way to go.

We are doing our part to represent College Park, an EPA Green Power Partner, in the ongoing effort to clean up the bay.