WUSA9.com | Washington, DC | Commission Lobbies Congress For $1 Billion In Blue Plains Improvements

(WUSA) -- Members of the multi-state Chesapeake Bay Commission are making upgrades to the Blue Plains Treatment Plant a new priority.

The members lobbied Congress Thursday for help in raising the estimated $1 billion it will cost to bring the plant into compliance with the latest EPA mandates.

The facility is the largest single point source of nutrient pollution to the Chesapeake Bay region.

Even so, the plant cannot meet new E.P.A. standards without massive upgrades.

The pollutant is nitrogen, which fuels the explosive growth of algae in the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers, as well as downstream in the Chesapeake Bay. The algae blooms choke life in the water by driving oxygen levels to near zero in some areas called "dead zones."

"This is a regional authority and we will need regional help on it," said Washington Area Sewage and Water Authority Government Affairs Director Gordon Fry.

Fry said Washington taxpayers are likely to be asked to pony up more than $300 million for the upgrades to reduce nitrogen, even with federal help.

Sewage treatment plants throughout the region account for about 26% of the nitrogen pollution in the Chesapeake region. Polluted storm water runoff from agriculture and urban areas contribute larger shares.

Bay Commission members include legislative leaders from D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania who advise their respective states on cooperative, multi-state Bay cleanup policies.