The massive fish kills damaging the Chesapeake Bay and Anne Arundel’s rivers may decline if septic systems are upgraded, but homeowners in environmentally sensitive areas could pay more to flush their toilets.
“There are concerns that we are pushing an unfunded mandate, which is not true, but as a council, we need to do more to reduce [pollutants] going into our waterways,” said Councilman Josh Cohen, D-Annapolis, one of the three co-sponsors of the septic system bill.
When homeowners in Anne Arundel’s critical area — typically those living near the waterways leading to and around the Chesapeake Bay — and other small environmentally sensitive areas replace their septic systems, they must install new technology that reduces nitrogen output, according to the bill.
All new homes are required by law to have the technology, but current homeowners can get a grant from the state’s Bay Restoration Fund, also known as the flush tax, to cover the upgrade costs.
Excess nitrogen breeds algae blooms that die off and sap the oxygen fish need to survive. Low to non-existent levels of oxygen in rivers and the Bay are considered “dead zones.”
Sources of nitrogen pollution are feces and fertilizers.
So far, 66 of the 13,000 septic tanks in the critical area have been upgraded.
“If we have an effective PR campaign [about the current grant program], we may not need the bill,” said Council Chairwoman Cathy Vitale, R-Severna Park, at this week’s council meeting.
But each upgrade costs about $17,000, and the Maryland Department of the Environment’s grants may not cover the 13,000 septic systems affected by the proposed mandate, officials said.
But MDE has $17 million that can be used for the upgrades. The funds are doled out statewide on an application basis, and once that funding dries out, roughly $6 million will be added each year, officials said.
