Action On Water Pollution In Charles County!

[WolfgangCommiss]

I am very proud to have worked with 11 of the candidates for COunty Commissioner in Charles County, bith Democrats and Republicans, to light a fire under the sitting Commissioners to correct the shocking and dangerous problem of fecal bacteria in Charles County waterways. As you probably know, a man who was swimming in contaminated water this summer died from resulting infections.

The latest tests show fecal bacteria levels (most likely from human waste from sewage treatment plant discharges and leaking septic systems) in some place to be 28 time the acceptible limits for human contact. Large areas of the Port Tobacco River, Nanjemoy Creek, Neale Sound, Cuckold Creek, and Wicomico River have been ordered closed to human contact by the Charles County Health Department.

In an historic event, Commissioner candidates from both parties, even those who were running against each other, sat down in my office and crafted a letter to the sitting commissioners. Our sole purpose was to take this emergency issue, which the sitting Commissioners have treated as, perhaps issue 97 out of their top one hundred issues to deal with, and rocket it up to the top five. We believe we did so.

There has been some belly aching, and ruffled feathers on the part of sitting Commissioners, who claim that they have been working hard on the issue. Some have done some work on this. They have worked to get the Health Department to agree to test the waters, and post warning signs. They have also worked with the Port Tobacco River Conservancy to allow volunteers to take samples, and to track data, and to find grant money for future actions.

But in the three years since the problems of the Port Tobacco River have been discovered and tested, no government action has resulted in one leaking septic system being repaired, nor have any of the problems with the La Plata wastewater treatment plant (or any other treatment plant) been improved by County Government action.

Their lack of response has been evident. Our COunty budget provides 2/10ths of 1% of the budget for environmental issues. NONE of the money is allocated for waterway problems. It is spent for soil erosion control, gypsy moth spraying, weed spraying, and mosquito spraying. So, if they have done so much, as Commissoner Cooper alleges, WHERE'S THE MONEY?

A local group just had to recruit citizens to take water sample for testing, because the government will not do it.
They asked the County Comissioners for some money to pay for the lab testing and defray other expenses, and were given a whopping $500! What next? Will the Commissioners announce that they have increased money allocated for testing by 100% (I am speaking of the $500, since they had no money allocated ever before) ?

Here is a link to the Md. Independent article:

http://somdnews.com/stories/081806/i...09_32125.shtml

Below is the text of the letter that we sent. I am very proud of how we worked in a bipartisan fashion to make a difference. We were even working with our own opponents in the upcoming races! I predict that now the sitting commissioners will fall all over themselves to be seen as doing the most to remedy this critical issue, and our goal of lighting a fire under them will be accomplished.

I'll have to attach the test of the letter to a reply. My computer is acting up.

Kurt Wolfgang,
Candidate for County Commissioner, Charles County
wolfgangcommissioner.com

[WolfgangCommiss]

Here is the text of the letter. Please weigh in on this thing. It would be nice to see some letters to the editor in the Independent.

August 14, 2006
County Commissioners of Charles County
Via Hand Delivery

Dear Commissioners:

We, the undersigned are writing to you today to express our sincere concern about the health of our waterways. We are especially concerned about the health of citizens who use our waterways and enjoy our fish and crabs. It is imperative that the Charles County Commissioners start taking seriously the rapidly deteriorating health of virtually all of our waterways. If not, Charles County stands the chance of losing not only its prestigious fishing tournament, but the use our waterways altogether. Recent reports in the Maryland Independent, have alerted the citizens of Charles County to the serious problem of high concentrations of fecal bacteria in the Port Tobacco River, Wicomico River, Nanjemoy Creek, Mattawoman Creek, Cuckold Creek, Neal Sound, and the many smaller tributaries which feed into them. The County Commissioners must stop dealing with this issue as a normal occurrence, and must start dealing with the situation as an emergency situation that warrants immediate attention. This issue has been studied for two years in the Port Tobacco Watershed, without any corrective action to begin remedying the situation. While we believe all of the Commissioners care about the health of our waterways, the response to the problem to date has not been commensurate with the seriousness of this issue.

In an historic event, all of the undersigned candidates for commissioner, both Democrat and Republican, have come together to make the following suggestions:
1.) The commissioners must ensure that the County, in concert with State agencies or alone, moves quickly to implement more comprehensive testing to isolate the sources of pollution that are causing the current and unacceptable levels of fecal bacteria.
2.) The sources of the pollution need to be remedied, whether it is through grants to fix leaking septic tanks and inadequate sewer systems, citations to stop illegal dumping, or other appropriate remedies. These actions need to commence expeditiously.
3.) There should be a node of County government created or assigned to deal with this problem forthwith and permanently.
4.) There needs to be a time table with specific goals set to restore our waterways.
5.) There should be goal that by the summer of 2008 and thereafter, there will be no restrictions on our local waterways because of fecal bacteria, meaning no excursions or events that result in local waterways exceeding safety standards.

In conclusion, we are most concerned that this public health and safety issue be addressed immediately. We state this while setting political considerations aside, and we hope that you will move with all deliberate speed to implement an emergency plan of action.








LETTER TO COMMISSIONERS – 8/11/06 PAGE 2 of 2 SIGNATURE PAGE ONLY




Sincerely,

Candidates for County Commissioner: Nessy Environmental Project Representatives:



James M. G. Coffey Gloria Heisserman

Reuben B Collins II Ken Kraushaar

Joe Crawford Father David R. MacDonald

Johnnie De Georgi

Sam Graves

Kathy Kazimer

Frederick Lancaster

Monifa Tarjamo

Eric Vrem

Bruce F. Wesbury

Kurt W. Wolfgang



Kurt W. Wolfgang, Commissioner Candidate, Charles County
wolfgangcommissioner.com

Originally Posted by WolfgangCommiss

As you probably know, a man who was swimming in contaminated water this summer died from resulting infections.

The latest tests show fecal bacteria levels (most likely from human waste from sewage treatment plant discharges and leaking septic systems) in some place to be 28 time the acceptible limits for human contact. Large areas of the Port Tobacco River, Nanjemoy Creek, Neale Sound, Cuckold Creek, and Wicomico River have been ordered closed to human contact by the Charles County Health Department.

In my opinion those water ways must be closed to human contact forever. Still there needs to be efforts to improve treatment and discharge but human beings must give that area up as unusable.

Do not you agree? or if the Health Dept. says the test comes out negative then still it can not be trusted, would you not agree?

[Ken King (Premo)]

Originally Posted by JPC, Sr.

In my opinion those water ways must be closed to human contact forever.

Another fine example of your cluelessness and your shooting from the hip. You would close these areas forever when they don't even know the cause of the contamination. Why not locate the source and correct the problem and then allow nature to work it's course and only keep the areas closed until they are once again safe?

Originally Posted by Ken King

Another fine example of your cluelessness and your shooting from the hip. You would close these areas forever when they don't even know the cause of the contamination. Why not locate the source and correct the problem and then allow nature to work it's course and only keep the areas closed until they are once again safe?

The CCC candidate said that a man has already died from the infection and fecal material has been detected, so the water is contaminated and I say for safty sake to at least post big warning signs (forever) that say something like, "Enter this water at the risk of severe contamination poisoning."

And St. Mary's County is downstream of that.

[Ponytail]

Originally Posted by JPC, Sr.

The CCC candidate said that a man has already died from the infection and fecal material has been detected, so the water is contaminated and I say for safty sake to at least post big warning signs (forever) that say something like, "Enter this water at the risk of severe contamination poisoning."

And St. Mary's County is downstream of that.

Oh man... hang on a sec, not done yet... *breath* : Oh gawd, this hurts...


Ok.

Did ya miss the part where he said that "SIGNS ARE ALREADY POSTED", you dill hole??

And once again...why post the "Safty Signs" forever if the problem can be found and corrected and have the water return to safe levels again?



No, nebbermind. I think because St. Mary's County is in fact South of Charles county that you should write a letter of concern to the Charles County Commisioners and the news papers with your concerns, ideas and plans to cleanup and further protect the citizens of St. Mary's county. Oh yea, don't forget to post it here.

Hey, you know what? This would be an AWESOME issue to bring up on the 23rd at the League of Women Voters gathering. This is a perfect example of how over-crowding, a weak infrastructure and ignorant gub'ment can adversely affect the general public.

[Lenny]

I am sorry JPC highjacked your thread.

To get us back on track. you are still a tool for issuing this letter without getting any facts. Sorry, I prefer those who do their homework and don't get in front of the march to get their picture in the Maryland Incumbent. No vote from me!

[WolfgangCommiss]

you are still a tool for issuing this letter without getting any facts. Sorry, I prefer those who do their homework and don't get in front of the march to get their picture in the Maryland Incumbent. No vote from me![/quote]

Thanks for getting us back on track.

WOW, pretty quick to judge, aren't we? Didn't know, did you, that at the meeting of the candidates where we drafted this letter, that we had the issues briefed by the woman who is in charge of the Nanjemoy testing program?

Her comment is that the sample collectors will soon be wearing rubber gloves and respirators to collect the water samples due the the staggeringly high bacteria counts.

I have more facts about this than any Commissioner you know. Ask me some questions, if you like. I know, for example, that the sum total spent by the Commissioners in the last 4 years for this problem is $500, allocated (not even spent yet) two weeks ago. The scene was this.. The citizens who monitor this situation had asked the health department to expanid its testing. They only test five sites. Since the sites were showing massive amounts of fecal bacteria (recently 28 times the safe standard 0f 61 MPN), they wanted to expand so they could try to geographically isolate the sources. When the Charles Co Health Dept said NO, we will not under any circumstances expand our program, the citizens took matters into their own hands. They had Md. Department of environment come out and train 11 volunteers in collecting the water samples, and they set up their own program. Then they went to the Commissioners (through Mr. Cooper) and asked if they would at least defray some of the costs of testing. The result was the incredibly insulting figure of $500 as a donation from the Commissioners.

Recently, the Commissioners approved of the County paying the stunning fee of $50,000 to a consulting firm for their new slogan: "Charles County - Where Eagles Fly"(yes, that's $10,000 per word). I am hoping we fix this problem before we must change the slogan to " Charles County - Where Eagles Used to Fly Until We Killed Them All With Fish Contaminated By Our Own Fecal Bacteria".
Wouldn't it have been better to have a contest for the schoolchildren to come up with the slogan, and allocate the $50,000 to water testing? Their common sense and priorities are in need of a bit of a tune-up.

Test my knowledge before you say I do not have the facts. Want to know what MPN is? I know. Want to know that the EPA is adandoning this standard in favor of another? I know that, too. Want to know that the current standard is based upon 19 peole getting sick for evey 1,000 who get in the water? I've dome my homework on that, too. I have read the EPA and USGS protocols for taking these samples, and consulted with experts in the field. So I hope you can see that I have my facts.

Do you think the Commissioners had enough facts when they voted 5 to 0 to dump radioactive waste into the Potomac? Is there some circumstance, any circumstance, in which the citizens of Charles County would have wanted them to vote that way? If not, then why did they do it?

Ask me a question, folks - anyone, not just Lenny, to test whether I had my facts.

Thanks for your interest, Lenny. By the way, I really would prefer to stay at home with my wife, and not be out doing this campaigning crap. Not interested in self-aggrandisement, as you seem to suggest. I want to make a difference in this and many other issues where the County has gone seriously astray. If I can get the media to help me do this, you bet I will. Sorry if it gives you the impression that I like being in the paper. I do not. I also do not need a $40K a year job where people question your motives all day long. I am an honest guy trying my best to make a difference, before I just give up on this County, like so many good people have already done.

Kurt Wolfgang

wolfgangcommissioner.com