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Chesapeake Bay Improving But Huge Challenges Remain: Report

Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia have reduced pollution coming from sewage treatment plants, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation reported

A nonprofit that tracks pollution in America's largest estuary says the health of Chesapeake Bay is improving, but huge challenges remain.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation has released a midpoint assessment of a federal plan to curb pollution flowing into the watershed by 2025. States are required to cut phosphorous, nitrogen and sediment from treated wastewater as well as runoff from farms and cities.

The good news in Wednesday's report is that the bay's oxygen dead zone is shrinking. Underwater grasses and oysters are making a coming back. Maryland, Pennsylvania and Virginia have reduced pollution coming from sewage treatment plants.

But the foundation asserts they're not doing enough to tackle the pollution running off farms, and says Pennsylvania is particularly falling short.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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