Marvin Mandel, Governor                       2083

Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to The Honorable
Marvin Mandel, Governor of Maryland.

Approved April 22, 1970.

No. 19
(House Joint Resolution 83)

House Joint Resolution commending the Board of Public Works for
their careful consideration of matters related to environmental
control and urging the Board to ban any further disposal of
dredged spoil material off Kent Island and to review existing
studies and commission new studies of the effects of overboard
dumping of dredged spoil.

The conservation of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland's greatest nat-
ural resource, is one of the most important problems facing the State
at this time. Moreover, effective control and abatement of the pollut-
ing and destruction of all the waterways of the State is a matter of
vital concern to the State. As the Governor so aptly pointed out in
his address to the General Assembly on February 13: "Our environ-
ment is as much a part of our heritage as our culture. We must
nurture it, and protect it, so that it can be passed on to future genera-
tions. The commitment of the people of Maryland to the cause of
environmental quality is a commitment to the quality of life itself."
Since, in recent times, the consciousness of the citizens of this
great Nation has been awakened to the growing threat of environ-
mental pollution, the representatives of those people must accept the
challenge and responsibility of providing for their needs. We in
Maryland have long been forerunners in the fight to check environ-
mental pollution, but we must and cannot afford the luxury of resting
on our laurels.

In this regard, the Board of Public Works is to be highly com-
mended for the careful study and consideration that it gives to
projects which may in some manner affect our natural resources and
environment. Their actions are indicative of a deep sense of respon-
sibility to the preservation of Maryland's natural heritages.

It is just such careful consideration which has gone into the pro-
posed dumping of dredged spoil material from the Baltimore Harbor
Channel off Kent Island. Studies have concluded that any further
dumping in that area would: (1) definitely destroy one of the most
important winter drift net fisheries areas in the entire Bay; (2)
probably result in significant decreases in productivity of the adja-
cent oyster bars along the Kent Island shore at a time when the piece
by piece destruction of the most productive beds would tend to reverse
what is now a strengthening trend in oyster production; (3) present
the problem of potential pollutants from the presence of high con-
centrations of ether-soluble substances and of heavy metals in the
bottom sediments of Baltimore Harbor; and (4) cause siltation and
changes in circulation patterns around the dumping area. Recom-
mendations have also been made to the Commission on Submerged
Lands by its own ad hoc committee that the Kent Island disposal
area be used only as a last resort. Moreover, the preferred dumping
area of the committee was spoil containment areas in and around
Baltimore Harbor which, reports indicate, have a capacity twice
that needed to hold the expected materials dredged from the Channel.
The General Assembly has, itself, given approval to creating spoil
containment areas by enacting Chapter 468, Acts of 1969, which au-