What Would It Take to Clean Up The Bay by 2010?

To deliver on the pledge to save the Chesapeake Bay in three short years, you could start by digging up a million lawns to fix septic tanks that pollute too much.

Then ask 80,000 farmers to make expensive changes in the way their farms work. Overhaul hundreds of sewage plants, each project with a price tag that could run into the millions.

And find about $28 billion -- enough for six aircraft carriers -- to pay for it all. Right now, authorities are at least $14 billion short.

This month, the Environmental Protection Agency said efforts to restore the bay's health need to be accelerated to meet a 2010 deadline. It turns out that "accelerated" might be understating it: Experts say meeting the goal would require widespread sacrifices from individuals and unprecedented funding from government sources. And even then, it might not be enough.

For now, no such shock-therapy campaign has been proposed. But environmentalists say the bay project's many shortfalls are a lesson: After 19 years, the Chesapeake cleanup is struggling to produce results on par with its promises.

from the Washington Post