Vermont Public Radio reports that a new report by the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) says "the state has failed to adequately control pollution from large farms." The report notes that farms "require Clean Water Act discharge permits" and the state "has not implemented the permit program." 

The report is based on the state's records and inspections and found "that there have been significant discharges from a number of industrial-scale agriculture operations that are subject to the Clean Water Act." In addition, the report says, these discharges "haven't been addressed, even though there have been a number of inspections." Notably, "farm run off is a major cause of pollution to Lake Champlain. And the state lists 30 rivers, streams and lakes around the state that are damaged by farm pollution."

Agriculture Secretary Roger Allbee disagreed with the CLF findings. He said "his agency aggressively implements the large farm regulations." He added that the Department has also, on a number of occasions, "indicated to farmers [that] by a certain date they have to meet standards, [or] be under penalty.''

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Vermont Public Radio reports that a new report from the Lake Champlain Basin Program has found there there has been "little progress on addressing the phosphorus pollution that causes the most damage to the lake." The report identified areas of the lake where phosphorus concentrations continue to remain high. Those areas include Missisquoi Bay, the south lake, and the Northeast Arm. The report also had some good news: "Levels of toxic PCBs have declined" and "beaches were closed relatively few times last summer because of high algae or bacteria counts."

Julie Moore, who directs the state's Clean and Clear program for Lake Champlain, said "says she's not surprised" by the report's findings. She noted that "there are a lot of corrections that need to be made on the landscape that will eventually show themselves in the lake. And right now [the state is] working hard on those landscape measures. But it's not unexpected that [these measures] have yet to show themselves in terms of improved lake water quality."

Notably, the state has spent $85 million on a lake clean up program which aims to cut non-point sources of phosphorus. But a leading environmental group, the Conservaton Law Foundation says the new report "calls into question what Vermont has achieved with its $85 million program." Anthony Iarrapino, who is with the Conservation Law Foundation, "says the state need[s] to ratchet down pollution from sewage plants" in addition to targeting non-point pollution sources.

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Vermont Public Radio reports that "untreated sewage continues to pour into public waters around the state - especially into the Lake Champlain basin" because of sewage treatment systems that are "weakened by age or overwhelmed by heavy remains." For example last year, sewage plants overflowed 52 times last year. This year, sewage plants have overflowed 20 times so far. According to Mike Rapacz, staff scientist for the Vermont office of the Conservation Law Foundation, "the overflows contain a mixture of pollutants, including sewage, bacteria and the dirty stuff from city streets." To help fix the problem, "Rapacz would like to see towns invest in separating storm water and sewage systems. In many cases, that would require increases in water rates, or bond votes to pay for the projects."

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The Burlington Free Press reports that phosphorus has "become a red flag for advocates of clean water because phosphorus-stimulated algae colonies (and their decomposition) rob water of oxygen and are considered by most experts to be a primary threat to [Lake Champlains’s] ecological diversity." Recently, "University of Vermont researchers estimated that phosphorus-laden runoff from urban and suburban development contributes about 50 percent of the lake’s total" phosphorus concentration.

Michael O’Connor, owner of GreenSpace Environmentals and Turf, and Sid Bosworth, an extension agronomist at the University of Vermont, recently offered suggestions on ways residents can curb their phosphorus runoff. Their suggestions included:

1. Follow manufacturer's guidelines on fertilizer use. If possible, use less than what's recommended.
2. Plant native shrubs at the base of your lawn to buffer runoff.
3. Keep phosphorus-laden grass clippings on your lawn to decompose. When clippings are bagged and picked up, "where the phosphorus goes is out of your control."
4. Direct side-blown clippings away from roads and driveways
5. Get a soil test to determine phosphorus presence in the soil and understand how the phosphorus travels

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Vermont Public Radio reports that the Batten Kill Watershed Alliance has received a a $3,500 state grant to "conduct a study this summer to determine the extent to which an invasive algae [ called Didymo] has contaminated the Batten Kill." The group, with the help of college students, will sample the river in eights spots "in hopes of getting a hold on how widespread the problem is. " Notably, "the invasive Didymo can threaten fish habitats and aquatic insect populations by clogging up spaces between rocks and killing insects."

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