December 29, 2020 by Melissa Sweeney 256

12/29/2020 – A report from the Gunpowder Riverkeeper. Thank you for your support.

Thank you for supporting our efforts to protect the Gunpowder and Bush River! Our work links and protects the forests, the fish and the faucet. Please donate to support our work!

First and foremost we wish all of you and your family members continued good health and peace during these challenging times. Thank you for supporting our efforts to protect the Gunpowder and Bush River watersheds! Clean water is everyone’s right and as a shared resource must be protected for all.

Your support in 2020 resulted in:

The Baltimore County zoning and planning office recommendation against a zoning request at C.P. Crane that would have converted 116 acres of undeveloped peninsula in the tidal Gunpowder to industrial zoning.

The Clear Choices Clean Water program in Harford County increased awareness of our impacts to local rivers and streams – and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay. You can still make an environmental pledge by visiting
http://myharford.clearchoicescleanwater.org

The Boat Act Advisory’s recommendation of a speed limit increase from 5 knots to 35 knots was not approved protecting a canoe based ecology class serving 2,000 Baltimore County School children each year.

You can help us do more in 2021 to address these environmental threats:

Mitigate the impacts of the I-95 toll lanes that would deforest park lands and close the Gunpowder State Park trail and spur for 30 months.

Provide capacity in our appeal against EPA on MDE’s “Pollution Diet” that violates the Clean Water Act and failed to set pollution limits for the major source of PCBs in the Gunpowder and Bird Rivers.

Continue our appeal of the MDE Wetlands and Waterways Permit that would allow Abingdon Woods-330-acres containing significant forested wetlands, 85 specimen trees and a High-Quality Tier II stream to be converted to a 2.5 million square foot business park.

Support our complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to vacate EPA’s rewritten “Waters of the U.S.” rule – known as the Navigable Waters Protection rule that rolled back federal oversight of up to half the country’s wetlands and around a sixth of its streams.

We are pleased to report that through the Terry Newendorp Environmental Scholarship our small organization has given away $7,000 in scholarships in the past two years for the future protection of the environment. The application for 2021 is now open and we welcome submissions.

We need your financial support to maintain and enhance our River protection efforts. Please consider a year-end donation of support to amplify our outreach and advocacy.

You may donate at: https://gunpowderriverkeeper.org/become-a-supporter/ or by sending a check to Gunpowder RIVERKEEPER®, P.O. BOX 156 Monkton, MD 21111

Thank you for your support,

Theaux M. Le Gardeur

GRK is comprised of an Executive Director/RIVERKEEPER, nine board members and 23 committee members. Please let us know if you’d like to be more involved at gunpowderr…@gmail.com