We will find alternatives that will protect the future of the port without compromising the health of the bay. Glendening was motivated by the June 28 signing of a ten year pact between Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia and federal environmental officials to protect and restore the Chesapeake Bay. The agreement bars open water dumping of materials that could damage the bay s ecosystems. Some four million cubic yards of mud must be removed each year to keep Baltimore ports open for shipping. Alternative, land based disposal sites for the dredged material could cost 25 times as much as open water dumping.
Ethanol is added to gasoline to reduce vehicle tailpipe emissions that contribute to air pollution.
But the addition of ethanol also causes gasoline to evaporate more readily, which can increase air pollution. Refiners must change the volatility of ethanol added RFG to meet Clean Air Act requirements, a process that has been blamed for recent increases in gasoline prices. Ethanol has been in use in reformulated gasoline since 1995, when Congress ordered the use of RFG containing two percent oxygen by weight in smoggy cities. To meet this requirement, oil refiners can choose between MTBE and ethanol. If gasoline containing MTBE leaks or is spilled into the environment, it can pollute groundwater supplies.