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       The July 25 Metro article “Inspector general says EPA failed at driving Chesapeake Bay cleanup effort” focused the blame on the federal government for not meeting the goals of reducing nitrogen and phosphorus reaching the Chesapeake Bay from nearby state streams.

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       But the states are at fault, as well. I live next to a so-called creek in the Hollin Hills neighborhood of Alexandria that Fairfax County targeted for a $2.6 million restoration as part of the cleanup initiative. A Freedom of Information Act filing revealed that the request for proposals issued by Fairfax County expressly directed bidders not to measure nitrogen or phosphorus in the stream. Instead, the county misapplied a computer model to extrapolate the amount of pollutants based on the model’s estimate of eroded soil washing into the bay.

       It is highly questionable that this stream is actually a stream and not just a storm-water drainage ditch. At its best, its flow is far less than one cubic foot per second; as of this writing, despite a wet month, there is no flow. But the computer model projected that as much as 500 tons of erosion occur in that stream each year, which was to Fairfax’s benefit because it received more credits for the bay cleanup based on that phenomenally exaggerated estimation.

       The bottom line: It’s all about the credits, not about empirical measurements of pollutants before and after stream restorations. The Environmental Protection Agency might well deserve castigation for not overseeing the cleanup initiative, but plenty of blame lies at the state level, as well.

       Larry J. Wilson, Alexandria

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