For a quarter-century, federal and state governments worked to clean the Chesapeake Bay, but the once-bountiful waterway remained polluted.
Pushed by President Barack Obama, governmental leaders pledged in 2009 to work harder and to put all necessary cleanup measures in place by 2025.
According to figures released Monday, that stepped-up effort is working. Bay states are generally meeting interim cleanup goals set in 2009.
"The bay partnership is strong, and our path toward restoring the vital treasure of the Chesapeake Bay is on track," said Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.
Jackson spoke after a meeting of the Chesapeake Executive Council, a group of the bay region's top political leaders. The council met in Richmond at Maymont's nature center — the group's first session in Richmond.
The bay is polluted by waste that flows from sewage plants and which runs off farms, streets and suburban yards.
The end of this year is the deadline for the states' interim cleanup work, or "milestones," pledged in 2009.
According to details released at the meeting, Virginia is ahead of schedule or on schedule for measures such as planting pollution-limiting cover crops; planting grasses that help keep pollution from running off farms; and restoring wetlands.
On the other hand, efforts to fence cattle out of streams are falling short, and the flow of phosphorus, a key pollutant, temporarily increased during construction of improvements to sewage plants in the James River, York River and Eastern Shore areas.
Ann Jennings, Virginia director of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, an environmental group, said she was happy the cleanup seems to be going well. But Jennings said environmentalists will double-check the data in detail.
"We're pleased (but) we're not going to take their word for it," Jennings said.
Virginia officials say the cleanup will cost about $7 billion by 2025 in public and private dollars in this state alone.
Gov. Bob McDonnell said states need better information on the overall cost of the cleanup and to what extent the federal government will chip in.
"The good news," McDonnell said, "is we have a broad agreement on the goals."
Others attending the meeting included Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett and Washington Mayor Vincent Gray.
"While it is very, very true that cleaning the bay is expensive," O'Malley said, "letting her die is even more expensive."
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