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Covariant Risk And Nutrient Credit Training, Brian Sawers

Maryland Law Review Online

Every summer, a dead zone is created in the Chesapeake Bay. The dead zone is created by too much of a good thing: nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus. The largest source of excess nutrients in the Chesapeake is agriculture; manure and artificial fertilizers are washed into streams that eventually reach the bay. In the bay, nitrogen and phosphorus create an algae bloom, which consumes all the dissolved oxygen. Some fish escape, but other creatures expire in this dead sea within the Chesapeake Bay.

To reduce the excess nutrients reaching the bay, several states are experimenting with nutrient credit trading. A …