Cleaning the Harbor

I saw this article a few weeks ago when it came out and the contrast between the excited tone at the start and the realities described at the end were so stark that I decided not to post it, but other people are referring to it now as well so I guess it should be up regardless. A Baltimore group called the "Waterfront Partnership" is leading a movement to clean up the Inner Harbor, first investing $50,000 to produce some artificial islands containing wetland plants that will hopefully improve water quality. However, other estimates say that reaching the "swimmable and fishable" goals of the Partnership will be extremely expensive since it would involve dealing with the toxic materials that line the harbor, the algae that feeds on the nutrients that enter the harbor via runoff, the other pollutants that run off the streets when it rains, some leaking sewage problems.... Maybe I'm just being Mr. Negative, but it sounds like spitting in the wind to me. Still, I suppose that a little bit cleaner is a step in the right direction, whether it's a meaningful step or not!