Kathy Phillips

Kathy Phillips is the Assateague COASTKEEPER®. As COASTKEEPER, Kathy monitors the watersheds of the Coastal Bays of Maryland and the Northern Virginia Eastern Shore for signs of polluting activities and follows local issues relating to water quality and resource degradation. As the only Waterkeeper on the Lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, she sometimes patrols portions of the Chesapeake Bay watershed where a Riverkeeper program does not exist.

She currently sits on the Maryland Stormwater Consortium, a coalition of 40 organizations working together for stronger stormwater regulations and implementation of the 2007 Maryland Stormwater Management Act and she holds a certification from the State of Maryland in Erosion & Sediment Control. She developed the Get The Dirt Out website for training, information and citizen volunteer coordination to monitor construction site sediment pollution in her watershed.

She was appointed in 2008 by Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin to the Maryland Aquaculture Development Workgroup, and also sat on the 2008 Maryland Critical Areas Coalition that worked with Critical Areas Commission Chair Margaret McHale to strengthen Maryland Critical Area Law. She has provided comment and guidance to the Accomack County Planning Commission on the matters of critical area buffers and stormwater control and comments frequently to Worcester County on stormwater and planning issues.

She is currently a member of the WATERKEEPERS Chesapeake, a group of 18 Chesapeake Bay and Coastal Bays Riverkeeper programs under the WATERKEEPER Alliance®.

E-mail Kathy at coastkeeper@actforbays.org.