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Friday, November 21, 2014

MDE intends to deny Conowingo Dam permit

CONOWINGO — The Maryland Department of Environment could deny Exelon Corporation a permit to generate electricity at the Conowingo Dam due to the impacts a study suggests it has on the Chesapeake Bay.

Exelon currently is under a one-year extension to operate the dam, which produces 500 megawatts of electricity.

“Our goal is to keep Conowingo, the largest single source of renewable electricity in Maryland, operating through the middle of the century, while continuing to work with key stakeholders to ensure the long-term health of the lower Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay,” said Robert Judge, a spokesman for Exelon.

The extension was given to allow time for a three-year study headed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to be completed after a push in the 2014 General Assembly to do so.

The study, called the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed Assessment, suggested that the nutrients associated with sediment that flow past the Conowingo Dam affects the Upper Bay. The report also recommended, however, that further study be conducted.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

He used the word stakeholders. What he meant to say was stockholders.

Anonymous said...

Studies, studies, studies for 20 years have all come to the same conclusion which brought about this decision to not renew because the sediment pond is full and polluting the Bay.

So, now we need a study?

Anonymous said...

So what is their Plan B? Or will hundreds of thousands of Marylanders be sitting in the cold and dark?