Phil Davis

pdavis3@dmg.gannett.com

The owner of the Conowingo Dam may lose a key permit to generate electricity from the dam in the years to come because of "insufficient information" about the dam's impact on the state's water quality.

The Maryland Department of the Environment said in a statement they intend to deny Exelon Corp.'s application for a license to continue operating the 500-megawatt dam, claiming Exelon has provided "insufficient information ... regarding the impacts of the activity on State water quality standards."

Exelon received a one-year operating extension from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission while federal and state agencies reviewed how sediment and nutrient runoff from the dam was affecting the Susquehanna watershed and the Chesapeake Bay.

While the corporation filed its application to obtain the operating license on Jan. 31, Exelon is required to demonstrate to the Maryland Department of the Environment its ability to meet standards outlined by the federal Clean Water Act.

In its statement, the department said no final determination has been made about license, but officials pointed to a three-year study led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as proof Exelon has not met the department's standards.

"The draft report found that the loss of long-term sediment trapping capacity at the Conowingo Dam is causing impacts to the health of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem," the department's statement reads. "It also found that additional nutrient pollution associated with these changed conditions in the lower Susquehanna River system could result in Maryland not being able to meet Chesapeake Bay water quality standards ..."

Exelon spokesman Robert Judge said in response "We expect to continue this dialogue as we work together to assure the state standards on water quality are met."

"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," Judge said.

Chip MacLeod, the attorney for the Clean Chesapeake Coalition which consists of officials from nine counties who all contend the dam presents a larger threat, said the departments intended denial "really shows that this bay cleanup agenda, this whole watershed initiative, has gotten very convoluted."

"In (the department's) press release, statements made by the Maryland Department of the Environment are the same thing that the coalition counties have been saying and advocating for three years," MacLeod said. "There are some significant admissions there and they're long overdue."

Tom Zolper, spokesman for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, said the foundation also supported the license being withheld.

"Downstream of the dam, Maryland needs to better understand the impact of all pollutants scoured from behind the dam, and originating upstream," Zolper said. "Right now we don't know enough to decide the best strategy for mitigating the impacts of the dam."

Department officials added they would be seeking public comments on the matter during a public hearing on Jan. 7 at the department's Baltimore offices.

More on the Conowingo Dam and the Chesapeake Bay:

Report: Conowingo Dam not major threat to bay



Conowingo report sees praise, criticism after release



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