Exelon To Fund More Study Of Conowingo Dam

BALTIMORE (AP) -- The Maryland Department of the Environment says Exelon Corp. will pay up to $3.5 million to fund more study of the Conowingo power dam's effects on Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay water quality.

The agency threatened last month to deny a permit renewal because the Chicago-based company hadn't fully supported its assertion that the dam's reduced ability to trap sediment was harming the Chesapeake Bay, about 10 miles downstream.

Republican Gov.-elect Larry Hogan has largely blamed the dam's ineffectiveness for bay pollution. He has belittled state and federal efforts to reduce pollution by controlling runoff from rooftops, farms and paved surfaces statewide.

The Army Corps of Engineers has concluded that dredging the river to improve the dam's sediment-trapping ability could cost billions and have relatively little effect on the bay.

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