Energy Company Challenges New Requirements For Maryland Dam

DARLINGTON, Md. (AP) — Maryland's largest hydroelectric dam has become the center of a legal battle between state environmental regulators and the energy company that owns it.

The Bay Journal has reported that Chicago-based Exelon Corp. has sued the Maryland Department of the Environment over a water quality certification that's part of the dam's federal relicensing process.

Among other conditions, state environmental regulators say Exelon needs to reduce the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus nutrient pollution that flows past the dam by millions of pounds. Alternatively, the company can pay the state more than $170 million annually.

The company says that amounts to more than $7 billion over the term of its license. Exelon also argues that the dam itself doesn't produce pollution.

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