An October 6 MyEasternShoreMd article reported that the Clean Chesapeake Coalition has submitted formal comments on the Federal Energy Regualtory Commmission’s (FERC’s) draft environmental impact statement (EIS) on the relicensing of the Conowingo Dam.  From the article:

In a news release Thursday, Oct. 2, the coalition said it was concerned with the scope of the impacted area determined and studied by FERC. The study was limited to 14 miles upstream from the dam — including Conowingo Pond — and 4 miles downstream to the mouth of the Susquehanna River. It did not include any portion of the Chesapeake Bay.

“The glaring shortcoming of the Draft EIS was echoed by the numerous federal and state agencies involved in the relicensing proceedings as well as by some of the intervening environmental organizations,” the news release said.  …

“With all that we are doing and spending downstream to improve water quality, to allow the time bomb of accumulated pollution and contamination sitting above the Dam to tick unabated is pure folly,” [Kent County Commissioner and Coalition Chairman Ron Fithian] said.

The article also stated that the Coalition also filed a supplement to its prior motion to intervene in the relicensing proceedings in order to allow Queen Anne’s County, the Coalition’s newest member county, to participate in the proceedings.

As previously reported on Conduit Street, United States Senator Ben Cardin has also criticized the scope of the draft EIS.