210 SOUTH CROSS STREET, SUITE 101 CHESTERTOWN,MARYLAND 21620 PHONE: (410) 810-1381 | FAX: (410) 810-1383 WWW.CLEANCHESAPEAKECOALITION.COM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Charles D. MacLeod 410-810-1381 or info@cleanchesapeakecoalition CLEAN CHESAPEAKE COALITION FILES SUPPLEMENTAL TESTIMONY TO U.S. SENATE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CONOWINGO DAM CHESTERTOWN, MD (May 16, 2014): The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works’ Subcommittee on Water and Wildlife, Chaired by Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, conducted a Subcommittee field hearing, entitled “Finding Cooperative Solutions to Environmental Concerns with the Conowingo Dam to Improve the Health of the Chesapeake Bay,” on May 5, 2014 at the Conowingo Dam Visitors Center. In response to the panel testimony provided during the Subcommittee field hearing, the Clean Chesapeake Coalition has filed supplemental written testimony. This supplemental testimony is in addition to testimony and questions submitted by the Coalition to the Subcommittee prior to the May 5 field hearing. “We are grateful to Senator Cardin for arranging a field hearing of the Subcommittee he chairs at Conowingo Dam and about the dam’s environmental impacts on the Chesapeake Bay; however, we were disappointed by the tone and substance of the seemingly orchestrated testimony of a handpicked panel who for the most part based their statements on a report called the Lower Susquehanna River Watershed Assessment that started in 2011 and has not yet been made available for public scrutiny or for scientific peer review,” said Ron Fithian, Kent County Commissioner and Coalition Chair. “We applaud those in influential positions who are willing to bring attention and focus to the downstream environmental impacts associated with Conowingo Dam and we want to work with them for the betterment of the Bay, but what transpired at the field hearing was a step backwards in the coordination and implementation of effective Bay restoration efforts,” Commissioner Fithian added. In its supplemental testimony, the Coalition challenges certain statements and conclusions offered by field hearing panelists and registers concerns regarding (i) increased vulnerabilities to the Bay due to climate change predictions (increased frequency and intensity of storms means more scouring of accumulated pollutants from Conowingo Pond); (ii) cherry-picking preliminary LSRWA “findings” to fit a “just do your WIPs” narrative; (iii) disregard for the voices of Maryland local government officials; and (iv) a misplaced sensitivity to the estimated costs of dredging and maintaining Conowingo Pond to regain trapping capacity while Maryland taxpayers have been committed to spending more than $14 billion under the State’s WIP on programs, policies and practices that will reduce pollution loadings by fractions compared to Susquehanna River/Conowingo Pond loadings to the Bay. A copy of the Coalition’s supplemental testimony is attached and can be found on the Coalition’s website (CleanChesapeakeCoaliton) under the “Coalition Correspondence – Conowingo Dam” tab. The objective of the Clean Chesapeake Coalition is to pursue improvement to the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay in a prudent and fiscally responsible manner – through research, coordination and advocacy.
Posted on: Thu, 22 May 2014 23:46:41 +0000
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