Several Eastern Shore counties have withdrawn from an appeal of Maryland’s recertification for the Conowingo Dam, a challenge that the state feared could jeopardize a $340 million settlement with Constellation, the dam’s owner.
But the county that hosts the dam, Cecil, is moving forward with the complaint, which argues that counties on the Shore were improperly excluded from the recertification process. The appeal also bemoans the fact that the agreement itself does not guarantee that harmful sediment in the dam’s overflowing reservoir will be drained out.
The deal resolved years of legal wrangling between the dam owner and the state, plus waterkeeper groups that intervened in the litigation. In exchange for recertification — which is needed for Constellation to get a 50-year license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to keep operating the hydropower plant at the dam — Maryland is set to receive $340 million from Constellation for environmental projects at the site. If all goes according to plan for the state, the federal license will incorporate Maryland’s conditions…