Feds OK a preliminary permit for York County hydroelectric facility in Pennsylvania

From the Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Harrisburg, Pa. — The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is considering its next move in the fight against plans to create a hydroelectric facility in York County, Pa., and build a 1.8-mile-long dam and flood 580 acres of farms, fields and forests at Cuffs Run.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission recently granted a preliminary permit to York Energy Storage LLC for a 1,000- acre pumped-storage hydroelectric facility proposed for Cuffs Run, near the Susquehanna River.

“This is a phenomenal natural area, and this facility is the wrong project, in the wrong place, at the wrong time,” said Paul Smail, vice president for litigation and general counsel at the bay foundation.

“We will review FERC’s order at length and determine how best to proceed. Make no mistake about it, we remain committed in the long term to opposing this project.”

Smail said Chesapeake Bay Foundation questions how FERC could grant the fourth consecutive preliminary permit application for the same project, when others were denied in the past, and again place substantial burdens on the region.

He also noted that FERC’s ruling could lead to severe threats to people and the landscape, a concern expressed by so many.

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As a next step, the foundation could petition FERC within 30 days for a rehearing. If FERC’s decision to grant the permit is left standing, the foundation could then consider appealing to the U.S. Court of Appeals.

In March, the bay foundation filed a motion to intervene in the administrative proceedings and also filed a protest and comments on the project. It previously joined other groups in signing a letter to FERC, urging it to deny the preliminary permit application.

Smail said the foundation stands with the Lancaster Conservancy, Susquehanna River Heritage Area, Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper and other partners in opposing the project, as well local, state and federal officials, and residents and businesses who filed hundreds and hundreds of comments opposing the permit application.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation collected signatures from 462 of its members in Pennsylvania on a petition urging FERC to deny the preliminary permit.

The $2.5 billion project at Cuffs Run would do irrevocable harm to Cuffs Run and the Susquehanna River and includes projected displacement of 40 families. Water would be pumped from the Susquehanna to fill a reservoir and flood roughly 580 acres and homes.

Flooding and clear cutting of habitats will result in increased risk of erosion and destroy vital wildlife habitat along Cuffs Run and the river. The proposal is in direct contradiction to Pennsylvania’s commitments under the 2014 Chesapeake Bay Agreement.

Lost would be carbon sequestering forests, prime farmland, and conservation lands.

Naturally reproducing brook trout would be devastated. Vital habitats for plants and animals classified as of special concern would be obliterated. Gone too would be part of the Mason Dixon Trail, recognized by the National Park Service as a heritage trail.