The Lancaster County Planning Commission voted 7-1 Monday to endorse a letter to federal regulators opposing a proposed $2.5 billion dam and power turbine on the Susquehanna River.
As of Monday morning, only five of the more than 425 public statements filed with federal regulators support the Cuffs Run pumped storage project. Opponents have cited concerns such as homes at risk, loss of farmland, harm to wildlife, and negative impacts on hikers, fishers and kayakers. Public comment is open through the end of the month.
Two commenters have expressed support for allowing the project to move into the ecological and economic impact study phase, while three others voiced full support for the project.
Check out this video to see more about the land this project would impact:
For more stories visit http://lancasteronline.com
The Cuffs Run pumped storage project is named for a river tributary that flows through the 580 acres of Chanceford Township, York County, just across the Susquehanna River from Manor Township in Lancaster County, that would be flooded to create a new reservoir. Water would be pumped uphill from Lake Clarke, the stretch of flat water created by the nearby Safe Harbor Dam, and then run downhill through turbines to create electricity.
Preliminary assessments estimate the project’s 1,000-acre total footprint would affect 50 properties, three preserved farms, 2 miles of the Mason-Dixon trail in York County and hundreds of acres of forest.
Lancaster County Planning Commission member and Vice President of Land Protection for the Lancaster Farmland Trust Jeb Musser said he’s heard from Lancaster County farmers concerned about the idea that preserved farms in the region could be at risk.
“We don’t want anything out there in the community that will erode confidence in preserved land,” Musser said at today’s planning meeting.
Last Monday, supervisors in Manor Township, which has the river and Lake Clarke as its western border, voted unanimously to endorse that letter of opposition. The three board members who were present, Allan Herr, Missy Phelan and Jim Keck, authorized the township manager to send a letter noting that the township also opposes the project.
The Lancaster County line extends across the river to the York County shoreline, and Manor Township resident Christine Brubaker advocated at Monday’s meeting that township officials continue to explore the project’s history and any direct impact construction would have on the township.
Debate on project benefits
Bill McMahon, who runs York Energy Storage with his partner Jan Sockel, has been working on a version of the project since its original proposal in the 1990s. Another attempt stalled in 2011. McMahon’s current desired timeline would bring the plant online in 2033.
McMahon has described the project’s potential customers as the 60 million customers of the PJM Interconnection electric grid and argued that it could be a key part of the region’s transition to renewable energy.
Environmental groups see the project as destructive to an as-yet-undisturbed stretch of a river already crowded with hydroelectric plants.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission accepted York Energy Storage LLC’s application for a preliminary permit on Feb. 1, starting the clock on a 60-day public comment period before the commission will decide whether to grant the permit.
A preliminary permit would not grant final approval of the project. It would allow York Energy Storage to begin a four-year process of ecological and economic impact studies, estimated to cost nearly $11 million, that must be completed before the commission would consider issuing a license for the project.
The commission’s Office of Public Participation held a meeting in Chanceford Township on Monday to provide information about the permitting process and explain how the public can comment on the project. The office can be reached at 202-502-6595 or OPP@ferc.gov.
LNP correspondent Elaine J. Walmer contributed reporting.
![99% of public comments seek to block $2.5 billion Susquehanna River hydroelectric project [video]](https://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/lancasteronline.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/28/52842bfe-dc8c-11ee-8d27-7f5aea1f097c/65e9cb1b1a2db.image.png?crop=1919%2C1075%2C0%2C0&resize=1919%2C1075&order=crop%2Cresize)
