On Monday, U.S. Rep. Lloyd Smucker (R-PA) joined local elected county and state officials in opposing a hydroelectric pumped storage facility in York County proposed by York Energy Storage, LLC.
In a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), officials said the Cuffs Run storage facility would have devastating impacts on the community and the environment.
“The landscape of the lower Susquehanna River gorge has been recognized by both the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the federal government as a landscape worthy of protection and investment,” the letter said. “This project, if allowed to proceed, would destroy preserved farms, a regional scenic trail, the viewshed of a popular multimodal rail trail, and forested lands needed to help protect the ecological health of this landscape and an already impaired waterway…We stand united in opposition to this project and York Energy Storage LLC’s application.”
The proposal seeks to build a 1.8-mile long dam and power turbine pump storage facility along the Lower Susquehanna River. Critics of the project said the $2.1 billion facility would flood 588 acres of protected landscape and would destroy farms, a regional scenic trail and forests. The proposal has been submitted and withdraw three times, officials said, the last submission occurring in the 1990s. Since then, opposition leaders said, local, state and federal governments have invested more than $100 million to grow the area into an outdoor recreation and tourism economy.
“I am grateful that my colleagues from both sides of the aisle and both sides of the Susquehanna River stand united in opposition to this project. We stand against this project which would uproot families, impact preserved farms, and irreparably damage the natural beauty that so many have worked so hard to preserve along the Susquehanna River,” Smucker said.
Local officials said the proposed dam would fly in the face of county plans.
“With three electric producing dams already along our river, York County produces its fair share of energy, and suffers its fair share of environmental impact. The need to balance energy production and open space preservation is important,” York County President Commissioner Julie Wheeler said. “The proposed dam would contradict our County’s comprehensive plan, our economic action plan, and our ability to best leverage our outdoor economy – all considerable factors that contribute to our County’s economic competitiveness.”