Conowingo: Voided license is water over the dam; let’s float a better deal to cut pollution.

Last month’s ruling by U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia voiding the license issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to operate the Conowingo Dam drew predictable responses. Environmental groups hailed the Dec. 20 decision as a victory for efforts to address the tons of pollution, including sediment and nutrients, that was once trapped by the Susquehanna River structure but now regularly passes through the dam and into the Chesapeake Bay. Meanwhile, Baltimore-based Constellation Energy, Conowingo’s owner, denounced the decision as an “attack on the state’s largest source of renewable energy” putting at risk hundreds of millions of dollars the company had already pledged toward environmental programs.