PRINTER'S NO. 1932
No. 142 Session of 1991
INTRODUCED BY COY, COLE AND WAMBACH, JUNE 11, 1991
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON RULES, JUNE 11, 1991
A RESOLUTION
1 Commending Philadelphia Electric Company for its environmental
2 conservation efforts relating to reintroducing shad to the
3 Susquehanna River by constructing a fish lift at the
4 Conowingo Dam and by improving water quality in the river and
5 Chesapeake Bay.
6 WHEREAS, The American shad population in the lower
7 Susquehanna River and Chesapeake Bay had declined substantially
8 in recent decades due to overfishing, water pollution and river
9 dams; and
10 WHEREAS, The completion of a $12 million fish lift, known as
11 the Conowingo East Fish Lift, at the 63-year-old Conowingo Dam
12 is Philadelphia Electric Company's signature project towards
13 environmental protection in the Susquehanna Valley and marks a
14 substantial investment in the cooperative effort to repopulate
15 the river with American shad, once a prime recreational and
16 commercial species on the East Coast; and
17 WHEREAS, The Conowingo East Fish Lift compliments an existing
18 smaller lift on the west side of the dam which has operated
19 since 1972; and
1 WHEREAS, The fish passageway constructed by Philadelphia
2 Electric Company is the largest in the United States, utilizes
3 the best technology currently available to attract and collect
4 fish, and is designed to pass up to 750,000 American shad and 5
5 million river herring each season; and
6 WHEREAS, In addition to the fish lift, Philadelphia Electric
7 Company will maintain minimal water flows and aerate river water
8 to further improve water quality and fish habitation in the
9 river and bay; and
10 WHEREAS, Statistics gathered indicate that the American shad
11 population passing through the fish passageway is twice the
12 number in 1991 that it was in 1990; therefore be it
13 RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives commend
14 Philadelphia Electric Company for its environmental conservation
15 efforts relating to reintroducing shad to the Susquehanna River
16 by constructing a fish lift at the Conowingo Dam and by
17 improving water quality in the river and Chesapeake Bay.
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