Experts warn of 'dead zone' in Chesapeake Bay from pollution

By David Mcfadden

AP Photo/Steve Ruark

Water flows through Conowingo Dam, a hydroelectric dam spanning the lower Susquehanna River near Conowingo, Md., on Thursday, May 16, 2019. Officials once counted on the dam to block large amounts of sediment in the Susquehanna from reaching Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary, but the reservoir behind the dam has filled with sediment far sooner than expected.

When the Conowingo Dam opened to fanfare nearly a century ago, the massive wall of concrete and steel began its job of harnessing water power in northern Maryland. It also quietly provided a side benefit: trapping sediment and silt before it could flow miles downstream and pollute the Chesapeake Bay, the nation's largest estuary.

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