The Oct. 25 news conference at Safe Harbor to see the two fish lift construction projects in progress on the Susquehanna River has been postponed because of flooding at the Holtwood hydroelectric dam construction site.
Large amounts of rainfall and unusually high river flows have put most of the Holtwood construction site under water.
"River flows are about four times stronger than they typically are at this time of the year and about 25 times what they were two weeks ago," said Harry Spagnola, superintendent of Pennsylvania Power & Light Co.'s Holtwood plant. "Construction will be on hold for at least a week until we get the water out of the construction area and estimate any damage that may have occurred."
The problem is only at the construction site and is caused by too much water coming over the dam in too short of a time period, Spagnola said.
Helicopter rides were to be the central part of the news conference to give the news media a chance to photograph the construction projects from the air.
"Unfortunately, there isn't much to photograph right now at the Holtwood project," Spagnola said. "Right now, our attention is focused on the construction area. We will reschedule the news conference as soon as we have the flooding under control."
The news conference was to focus on the two ongoing fish lift construction projects at Safe Harbor and Holtwood. The projects are part of the Susquehanna River Shad Restoration Program, a cooperative effort among four electric utility companies and various government agencies to provide passageways for American shad over the river's four hydroelectric dams.
There have been no flooding problems at the construction site at the Safe Harbor dam.
The Safe Harbor dam is co-owned by Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. and PP&L, which is the sole owner of the Holtwood dam. The two dams are located about eight miles apart on the river in Pennsylvania between the city of Lancaster and the Maryland-Pennsylvania border.
Organizers are working to reschedule the news conference for the week of Nov. 12. An advisory will be sent soon with the new date.