PP&L, Inc.'s Holtwood tailrace fishing area on the Susquehanna River in southern Lancaster County, Pa., will be closed, effective May 1, while demolition work proceeds to close down the company's nearby, coal-fired Holtwood 17 power plant.

A popular fishing spot since the power plant began operations in the 1950s, tailrace is expected to reopen by June, 2000, according to Mark Arbogast, superintendent for PP&L, Inc.'s Holtwood land management area. If demolition work is completed ahead of schedule, the fishing area could reopen sooner.

Arbogast said the other recreational areas maintained and operated by PP&L, Inc. at Holtwood will not be affected. The other facilities include: Otter Creek Campground, Pequea Creek Campground, Shenk's Ferry, Lock 12, the Holtwood Recreation Area, Kelly's Run Trail, Pinnacle Overlook, the Pequea Boat Ramp and the York Furnace Boat Ramp.

"We regret any inconvenience for the people who fish at tailrace," said Arbogast, "but we must close the facility temporarily in the interests of public safety since there will be demolition and blasting work at Holtwood 17, just several hundred yards away."

Last August, PP&L, Inc. announced that the coal-fired Holtwood 17 would close on May 1 but that the adjacent hydroelectric plant operated by the company would continue to operate. Harry Spagnola, plant superintendent at Holtwood, said that Holtwood 17, built in 1954, is being closed as a result of an extensive assessment of the cost effectiveness of all of PP&L, Inc.'s power plants.

According to Spagnola, Holtwood 17 is costly to maintain and produces only about 2 percent of PP&L, Inc.'s annual electricity generation.