Nothing Fishy Here...
O'Brien & Gere has been performing a unique environmental service, an Ichthyoplankton Entrainment Study at the Ginna Nuclear Power Station(Ginna) located in Ontario, NY. Ginna is owned by Constellation Energy.
As the Story Goes...
Ginna draws raw water through a large intake conduit from Lake Ontario to be used as part of the plant’s cooling system. The facility is required by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) to evaluate the potential environmental effects of its water withdrawal from the lake. Based on Ginna’s State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (SPDES) permit, Ginna is required to conduct a one-year study to monitor the entrainment of aquatic organisms in the plant’s cooling water flow.
Since O’Brien & Gere had already assisted the client with evaluating the adult fish drawn in through the intake, it made sense to ask the team to tackle the new task of evaluating the other biota that enter the plant, with an emphasis on identifying and quantifying early life-stage fish.
What’s in Your Intake?
The goal of the study was to determine the abundance, species composition, and life stages of the organisms entrained. Samples were collected by inserting a fine-meshed net into the plant‘s cooling water intake for a prescribed period of time. Ichthyoplankton are then measured and identified by species and life stage in the laboratory with a stereo microscope. Some of the biota observed to date include alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and several species of zooplankton. |
The Process
Entrainment(ehn-tran-mnt)
When passively drifting fish eggs or weakly swimming larval and juvenile fish (ichthyoplankton) enter and/or pass through a plant’s cooling water processes.
Advancing through the intake, larval fish and other aquatic organisms may be subject to physical (e.g.,pumps and filters) and thermal(temperature flux) stresses which may injure or kill those organisms.
The Outfall
Based on previous environmental services provided by O'Brien & Gere, Constellation Energy felt confident moving forward with this entrainment study.
For cost efficiency, Ginna personnel collected the samples, and in accordance with the approved quality assurance and quality control procedures, an independent party, Cornell Biological Field Station, performed the verification activities required.
Early results have suggested that Ginna’s intake is having a minimal impact on the Lake Ontario fishery, potentially saving the client additional expenses related to inlet modifications. |