Atlantic Sturgeon Designation Will Impact Mercer and Salem Power Plants

Atlantic Sturgeon Designation Will Impact Mercer and Salem Power Plants

The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has proposed critical habitat designation for the Atlantic Sturgeon, that would reduce impacts to this endangered species in the Delaware River. The proposal would help protect Atlantic Sturgeon in 15 other rivers from Maine to Virginia that are important for migrations, spawning, and juvenile growth. At one time, the Delaware River had millions of Atlantic Sturgeon, but today there are only a few hundred. Particularly the proposal would include protection of the Atlantic Sturgeon in the Delaware River from the crossing of the Trenton Morrisville Route 1 Toll Bridge, downstream for 137 river kilometers to where the main stem river discharges at its mouth into Delaware Bay. This area has been impacted from decades of water intakes and pollution from industrial facilities like the Delaware City Refinery , the PSEG Salem Nuclear Generating Station, and the PSEG Mercer Power Plant that have killed billions of fish.

“The NMFS proposal to protect Atlantic Sturgeon is a step right direction to end the fish kills in the Delaware River and improve our drinking water. For far too long, the industrial facilities along the River have polluted the River and slaughtered millions of fish like the Atlantic Sturgeon. The Atlantic Sturgeon have seen numbers continued to drop and we need immediate action to help this endangered species. The DEP needs to do its job and require a closed-loop system, or cooling towers, at the power plants along the River. The Mercer and Salem power plants have antiquated cooling systems that not only destroys species of fish, but it threatens the Delaware River’s water quality and the supply for drinking water for 15 million people ,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “ DEP has allowed the Salem Nuclear Power Plant and Mercer coal plant to kill billions of fish and pollute this important estuary . The Delaware River belongs to everyone and the failure to have a closed loop system not only adds pollution, but causes nitrification and impacts fisheries and recreation. We must end this pollution because these plants are a not only a hazard to our air, but our waterways.”

T he Mercer plant pulls between 630 and 690 million gallons of water a day from the River, killing around 70 million organisms every year. Two endangered species are killed at the plant, including the Shortnose Sturgeon and the Atlantic Sturgeon. Due to its placement on the Delaware River, the sturgeon near the Mercer plant play a critical role in connecting otherwise genetically isolated populations of these species. The assessment by PSEG’s own biologists is that that the plant harms Atlantic sturgeon. Despite the fact that PSEG itself stopped monitoring for sturgeon at Mercer in 2006, independent biologists have continued monitoring populations in the region and have repeatedly found both species at and near Mercer.

“DEP has continued to allow the slaughter of more than 70 million fish and fish larvae per year at the Mercer Generating Station . The failure to have cooling towers not only threatens sturgeon, but dumps heated water in the River having a bigger impact on the environment. That is why the NMFS is so important to require we take action to stop the fish kills in the Delaware River,” said Jeff Tittel. “This plant robs the river of water and adds to algae blooms threatening the river’s water quality. Many people think the problem with the Mercer coal power plant is its air pollution, but its water pollution too.Not only does it take water in, but the plant releases toxic metals like arsenic, boron, cadmium, mercury, and selenium into the water, which enters the food chain while other emissions add to eutrophication problems causing algal growth, water quality issues, and acidification of the Hamilton Marsh. The River and its watershed are also used for recreational purposes by thousands of people in the region.”

The current permit expired for the Mercer Generating Station in 2011 and DEP’s failure to renew the permit and require the best available technology, cooling towers, violates the Clean Water Act. The expired permit itself shows that Mercer’s cooling system harms shortnose sturgeon and Atlantic sturgeon, two federally listed endangered fish species. In June, the Sierra Club submitted a Notice of Intent to sue the state of New Jersey for violations of the ESA. The ESA prohibits the “take” - killing or harming - of endangered species within the United States. These fish are especially vulnerable because they are slow moving, bottom feeders that reach sexual maturity later in life — anywhere between 5 and 34 years. Females produce thousands of eggs, but they may not spawn every year. The fish return to their natal river to spawn. Some scientists believe the fish may follow cues as they move along the coast, signals that tell them how to navigate to their birth river.

“We need this action to protect the aquatic life in the Delaware River from the Mercer coal plant's destructive water use because Governor Christie and DEP have failed to. These impacts could be mitigated if NJDEP required PSE&G to update its expired permit and install cooling towers or retire the plant. PSEG can reduce its fish kills easily and affordability with the implementation of a closed loop system like installing cooling towers. This technology would reduce the amount of water drawn from the Delaware River, the number of organisms killed by water intakes, and the discharge of superheated water back into the Delaware,” said Jeff Tittel.

The present cooling system at the Salem nuclear power plant is also responsible for killing 3 billion fish a year, a number which would be drastically lower if the plant had the necessary cooling towers. For ten years the DEP have allowed the same permits and for 40 years they’ve ignored the Clean Water Act. After the Sierra Club took them to court they finally issued new permits which ended up being the same as the old ones. The plant has been licensed for another twenty years and therefore should be required to have cooling towers. New Jersey used to require cooling tower gear. These requirements were then taken away, loosening restrictions for plants in New Jersey. A closed-loop system is feasibly both engineering-wise and economically, but has yet to be required in the outdated or new permits at the PSEG plants in Salem.

“For forty years the DEP has been ignored the Clean Water Act and has allowed the Salem Nuclear power plant to pollute this bay and destroy fisheries. Not only do they kill Atlantic Sturgeon, but they dump into the bay many hazardous and toxic chemicals including metals, fungicides, and anti-corrosives. The DEP should really be called the Department of Excessive Pollution because they have failed to put in cooling towers to protect the fish and the environment,” said Jeff Tittel. “In 1990 the DEP required cooling towers at this plant. Then politics came into play and that requirement was removed. That’s why we need a NMFS designation to protect the Atlantic Sturgeon because the DEP has clearly looked the other way.”

The Delaware City Refinery, closer to the Delaware Bay, extracts on average over 303 million gallons of water from the Delaware River daily, for the purpose of cooling plant equipment and units as it processes nearly 200,000 barrels of petroleum per day. In the process, it impinges millions of fish on the intake screens, killing them, and entrains millions more small fish, eggs and larvae that circulate through the refinery's cooling system pipes and get boiled to death. The NMFS designation was prompted by a court settlement between the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Marine Fisheries Service in 2014. The groups pressed the federal agency to designate critical habitats as required by the federal Endangered Species Act. Atlantic Sturgeon spend much of their young lives in the Delaware estuary.

“The Atlantic Sturgeon are extremely sensitive species that are endangered and need to be protected. These species used to be so plentiful in the Delaware River that their roe or caviar was shipped as far away as Russia. Today, there may be as few as 300 spawning adults in the River. PSEG itself admits that the Mercer power plant harms these fish, but they have failed to do anything about it. When you look at PSEG’s record at the Salem Plant, and Mercer Plant, they are nothing but a big utility full of hot air and they must be held accountable. The proposed PennEast Pipeline also threatens the Delaware River, endangered species, and the entire valley,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “The DEP and the Christie Administration have looked the other way when it comes to requiring these power plants have cooling towers to prevent water pollution and fish kills. That is why the public must comment and support this important plan to improve the Delaware River, while protecting water quality and its endangered species.”

To comment on the NMFS plan the public can submit all electronic public comments via the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Go to www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NOAA-NMFS-2015-0107. Click the “Comment Now!” icon, complete the required fields and enter or attach your comments.

Mail: Kimberly B. Damon-Randall, assistant regional administrator, Protected Resources Division, NMFS, Greater Atlantic Regional Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930

There will also be a Public hearing: The July 21, 2016, public hearings will be held at the NMFS, Greater Atlantic Region Fisheries Office, 55 Great Republic Drive, Gloucester, Massachusetts.