NPDES REQUIRED ECOLOGICAL STUDIES
Consolidated Edison Energy of Massachusetts, Inc.
West Springfield, MA
Consolidated Edison’s West Springfield Station contracted with Kleinschmidt
to conduct multi-year impingement, entrainment, offshore
ichthyoplankton, thermal plume mapping and benthic monitoring at their once-through condenser cooling water fossil station on the Connecticut
River. This work is required by EPA under the Station’s recently issued
NPDES permit. In addition, Kleinschmidt has been retained to provide 316(b)
related expertise to Consolidated Edison for interactions with the Massachusetts
Department of Environmental Protection and the EPA. Our efforts resulted
in successful settlement of a potential appeal of NPDES permit conditions
covering ecological studies.
Kleinschmidt conducts impingement sampling once a week. Three samples are taken within a twenty-four hour period. Samples are taken back to Kleinschmidt’s Connecticut office for processing. Processing of samples involves the identification, enumeration, and measuring of all fish and macrocrustacean species, as well as recording the condition of each organism.
Kleinschmidt collects entrainment samples one day and night per week depending on plant operations. This study will continue for at least one year. Samples are taken back to Kleinschmidt’s Connecticut office for fish larvae and egg identification.
Offshore Ichthyoplankton samples are taken weekly from March to September. Two samples are collected from three different stations within the vicinity of the cooling water intake structure. As with entrainment, the samples are processed for fish larvae and egg identification.
The Thermal Plume Study to be conducted by Kleinschmidt will be done to determine the extent of the thermal plume within the Connecticut River that is generated by the discharge of cooling water. This study will be conducted during either an extremely low flow event or the seasonal low flow period. It is anticipated this event will occur in August/September of 2005.
Benthic monitoring was conducted to characterize the impact of the thermal discharge on benthos. A total of 30 samples were collected. The samples were processed in Kleinschmidt’s Connecticut Office to identify individual organisms to species/taxa.
For more information contact Chris Tomichek.