NPDES REQUIRED ECOLOGICAL STUDIES
Consolidated Edison Energy of Massachusetts, Inc. (CEEMI)
West Springfield Station
West Springfield, MA
Consolidated Edison’s West Springfield Station
contracted with Kleinschmidt to conduct multiyear
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 CEEMI 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 collected within a twenty-four hour period. Processing of samples involves the identification, enumeration, and measuring of all fish and macrocrustacean species, as well as recording the physical condition of each organism.
Kleinschmidt collects entrainment samples one day and night per week depending on plant operations and the season. 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 collected 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 was conducted by Kleinschmidt in August 2005 to determine the extent of the thermal plume within the Connecticut River that is generated by the discharge of cooling water. Temperature measurements in the vicinity of the discharge were collected by Kleinschmidt’s Connecticut Office field crew.
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.