Greenbytes: October 14, 2003 Edition

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Greetings from EPA New England. We hope you find this edition of Greenbytes useful and we encourage you to give us feedback. For information on subscribing or unsubscribing see the section at the end of this message.

Feature: Discharge Permit Issued for Region’s Largest Fossil Fuel Power Plant

After six years of study, EPA’s New England Office and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection this month issued a water discharge permit for the Brayton Point Station power plant in Somerset, MA, the largest fossil fuel burning power plant in all of New England.

The jointly issued permit will substantially limit the power plant’s water withdrawals from Mount Hope Bay and heated discharges back into the bay. The power plant currently withdraws up to one billion gallons of water a day from Mount Hope Bay and discharges it back into the bay at temperatures up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit warmer.

The new permit specifically requires that the power plant reduce its annual heat discharges to the bay by 96 percent and reduce its water withdrawals from the bay by 94 percent.

The final permit comes after careful consideration of more than 150 public comments submitted in response to the draft discharge permit that was issued in July 2002.

"After 12 months of careful evaluation of these comments, we continue to believe that there is strong scientific evidence showing that Brayton Point’s cooling system has done substantial harm to the Mount Hope Bay ecosystem and that stronger controls are needed to reduce those impacts," said EPA NE Regional Administrator Robert W. Varney, in announcing the permit on Oct. 6.

Discharges from the power plant have drastically altered the thermal profile of Mount Hope Bay, making the bay at times inhospitable to native fish species and interfering with normal fish migration. In addition, the power plant uses bay water for cooling which contains billions of fish eggs, larvae and juveniles, most or all of which are destroyed when they are pulled into the facility.

Monitoring data collected by the company has shown that the bay’s fish populations, including economically significant species such as winter flounder and tautog, have declined to drastically low levels.

EPA also evaluated the feasibility and expense of the technological improvements that would likely be needed to meet the permit conditions. The studies showed that the facility could comply with the permit by using well-established technology and that the work would not have adverse impacts on the region’s energy supply or consumer electric rates. The cost of making the improvements should add no more than 6 to 18 cents a month to the average household electric bill.

The power plant, owned by US Gen New England, a subsidiary of the PG&E National Energy Group, has 30 days to decide if it wants to appeal the permit. If the permit is not appealed, EPA would expect to have the modern cooling equipment installed over the next three to four years.

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For more information on the events throughout New England, call NESEA at (413) 774-6051.