The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing that instead of making power plants prevent fish kills when taking in cooling water… the plants be allowed to replace or pay for the fish. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Transcript
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing that instead of making power plants prevent fish kills when taking in cooling water… the plants be allowed to replace or pay for the fish. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
EPA Administrator Christie Whitman says plants using cooling water from rivers or lakes that are more ecologically sensitive will have to put up guards to reduce the number of fish killed in water intakes. But the EPA proposes letting local permitting officials make the call whether the fish and aquatic life are worth the extra cost. If not, the plants won’t have to worry about the fish kills. David Gordon is the senior attorney with the environmental group, Riverkeeper. Gordon says industries and power plants should build cooling towers and use the same water over and over.
“And that can cut the amount of water that’s used by 95-percent and upwards. And since the killing of the fish goes on a gallon by gallon basis – the more water you take in the more fish you kill – clearly cutting the amount of water that’s used would be the most protective measure.”
But the EPA says it doesn’t want to tie down industry with a one size fits all requirement. The agency will be taking public comments about the proposal over the next few months.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, this is Lester Graham.