While Rhode Island and Massachusetts environmental groups believe the Brayton Point Power Plant could be having an adverse effect on Mount Hope Bay, they disagree on what can be done. Located at the confluence of the Taunton and Lee Rivers in Mount Hope Bay, the 1,586-megawatt Brayton Point Station is New England’s largest fossil-fueled power plant. The power station is owned USGen New England, Inc., an affiliate of PG&E Generating Company.
Officials from Save The Bay and the state Department of Environmental Management contend the plant, which takes water from Mount Hope Bay and discharges it at a higher temperature, is causing a serious decline in the bay’s fish population and harming its natural habitats. Still, representatives from the regional office of the federal Environmental Protection Agency say that current testing of the site needs to be fully evaluated before any conclusions can be drawn.
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“Mount Hope Bay fish populations are being decimated by Brayton’s use of about one billion gallons of water each day from Mount Hope Bay, which the plant than returns to the bay at a higher temperature,” said John Torgan, Narragansett Bay Keeper for Save The Bay. “The amount of water the plant is using every day is greater than the total daily freshwater import from rivers and streams to Mount Hope Bay.”
Peyton Fleming, of the EPA, said that though there is “significant concern” about the impact of the power plant on the bay, no new permits can be issued until scientific studies have been completed – a process that is expected to wrap up early next year.
“The studies are being wrapped up right now,” he said. “We are very concerned about what’s happening in the bay and it’s possible that the power plant has a role in that so we have been studying this issue quite extensively. Save The Bay has taken the position that we know enough now, but what we are saying is that we need to finish these studies.”
In 1997, Brayton owners signed an agreement with EPA that would allow the plant to continue to operate under its expired permit until a new permit was issued.
In August, Save The Bay, along with Rhode Island Attorney General Sheldon Whitehouse, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the EPA calling for the release of documents relating to the plant’s impacts on fisheries. Last week Rhode Island officials sent a letter to EPA asking the agency to take immediate action to prevent further damage to the bay.
According to Torgan, after the plant began to increase its water use and heated discharges in 1985, the fish populations in Mount Hope decreased by 87 percent and have not recovered.
“Based on the information we have obtained since the 1997 agreement, we believe there is a sufficient cause for action,” said Torgan. “We are asking EPA to step in and force Brayton to comply with its 1993 permit and the water quality standards of Rhode Island and Massachusetts.”
“We have been watching the impact for a very long time,” said Jan Reitsma, DEM director. “We think it’s hard to deny that there is an impact.”
According to Fleming a draft of the new permit is expected to be issued this spring, and “very possibly” could include an enforcement order that would require the company to comply immediately with the draft permit.
“These things always take longer than you would like,” he said. “But it’s a very serious problem, and we are doing all that we can to get it resolved.”
