Dam operator must help fish
Cobbossee kill rapped by FERC
Copyright © 2001 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
GARDINER — A federal agency has ordered the operator of the Cobbossee Stream hydroelectric dam to devise a plan that allows migrating alewives and eels to pass safely through the barrier.
Last fall, thousands of those types of fish were killed in power-generating turbines at the dam owned by American Tissue Co. as they attempted to swim from upstream freshwater lakes and ponds to the Kennebec River. Their final destination was to be the Atlantic Ocean.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which licenses hydroelectric dams, wants CHI Operations, Inc. of Sanford — the dam's operator —to submit a detailed plan by Oct. 30 to ensure downstream fish passage protection. The Maine Department of Marine Resources will also be involved in the planning process.
In early October 2001, at least 1,000 "chopped-up juvenile alewives" were discovered immediately below the power station, and approximately 1,000 eels were found in the same area later in the month, according to a FERC letter mailed recently to the dam's operator. Interior turbine blades spin rapidly when water rushes through.
"If necessary, the plan should identify physical changes to the project that need to be taken, including the installation of fish passage facilities," FERC biologist George Taylor wrote.
Doug Watts, an Augusta resident who monitors local fisheries, welcomed the news.
"It's definitely an improvement for what's been happening over there. I'm glad that the FERC is taking this seriously and doing it in a timely fashion," he said Thursday. Watts reported the fish kills last October.
A large pipe that goes underwater leads to the turbines. Fish are drawn into the intake by currents, Watts said.
In the FERC letter, Taylor said the hydro station's operator tried to lessen fish kills last October by reducing, but not ceasing, electrical generation at the site. That maneuver built up more water behind the dam which in turn allowed more fish to swim over the spillway.
"This provided some spill over the dam crest and likely increased the survival of downstream-migrating alewives through surface-water spill," Taylor wrote.
The Attorney General's Office got involved with the matter in mid-October 2001 when the dam's operator was asked to immediately implement "any reasonable accommodations" to safeguard downstream migrations. CHI Operations responded by opening some deepwater gates that allowed some fish to pass through safely, according to the letter.
In a June 28, 2002 report from the operator to FERC, the company proposed keeping open a deepwater gate from Sept. 15 through Nov. 30; to keep in contact with people upstream during that period; and to better anticipate natural water flows that could increase fish migrations on certain days.
That report also called for making daily visits to the dam's head pond and to keep water flowing over the spillway if alewives are spotted in the pond.
Telephone calls to Kevin Webb, a spokesman for the dam's operator, were not returned.
Calls to Commissioner George LaPointe of the Deportment of Marine Resources also were not returned Thursday. He has received a copy of Taylor's letter to CHI Operations.
Jeff Reardon, the New England conservation director of Trout Unlimited, said he applauds FERC's initiative to save the migratory fish on Cobbossee Stream.
"Fish passage isn't just a matter of getting fish upstream. You have to get them downstream, too. The one thing that concerns me is that if you look at the deadline (for the operator to submit the plan) it's going to come too late this year," he said. The fish move downstream in October.
Watts said that young eels, which are born in the ocean, move up the Kennebec River and are small enough to wiggle through slight cracks in the dam to pass up Cobbossee Stream and into lakes and ponds. When they are adults — and they can be over 25 years old — they journey to the Atlantic Ocean, near Bermuda, to spawn.
Alewives are stocked in the stream above the third dam and find their way into the lakes and ponds. As juveniles, they attempt to return to the Kennebec River and the ocean.
Watts, a member of the Friends of Kennebec Salmon, said he will sue the dam's operator if alewives and eels are killed in large numbers in turbines this fall. He said that kind of death is no different than fish kills by illegal chemical releases from factories.
Dan McGillvray — 621-5642 dmcgillvray@centralmaine.com