PARENT SESSION
PS13 - Risk Assessment of Non-Chemical Stressors
Sunday, 17 November 2002
8:00 AM to 6:30 PM
Exhibit Hall
(P132) Application of Ecological Risk Assessment to Entrainment and Impingement Effects from Electric Power Plant Operation.
Friant, Stephen*,1, Lyons, Larry1, Dimitry, John1, Sanford, Kanija2, 1 ENTRIX, Inc, New Castle, DE2 Conectiv, Wilmington, DE
ABSTRACT- The application of ecological risk assessment to physical stressors has had a slow start but has been gathering momentum over the last several years. This paper will present a framework and methodology that was used to assess the ecological risks of fish and shellfish from entrainment and impingement in the vicinity of a cooling water intake structure (CWIS) from electric power plant. This study was conducted as part of the CWA 316(b) rule requiring an assessment of population level impacts of the CWIS. Entrainment is focused generally on eggs and larvae that can pass through the intake and impingement is focused on juveniles and adults organisms that become impinged on the intake screens. Two years of field studies were conducted and the data was used to quantify the exposed populations. An effects-driven ecological risk assessment was conducted using several standard fishery impact models. Model results were integrated to provide a multidimensional estimate of risk.
Key words: ecological risk , entrainment and impingement, CWA 316(b)