New Jersey Currents|Online, Summer 2009 - Update

map courtesy Barnegat Bay Estuary Program

The Barnegat Bay watershed and estuary is one of New Jersey's and the nation's most valued eco-treasures. The watershed, which covers most of Ocean County, is home to over 500,000 people year round, with double that number due to summer. The estuary covers 42 miles of shoreline from the Point Pleasant Canal to Little Egg Harbor Inlet and is protected from the open ocean by a system of barrier beaches and dunes. It is home to crabs, fish, birds, and other wildlife.

The continued economic and environmental health of the watershed and estuary is dependent on the continued health of its waters. Millions of dollars from local, state and federal funds are expended every year to restore and maintain the health of the bay and the tributaries and waterways that flow into the estuary, including Oyster Creek and Forked River.

The largest industrial polluter of the bay is the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station (OCNGS). Built before the federal Clean Water Act was enacted, OCNGS draws in 1.7 billion gallons of water from the Forked River every day, passes it through it an antiquated once through cooling system and spits the water at an elevated temperature out into the Oyster Creek at the mouth of the Barnegat Bay.

This daily intake and outtake of water stresses 3% of the water volume of bay every day.
According to a 2001 Journal of Coastal Research study: "…construction and operation of the OCNGS caused the loss and alteration of habitat in Forked River and Oyster Creek. Dredging and construction of the intake and discharge canals destroyed most of the original freshwater and low salinity habitats in the affected portions of the streams. The diversion and misuse of water at the Station changed the salinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen levels in both streams such that they became similar to those of the bay." (M.J. Kennish, (2001) State of the Estuary and Watershed: An Overview. Journal of Coastal Research. SI 32: 243)

These changes to the ecosystem have resulted in millions of marine life being destroyed; estuary habitat destroyed and/or altered impingement; entrainment of fish and turtles; and loss of oxygen to the bay. Two additional stresses on the bay include the release of radionuclides and now a tritium (radioactive compound) leak into the canal.

This type of ecosystem destruction has since become prohibited by law, in most circumstances. Federal law now obligates OCNGS to implement Section 316(b) of the federal Clean Water Act, which requires that the "location, design, construction, and capacity of cooling water intake structures reflect the best technology available for minimizing adverse environmental impact." OCNGS' New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Permit (NJPDES) expired in 1999 and has since operated on a permit extension that was granted until federal Phase II Rules of the Clean Water Act were decided by the Supreme Court.

With that decision handed down, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has the authority to require OCNGS to comply with the Clean Water Act and issue a NJPDES permit that would require OCNGS to install cooling towers for the continued operation of the plant. This would reduce the water flow by 75%- 95%

The New Jersey Environmental Federation and it coalition members have been petitioning Governor Corzine to issue the NJDPDES permit for the past four years, but nothing has been done. Allowing the continuing destruction and degradation of the Barnegat Bay when a remedy can and should be implemented is not only a dereliction of his duty as Governor, but immoral as well. 

What Can You Do?

Write to the Corzine Administration and ask that they require cooling towers at Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant.