WHAT YOU CAN DO TO STOP THIS KILLING:
Please write an email or a
letter to:
Mr. Jeffrey Pidot, Maine Attorney General's Office and
Mr. Dana P. Murch, Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
The information below should be helpful:
Chopped up American eel, American Tissue Dam, Cobbossee Stream, Gardiner,
Maine. Oct. 5, 2002.
Friends of the Kennebec Salmon
PO Box 2473 · Augusta, Maine · 04338 · 626-8178
Mr. James Cassida
Enforcement Division
Maine Department of Environmental Protection
Land & Water Quality Bureau
State House Station 17
Augusta, ME 04333-0017
Mr. Dana Murch
Dams & Hydropower Supervisor
Maine Department of Environmental Protection
State House Station 17
Augusta, ME 04333-0017
Oct. 6, 2002
Dear Sirs:
On behalf of Friends of the Kennebec Salmon, a non-profit organization incorporated
under the laws of the State of Maine, I am writing to request immediate
enforcement action against the owners of the American Tissue Dam for causing
violations of state and federal water quality laws at Cobbosseecontee Stream
in Gardiner, Maine on 5 October 2002.
I. Details of the Cobbossee Stream Fish Kill on 5 October 2002
On 5 October 2002 between 2:30 and 3 p.m. I witnessed a large (1,000+) fish
kill of juvenile alewives at this dam and also observed approximately 12
large American eels killed at this dam. The alewives were killed at the
dam spillway; the eels were killed at the dam turbines.
During my visit, flow was occuring at the dam from three locations:
a) The turbine outfall, approx. 300 feet below the spillway.
b) A three-foot gap in the spillway flashboards.
c) A three foot dia. pipe at the base of the spillway.
During my visit, I noticed an approx. three foot section of the flashboards
had been removed from the dam spillway near the turbine intake, presumably
to provide some measure of downstream passage for fish. Although this gap
was clogged with logs and debris, some water was spilling through it.
I observed no spill at the dam except through this gap in the flashboards.
The spill from this gap was falling down the concrete face of the dam as
a thin (1 inch or less) surface film on the concrete. The spilled water
then struck a flat concrete slab at the base of the spillway. This slab
is approximately 3 feet in width and extends along the entire base of the
spillway, which rests on bedrock ledge. There is no plunge pool at the base
of the spillway.
At approx. 2:30 p.m. I was standing 300 feet below the dam spillway taking
pictures of chopped up eels when I began to see dead and injured alewives
floating down the bypass channel between the spillway and turbine outfall.
I walked up the bypass and saw more dead and injured alewives coming down.
When I walked up to the spillway, I saw a very large number of baby alewives
pouring through the gap in the flashboards. The alewives were being carried
in the plume of water pouring from the gap in the flashboards. The alewives
were striking the flat concrete slab along the base of the spillway, which
had only 1/2 inch of water on it. The impact from this collision was so
severe that the alewives were literally bouncing 4 to 7 feet in the air
after striking the concrete slab. Many were dead as soon as they landed,
others were so injured as to not be able to swim correctly and quickly sank
to the bottom or struggled feebly against the current and were carried downstream.
The school of alewives continued to pour over the spillway for about 20
minutes in the fashion described above. At some points, as many as 50 alewives
per second were coming over the dam, striking the concrete slab with their
bodies, and bouncing into the air like popcorn. Many landed on dry sections
of the ledge below the dam. I put them back in the water but most were already
dead from the impact of hitting the concrete slab head first.
Based on my eyewitness observations, there is NO opportunity for alewives
travelling over the spillway to avoid striking the concrete slab at the
base of the spillway. The dam spillway has no plunge pool and no place for
alewives going over the dam to fall without striking the concrete slab or
bare ledge.
Based on acceleration due to gravity and the height of the dam spillway,
I estimate these alewives were striking the concrete slab at speeds in excess
of 30 miles per hour, with less than 1/2 inch of water to cushion their
impact.
At approx. 3 p.m. alewives stopped coming over the dam. At that time I went
upstream and observed a large number of alewives in the dam impoundment
that had not yet attempted to migrate downstream.
After 3 p.m. I knelt down to the water and closely observed the alewives
that were still alive in the small pools below the dam spillway. Most of
the alewives had readily visible cuts, gashes, blood-filled eyes and significant
scale loss. There were also large numbers of dead alewives in the bottom
of the pools and potholes in the bypass section of the stream above the
turbine outfall. I observed many dead alewives within ten feet of the dam
spillway with one or both eyes blown out of the sockets; heads and mouths
completely crushed; significant bleeding in the eyes,skull and bodies. Some
had their backs broken in several places. In addition to these traumatic
injuries, most of the dead alewives I observed also suffered significant
scale loss and bruising.
Immediately prior to this incident, at approx. 1:30 p.m. I walked along
Cobbossee Stream from the American Tissue Dam to the Gardiner Paperboard
Dam. In this area I observed approx. 12 adult American eels that were dead
and chopped in half or in pieces. The American Tissue dam was generating
during the time of my visit. My observations of the "deep pipe"
at the base of the dam show that there is an insufficient zone of passage
in the upstream side of the pipe to allow for the passage of fish through
it. In various correspondence in 2001, the dam owner alleged that fish can
use this pipe to move downstream past the dam. During the time of my visit
I observed no fish using it nor could I figure out how fish could use it,
since the flow was coming from leakage coming out of small open gaps in
the upstream end of the pipe. These observations were obtained by crawling
all the way into the pipe on my stomach.
II. Specific violations of law that have occurred and are occuring due to
the operations of the American Tissue Dam.
A. The owner of the American Tissue Dam has caused Cobbosseecontee Stream
to be in violation of its assigned water quality standards under Title 38
M.R.S.A. Section 464 et seq. by causing the Stream to be uninhabitable for
several native fish species that are indigenous to the stream.
These species include the Alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) and the American
eel (Anguilla rostrata). Both species must migrate from sections of Cobbosseecontee
Stream above the American Tissue Dam to the Atlantic Ocean to complete their
lifecycle.
The operations of the American Tissue Dam are now preventing these fish
species from completing their lifecycle by killing them and severely injuring
them in large numbers as they attempt to migrate downstream past the dam.
My observations on 5 October 2002 demonstrate the dam owner has provided
no method by which these species can safely migrate past this dam and continue
their lifecycle. My observations on 5 October 2002 demonstrate that significant
numbers of these species attempting to migrate past this dam are being killed
or severely injured at the dam turbine and the dam spillway. These deaths
and injuries are directly due to the dam owners' failure to provide safe
egress for these species at the American Tissue Dam.
Because the downstream migration season for these fish species on Cobbosseecontee
Stream has just begun, the lack of safe egress at the American Tissue Dam
in the month of October 2002 will result in the death and injury of thousands
of these two indigenous fish species in the coming weeks, as it did in October
2000 and 2001. On 5 October 2002 I witnessed a number of large schools of
alewives directly above the dam that will be attempting to migrate past
the dam within the next several days.
In August 2000, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection found that
a fish kill of juvenile alewives of similar magnitude at the Benton Falls
Dam on the Sebasticook River in October, 1999 caused a violation of Maine
water quality standards. In the Benton Falls dam fish kill incident, the
Department found the failure of the Benton Falls dam owner to provide safe
egress for juvenile alewives at the dam, "caused the Sebasticook River
to violate its assigned water quality standards under Title 38 M.R.S.A.
Section 464 et seq." (See Administrative Consent Agreement and Enforcement
Order, In the Matter of Benton Falls Associates, Benton, Maine, August 2000.
p. 3).
Records show that upon detection of the fish kill at the Benton Falls Dam
in October, 1999 the State of Maine instructed the dam owner to take immediate
action to provide safe egress for juvenile alewives attempting to migrate
past the dam so as to avoid any further fish kills. The dam owner complied
with this instruction and no further deaths of juvenile alewives occurred
at that dam in the fall of 1999.
In an earlier action, the State of Maine held that a violation of State
water quality standards occurs if operation of a hydro-power dam creates
conditions that prevent the existence of fish species indigenous to the
water body upon which the dam is located (See June 13, 1997 Motion to Intervene,
Protest and Comments of the State of Maine re: Kennebec Hydro Developers
Group Request for Amendment of License Conditions, April 1997).
In this instance, the State of Maine informed the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission that indefinite delays in providing fish passage at Kennebec
Hydro Power Development Group dams on the Kennebec and Sebasticook Rivers
are a violation of Maine's water quality standards. At p. 8 of the Motion
to Intervene, Protest and Comments ... the State of Maine declared:
"Maine's water quality standards, as construed by Maine's highest court,
the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, include 'designated use' of habitat necessary
for indigenous anadromous fish as an essential 'water quality' standard
.... The water quality classifications applicable to all KHDG's projects
include 'habitat for fish and other aquatic life' among the legally 'designated
uses' of those waters, and in narrative criteria specify that the 'receiving
waters shall be of sufficient quality to support all species of fish indigenous
to the receiving waters ...'" (FN: 38 M.R.S.A. §465, sub-§3,
sub-§4, ¶C.).
As demonstrated by the above citations of Maine State Law by the State of
Maine, water quality standards for Cobbosseecontee Stream (a Class B waterway)
require that the stream shall be of "sufficient quality to support
all species of fish indigenous to the receiving waters ..."
On 5 October 2002 the owners of the American Tissue Dam violated 38 M.R.S.A.
§465, sub-§3 by killing and severely injuring thousands of fish
indigenous to Cobbosseecontee Stream, thereby preventing the stream from
being capable of supporting several indigenous species, specifically the
Alewife and the American eel.
On 5 October 2002 the owners of the American Tissue Dam violated 38 M.R.S.A.
§465, sub-§3 by failing to provide safe and convenient access
for indigenous Alewives attempting to migrate to that portion of Cobbosseecontee
Stream below the American Tissue Dam. Anadromous alewives born in Cobbosseecontee
Stream require safe egress to marine habitat in order to complete their
lifecycle. The present failure of the owners of the American Tissue Dam
to provide safe and convenient egress for these fish at their dam is directly
preventing Alewives from maintaining a population in Cobbosseecontee Stream,
thereby preventing the stream to be of "sufficient quality to support
all species of fish indigenous to the receiving waters ..." as required
under 38 M.R.S.A. §465, sub-§3.
B. The discharge of dead fish, fish parts and entrails into Cobbosseecontee
Stream by the owners of the American Tissue Dam is a violation of the owners'
state and federal discharge licenses under the Clean Water Act.
Records at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection show the Department
has issued a discharge license to the owners of the American Tissue Dam,
Ridgewood Maine Hydro Partners, under the Clean Water Act. The Maine DEP
discharge license number for the American Tissue Dam is W-008081. This license
allows for the discharge of 7,200 gallons per day of non-contact cooling
water from the American Tissue Dam into Cobbosseecontee Stream. This license
does not allow Ridgewood Maine Hydro Partners to discharge any other materials
or substances into Cobbosseecontee Stream at the American Tissue Dam. This
license does not allow Ridgewood Maine Hydro Partners to discharge dead
fish, fish parts and fish entrails into Cobbosseecontee Stream.
My observations at the American Tissue Dam on 5 October 2002 found that
thousands of dead fish as well as fish parts and fish entrails were being
discharged into Cobbosseecontee Stream by the American Tissue Dam.
One of these discharges occurred when more than 1,000 juvenile Alewives
attempting to migrate past the dam were killed and dismembered after striking
the concrete slab at the base of the spillway. This discharge resulted in
the deposition of a very large number of dead fish, fish parts and entrails
in that section of Cobbosseecontee Stream directly below the American Tissue
Dam spillway.
The second discharge on 5 October 2002 occurred in that reach of Cobbosseecontee
Stream between the American Tissue dam turbine outfall and the impoundment
of the Gardiner Paperboard dam, approx. 1/3 mile downstream. Into this reach
were discharged a number of decapitated American eels, eel body parts and
entrails. These dead fish, fish parts and fsih entrails were discharged
into Cobbosseecontee Stream from the American Tissue Dam turbines, located
approx. 300 feet below the American Tissue Dam spillway.
The discharge of dead fish, fish parts and fish entrails into Cobbosseecontee
Stream by the American Tissue Dam on 5 October 2002 constitutes a clear
violation of the discharge license issued by the State of Maine for this
dam under the Clean Water Act, since the discharge license issued by the
Maine Department of Environmental Protection for this dam does not allow
for the discharge of such materials into the stream.
III. Repeated violations; failure to abate.
The fish kill that I observed at the American Tissue Dam on 5 October 2002
was not an isolated, one-time incident. I have personally documented and
reported to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Maine Department
of Marine Resources significant fish kills of juvenile alewives and adult
American eels at this dam in the fall of 2000 and the fall of 2001. Extensive
narrative and photographic documentation of the fish kills at this dam in
2000 and 2001 has been gathered by the staff of the Maine Department of
Marine Resources. Mr. Lewis Flagg of the Maine Department of Marine Resources
has informed me that he has documented many severe fish kills of adult American
eels at the American Tissue Dam ever since the dam was rebuilt in the early
1980s.
A particularly severe kill of hundreds of adult American eels on Monday,
October 22, 2001 was investigated and documented by staff of the Maine
Department of Marine Resources, and reported on the front page of the Kennebec
Journal on October 23, 2001. This article quoted Maine DMR officials who
stated that up to one thousand eels had been killed at the dam the previous
evening. The story quoted fisheries biologist Matthew O'Donnell of Maine
DMR stating that, "he saw eels' mouths moving even though they were
floating in pieces. 'The poor things were still alive,' he said."
The entire body of documentation and photographs of fish kills at this dam
observed by myself and Maine DMR in 2000 and 2001 has been provided to the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the owner of the American Tissue Dam,
and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
This body of documentation shows the owner of the American Tissue Dam is
completely aware that the dam kills significant numbers of alewives and
American eels; and that employees of the dam owner have personally observed
fish kills at the dam.
In an Oct. 24, 2001 e-mail, an employee of the dam owner stated: "On
Friday, Oct. 19, 2001, we were notified by our site supervisor that on the
previous night he had noted vibrations in the turbine and suspected that
eels may have been entrained."
In a June 28, 2002 letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the
dam owner stated that on October 1, 2001: "Project staff notified CHI's
office in Andover, Massachusetts of dead juvenile alewives observed in the
bypass reach and tailrace areas of the Project. Staff were unsure if these
mortalities were due to turbine entrainment or passage over the flashboards
of the dam."
My observations on 5 October 2002 corroborate both of the dam owner's statements
as cited above. Fish are being killed at the American Tissue dam spillway
and the dam turbines.
The above facts show this issue is far from new. This dam owner has caused
several of the largest fish kills documented in the entire State of Maine
during the years 2000, 2001 and now 2002. This dam owner has acknowledged
that its operations can cause the death of thousands of migrating fish.
The Maine Department of Marine Resources and the Maine Department of the
Attorney General have repeatedly informed the dam owner of these facts and
have repeatedly asked the dam owner to stop killing fish. On 5 October 2002
I personally witnessed this dam killing thousands of fish even with the
implementation of the several mechanisms the dam owner has represented will
stop the killing of fish.
The documentary record for 2000, 2001 and previous years clearly shows this
dam owner refuses to take actions that actually stop the killing of fish
at its dam; that its alleged efforts to stop killing fish have completely
failed to stop the killing of fish; and that at this moment the American
Tissue Dam is killing fish and will continue to kill significant numbers
of fish until the fall migrations of alewives and eels have ended in late
October 2002.
Based on the facts presented above, Friends of the Kennebec Salmon requests
the Maine Department of Environmental Protection initiate immediate enforcement
action against the owner of the American Tissue Dam for violation of Maine
water quality statutes for the incident described on 5 October 2001; and
that the Department take immediate actions to prevent the dam owner from
causing further fish kills at Cobbosseecontee Stream in the coming days
and weeks of October, 2002.
Sincerely,
Douglas Watts, president
Friends of the Kennebec Salmon
PO Box 2473
Augusta, ME 04338
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