Oyster Creek Fish Kill Count Up to 1,800

The number of fish killed after a July 28 power outage at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station has risen to 1,800, a plant spokeswoman said.

The initial numbers were around 300 fish killed after a fault in an offsite breaker, which led to a power loss at the dilution structure at the plant off Route 9 South in Lacey Township, spokeswoman Suzanne D'Ambrosio said.

“No number is usual, because we don’t want it to happen,” she said.  “No number is really acceptable.”

The dilution system mixes cool water with clean, warm water, which is then discharged into Oyster Creek and eventually into Barnegat Bay. The system lost power at about 8 p.m. last Thursday when a JCP&L breaker that feeds the system faulted, D'Ambrosio said.

“I really want to emphasize that this was a result of an outside power failure," D'Ambrosio said. "This had nothing to do with any systems within the plant or any work by our operators.”

Oyster Creek operators and environmental staff responded to the scene to reduce reactor power to stabilize water temperatures and to mitigate the loss of fish, she said.

The environmental staff and an independent contractor worked throughout the weekend to clean up, count and monitor for exact species killed, D’Ambrosio said.

In 2007, over 5,000 fish died after a power outage, but the number always varies depending on the situation, she said.

Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said although the outage was due to an outside problem, Oyster Creek doesn't have enough backup systems in place.

"They need a backup, so there won’t be another fish kill or another problem at the facility," Tittel said. "If the problems in Japan taught us anything, you need to have backup systems for backup systems.”

The nuclear plant should have another battery or diesel generator, he said.

“It shouldn’t be that there is a power outage and all of a sudden there’s a fish kill,"Tittel said. "You really need to have redundancies of systems to prevent things like this. There would be no reason for that big of a fish kill to happen if there was an adequate system in place.”

Exelon Nuclear, the owner and operator of Oyster Creek, worked with JCP&L to determine the cause of the regional power outage, which affected approximately 16,000 customers in the Lacey and Waretown area.

JCP&L found that a goose flew into a power line, said company spokesman Ron Marano.

The breaker and equipment has since been restored, and JCP&L continues to investigate and evaluate the equipment involved, Marano said.

Oyster Creek will be sending a report on the incident to the state Department of Environmental Protection, D’Ambrosio said.

Once the report is received, the DEP will evaluate the information and determine whether any enforcement action needs to be taken, said DEP spokesman Larry Hajna.,

For more information on the recent fish kill, read “.”