U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Seeks Comment on Draft Plan to Conserve Rare Mussels Near Quad Cities Nuclear Station in Illinois
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking public input on a draft plan that would address potential impacts from Quad Cities Nuclear Station to two at-risk species in the Upper Mississippi River near Cordova, Illinois – the federally endangered Higgins eye pearlymussel and the sheepnose mussel, a candidate for Endangered Species Act listing.
The draft plan was prepared by the station and its parent company Exelon, with input from the Service. It describes measures to be taken by the Quad Cities plant to minimize and mitigate effects of its actions on federally listed endangered mussels and other rare mussels. Exelon developed the plan in conjunction with an application for an incidental take permit.
Incidental take permits may be issued under the federal Endangered Species Act to parties undertaking otherwise lawful projects that might result in the taking—defined as harming, pursuit, hunting, shooting, wounding, killing, trapping, capturing, or collecting--of an endangered or threatened species. Application for an incidental take permit is subject to certain requirements, including preparation by the permit applicant of a habitat conservation plan or HCP.
An HCP lays out ways the applicant plans to minimize or mitigate the effects of activities on listed species; it may also include measure to maintain, enhance and protect a habitat type needed by an endangered or threatened species. HCP measures might include provisions for permanently protecting land, restoring habitat, and relocating plants or animals to another area.
The draft Quad Cities HCP addresses three of the station’s activities and their impacts on the mussels: the proposed change in temperature standards for discharge waters associated with the operation of the Quad Cities Nuclear Station; maintenance dredging near the plant’s water intake structures; and the possible removal of Edison Pier.
Exelon proposes to minimize, mitigate, and monitor the impacts of taking listed species by reintroducing Higgins eye and sheepnose mussels; encouraging universities to conduct studies related to temperature and mussels; and monitoring, including mussel bed monitoring, monitoring of temperature studies, long term fish monitoring, and use of adaptive management techniques.
The draft plan is available for public review and comment until October 8, 2009, at " href="/">/www.fws.gov.
