Posted on 04/01/2009 8:54:16 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the government may consider cost in deciding whether to order power plants to undertake environmental upgrades that would protect fish.
The court's 6-3 decision is a defeat for environmentalists .. could have required an estimated 554 power plants to install technology that relies on recycled water to cool machinery.
.. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates water-intake systems at power plants kill 3.4 billion fish and shellfish each year.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
The Supreme Court ruled now that we have elected to allow the government to take your land,home we will now shut your electric off,corruption or just crazy select one.
3.4 billion, which orifice did they pull that number out of I wonder?
The nuke plant in Ocean County, New Jersey typically shuts down for maintenance in late fall. Thousands of warm water fish which failed to migrate south with the falling water temperatures die.
What is keeping them from simply rescheduling the shutdown to a point where the water has cooled just enough to trigger the migration, instead of waiting until it is cold enough to kill them?
There may be a valid reason, but I’ve never heard it.
“The court’s 6-3 decision is a defeat for environmentalists”
Heck, that is a first.
No problem, the government will just make it a policy or rule not subject to court review.
Likely some water immersed parts that it would be too cold to service if they waited longer or have seen ice buildup on occasion in Nov. If anything is found in Sep/Oct time frame then they are limited by time to obtain necessary repair parts and complete service. Need to ensure you have time for unexpected discoveries when conducting maintenance.
Under the agreement being forged on removing the Klamath River hydropower dams in California for fish, (where only 37,000 Pacific Power customers are actually in California,) the CA taxpayer will get a bill for $250,000,000 through a proposed bond levy. The rate payers in Oregon will cough up $180 million and the CA ratepayers $20 million. It will cost another $170 million to find replacement energy and, if dioxin or other toxins are found behind the dams, there is an incalcuable liability for the cost of additional treatment.
This would fall during the time when summer peak Air Conditioning loads are over and before the peak heating demands begin.
Spring and Fall are a common times of maintenance for utilities around the nation.
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