Thousands of sardines die at San Onofre nuclear plant

sign on san diego ^ | 2/4/04

[knak]

SAN ONOFRE, Calif., – Thousands of large sardines, some up to a foot long, died this week when they were sucked into intake tunnels at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, officials said.

About 13,500 pounds of the thin, silvery fish were killed in a 24-hour period between Monday and Tuesday, said Ray Golden, spokesman for Southern California Edison, which is the majority owner of the plant.

The fish appeared to have been swimming near shore to escape choppy seas off the coast of northern San Diego County, Golden said Wednesday.

The mass fish deaths were an oddity, according to Golden. He said that in an average day about 200 pounds of fish die when they become pinned against screens installed to filter out kelp, shells and sand. This week's fatalities numbered more than half the daily amount caught by commercial fishing vessels.

"It was a confluence of events – the stormy weather, the fact that they were schooling and looking for food and the fact that the water was cloudy and they couldn't see the tunnels as well," he said.

The intake tunnels run about three-quarters of a mile into the ocean and draw water into the plant to cool the steam that powers its generators, Golden said.

He said operations at the plant were not affected.

Mark Cousineau, president of the San Clemente chapter of Surfrider Foundation, called the incident a "weird one."

"Obviously we're concerned about the loss of marine life in plants like this, but this seems more like an accident," he said.

The San Onofre plant has a safeguard to protect marine life that gets sucked into its tunnels. Generally 90 percent of fish that come through the system are released through a "fish elevator" that moves them out of the pipes and back into the ocean, Golden said.

Edison reported the deaths to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a standard procedure when more than 4,500 pounds of fish are killed in a day.

The last time that many fish died was in 1999, when 4,800 pounds were killed on the tunnel screens, Golden said.

The dead sardines will be dried and taken to a landfill.

[MissAmericanPie]

"Thousands of sardines die at San Onofre nuclear plant"

That can't be good.

[RichInOC]

Nah...they aren't dark enough.

[jpsb]

Sad, hope they can figure out a way to be more fish friendly. No reason not to spend a little time thinking about how to prevent this type of useless waste of life.

[amom]

"...they aren't dark enough..."

And the whole world knows it.

[GeronL]

a sign near the water that says 'Danger, All Sardines must stay away from intake. Have a nice day. We're a fish freindly facility.

[jwalburg]

As sardines get sucked into the nuclear shredder, a sound is heard:

yeaaaaaagggghh

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[Johnny_Cipher]

Thousands of large sardines, some up to a foot long, died this week when they were sucked into intake tunnels at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, officials said.

Throw 10,000 Super-Size orders of tartar sauce in there, and you've got a deal. Yum.

[Jeff Chandler]

I chuckle every time I drive past them.

[Ignatz]

Thousands of large sardines, some up to a foot long...

Obviously the statistics were gathered by a man. Women on the scene reported that they were more like 6 inches....

[NewRomeTacitus]

You young people can't leave well enough alone. First you had to take the keys away and put your fancy, shmancey pop-tops on the cans. Then you make us look twice to make sure you aren't sneaking mustard or hot sauce into them. Now you're breeding God's perfect tiny snack critters to obscene lengths. Whatsamatter, you whippersnappers trying to make up for personal inadequecies again? Where do you expect us on limited incomes to find foot-long crackers? And just because we don't see as well as we used to doesn't mean we have to have everything glow in the dark. Golderned insolent (grumble grumble).

[Nick Danger]

[dagoofyfoot]

YUUUMMMMM....are they packed in mustard?

[RightthinkinAmerican]

...HUGH manatee

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.
Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.
I don't get offended if you want to be removed.

[xJones]

Re #13: Janet Jackson visits San Onofre?

[noutopia]

Sounds veerryy fishy to me.

[Pompah]

We call those the " Nipples of Doom " as we drive by them on the way to LA. Then we all laugh nervously and quiet down for awhile.

[Mike Darancette]

The mass fish deaths were an oddity, according to Golden.

For many years sardines were absent from Southern California waters.

[PayrollOffice]

If Nuclear power stations are so safe, then every downtown area should have one!