ML20009C696

1981 Corbicula Assessment for Midland Plant Site

ML20009C696
Person / Time
Site:	Midland
Issue date:	05/31/1981
From:	ECOLOGICAL ANALYSTS, INC.
To:
Shared Package
ML20009C693	List: ML20009C692 ML20009C696
References
CPC12, IEB-81-03, IEB-81-3, NUDOCS 8107210368
Download: ML20009C696 (9)

Text

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l EA Report CPC12 1981 CORBICULA ASSESSMENT FOR MIDLAND PLANT SITE i

Prepared for Consumers Power Company 1945 Parnell Road Jackson, Michigan 49201 Pr? pared by Ecological Analysts, Inc.

Midwest Regional Office 1500 Frontage Road Northbrook, Illinois 60062 May 1981 a107210368 810630 PDR ADOCK 05000329

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CONTENTS Page

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

1 2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 2

3.0 FIELD AND ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES

.3 4.0 RESULTS-5 5.0 DISCUSSION 6

6.0_ LITERATURE CITED 7

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1.0 INTRODUCTION

This report was prepared in response to Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Office of Inspection and Enforcement Bulletin 81-03:

Flow Blockage of Cooling Water and Safety System Components by Corbicula sp. ( Asiatic clam) and Mytilus sp. (mussel). As noted in the Bulletin, Corbicula poses a significant biofouling threat by colonization and subsequent blocking of fire protection systems, cooling systems or other safety related water circulation systems.

Because of the lack of data and the species' propensity to extend its range, Consumers Power Company sponsored a detailed field study of the Midland Plant site on the Tittabriassee River in response to Bulletin 81-03.

Objectives of the field evaluation were two-fold.

The first objective was to determine the presence or absence of the Asiatic clam in the vicinity of the Midland Plant site.

Secondly, the field survey was designed to evaluate potential future intrusions of Corbicula into the Tittabawassee River source waters or the Plant cooling systems.

The main text of this report is divided into four sections.

Section 2.0 presents a brief review of pertinent literature on the life history of Corbicula and its biofouling potential.

Section 3.0 details the field and analytical procedures employed in the study.

Results of the field study conducted on 11-12 May 1981 are presented in Section 4.0.

Section 5.0, Discussion, reviews the results of the study relative to available informa-tion on distribution and habitat requirements of Corbicula and provides an evaluation of potential intrusion of this nuisance species into the Tittabawassee River source waters or the cooling system of the Plant.

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2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW Corticula was introduced into the west coast of the United States in the 1930's and has since spread across the southern states of this country (Sinclair 1971).

It has been reported as far east as the Potomac River system (Britton 19811 and as far north as the Minnesota and St. Croix Rivers (Cummings and Jones 1978; Fuller 1978).

It has recently been reported to occer in Lake Erie (Clarke 1981).

This is the first. record of Corbicula in the Great Lakes system.

Corbicula poses a significant biofouling problem. Power plants in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Maryland and Tennessee have been forced to halt or reduce operations because of Corbicula infestations (Britton 1981).

The most recent significant biofouling infestation at a nuclear power plant occurred in 1980 at Arkansas Power and Light Company's, Arkansas Nuclear One. Large densities of Corbicula in the reactor's cooling system restricted the flow of cooling water and forced a shutdown.

In the electric utility industry, lost operating time and expensive repairs because of Corbicula infiltrations have been subs tanti al.

The possibility of reduced cooling water flow in safety related water circulation systems could De serious, so the concern of the NRC regarding Corbicula near nuclear power plants is warranted.

In the Midwest, Corbicula is most frequently collected in riverine habitats with continuous current; nowever, this species has also been found in lake environments.

Corbicula is primarily found in stable silty sand substrates, but it is also inhabits sediments with large portions of clay and gravel.

Rubble substrates, unstable sand or flocculent sediments are usually not inhabited by Corbicula.

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3.0 FIELD AND ANALYTICAL PROCEDURES On 11-12 May 1981 a detaibd su*vey of the aquatic habitats was conducted near the Midland Plant site.

Mologists employed a variety of techniques to determine the presence or absence of Corbicula in the Tittabewassee River and Plant cooling system including a Ponar grab sampler (232 sq cm), mustel raking, and hand-picking. Samples were collected in various habitats of the Tittabawassee River from approximately 1 mi upstream of the Plant's intake to approximately 0.5 mi downstream and in the tiidlard Plant cooling pond (Figure 1).

In the river, samples were coDected immediately upstream from the intake; along a transect extending from the intake structure to the opposite shore of the river; downstream along the outside of the intake structure bar racks; and in the middle bay inside of the intake structure in front of the trsWling screens.

Sampling was intensified near warm water discharga from Dow Chemical Co. and a municipal sewage treatment plant because of the proclivity of Corbicula to inhabit thennal discharges in northern latitudes (Cummings and Jones 1978, Lewis 1981). Approximately 40 grab samples were collected, screened on a U.S. Standard No. 30 mesh sieve and examined in the field for Corbicula.

A composite sample of the sediments from 10 of the grabs was retained for examination in the laboratory under a dissection microscope (10 to 70X magnifications).

In addition to the quantitative collections, qualita-tive mussel raking (Lewis 1981) was conducted along the shoreline at various locations in the sampling area.

Field notes were maintained detailing habitat types and biota observed.

Depths sampled by both quantitative and qualitative techniques ranged from less than 1 ft to 10 ft.

The Midland Plant cooling pond was sampled with a Ponar grab sampler along transects through the discharge and intake areas (four grab samples at each),

anti on a north-south transect across the cooling pond (10 grab samples).

Additional grab samples and mussel rake samples were collected in select areas of the cooling pond. A cc.iposite sample of sediment material from 10 grab samples was retained for examination in the laboratory. The depth varied from 3 to 20 f t in the areas sampled.

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Figure 1.

Sampling locations for the Corbicula assessment conducted at the Midland Plant Site, 11-12 May 1981.

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4.0 RESULTS Quantitative Ponar grab samples collected in the Tittabawassee River of the Midland Plant site contained sparse numbers of benthic invertebrates. No Corbicula were observed in 40 grab samples from this area. The only zoobenthos bbserved were sporadic collections of aquatic worms (Oligochaeta), midge-fly larvae (Chironomidae), caddisflies (Hydropsychidae) and side-swimmers

( Amphi poda ).

Grab samples collected in the Tittabawassee River during 1979 were also dominated i.r oligochaetes and chironomids, and indicated the benthic community was not well established (Lawler, Matusky and Skelly Engineers 1980a).

Dead valves of sphaeriid clams, which possess habitat requirements and preferences similar to Corbicula, were abundant in the grab samples of the present survey.

A dead valve of the freshwater mussel Lasmigona complanata was also collected in this investigation.

Habitats sampled included rubole in the area immediately downstream from the Dow Chemical Co.

Dam, predominantly sand in the remainder of the river, and silty sand in the middle intake bay.

Quantitative grab sampling, and qualitative hand-picking and mussel raking revealed a relatively ab andant but non-diverse macroinvertebrate community inhabiting the Midicnd H ant cooling pond in May 1981.

Midge-fly larvae

' Chironomidae) and acuatic woms (Oligochaeta) were commonly collected.

These taxa we*e also the most abundant organisms collecteG during a 1979 assessment of the cooling pond (Lawler, Matusky and Skelly Engineers 1980b).

Single representatives of the mayflies Caenis sp and Hexagenia sp. were found in May 1981.

No avidence of any molluscs, including Corbicula, was found.

Pelecypods were also absent in the 1979 collections from the cooling pond.

The few taxa callected in the present survey can probably be attributed to the young age of '.he cooling pond, which was filled dur'ing 1978. A more diverse benthic faur.a will likely appear as the pond ages.

A uniform sandy clay substrate was found throughout the cooling pond.

The alga Chars sp. was present near the snoreline of the pond.

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5.0 DISCUSSION Sampling of the Tittabawassee River and the Midland Plant cooling porid yielded no evidence that Corbicula has or does presently occur near the Midland Plant site.

In addition, macroinvertebrate investigations during 1979 near the Plant site revealed no Corbicula.

It is not likely that Corbicula will occur in the Tittabawassee River in the near future.

The apparent poor water quality of the river, which has elimi-nated most molluscs, would be unfavorable for this species.

In addition, the extended 32 degrees Fahrenheit water temperature during the winter (Consui ers Pcwer Company 1978) is lower than Corbicula's ultimate incipient lethal temperature of 36 degrees Fahrenheit (Mattice and Dye 1976).

Al so, the proposed discharge of the Midland Plant into the Tittabawassee River will be intermittent, thus a continuous heated effluent favorable for this intro-duced species would not be present.

A Jector that may limit the occurrence of Corbicula in the cooling pond will be the wat le, es, Fan,d,uring Plant emper3yrg ope ration.

Temperatures are predicted to reach renheit which would be greater than the upper ultimate incipient lethal temperature of 93 degrees Fahrenheit observed by Mattice and Dye (1976).

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l 6.0 LITERATURE CITED Britten J.C. (Ed.)

1981. Corbicula Newsletter.

Vol. 6(1), pp. 1-11.

1 Clarke, A. H.

1981. Cor bicula fluminea, in Lake Erie.

Nautilus 95(2):

83-84.

ransumers Power Company (compiler), Midisnd Plant Units 1 and 2 Environmental Report, Operating License Stage Volume III (April 19/8 as revised) NRG questions and responses HYD 12-1.

Cummings, S. E. and J. A. Jones.

1978.

Occurrence of Corbicula mantlensis Phillipi in the lower Minnesota River, J. Minn. Acad. of Sci. 44(3):

13-14.

Fuller, S.L.H.

1978.

Freshwater mussels (Mollusca: Bivalvia: Unionidae) of Qe Upper Mississippi River. Observations at selected sites within the 9-ft channel navigation project on behalf of the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

Prepared for USAC0E by Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Penn. 401 pp.

Graney, R. L., D. S. Cherry, J. H. Rodgers, Jr., and J. Cairns, Jr.

1980.

The influence of themal discharges and substrate composition on the population structure and distribution of the Asiatic clam, Corbicula fluminea, in the New River, Virginia.

Nautilus 94(4):130-135.

Lawler, Matusky and Skelly Engir.cers.

1980a. Aquatic assessment of the Tittabawassee River in the vicinity of Midland, Michigan.

Prepared for Consumers Power Co., Jackson, Michigan by LMS Engineers, New York.

Lawler, Matusky and Skelly Engineers.

1980b.

Description and assessment of Midland Lcoling Pond Ecosystem-1979.

Prepared for Consumers Power Co.,

Jackson, Michigan, by LMS Engineers, New Yori:.

Lewis, R. B.

1981.

Survey of freshwater mussels (Pelecypoda: Unionacea) at selected sites in Pools 11 through 24 of the Mississippi River.

Prepared for USAC0E Rock Island District by Ecological Analysts, Inc., Northbrook, Illinois.

188 pp.

Mattice, J.S. and L.L. Dye.

1976.

Thermal tolerance of the adult Asiatic clam.

In, Themsl Ecology II.

Proceedings of a Symposium held at Augusta, Georgia, April 2-5, 1975.

Pp. 130-135.

Sinclair, R.M.

1971.

Annotated bibliography on the exotic bivalve Corbicula in North America, 1900-1971.

Sterkiana 43:11-18.

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