ML17229A398

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NPDES Noncompliance Notification:On 970614 & 30,discovered One Dead Sea Turtle on Each Date.Caused by five-inch Barrier Net Loaded W/Algae.Removed Algae from Net & Hand Drudged Silt to Allow Net to Return to Original Position
ML17229A398
Person / Time
Site: Saint Lucie  NextEra Energy icon.png
Issue date: 07/07/1997
From: STALL J A
FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT CO.
To:
NRC OFFICE OF INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT (IRM)
References
L-97-172, NUDOCS 9707150009
Download: ML17229A398 (6)


Text

REGULATCINFORMATIONDISTRIBUTIONTEM(RIDE).~cjACCESSZOHNBR:9707150009DOC.DATE:97/07/07NOTARIZED:NOFACIL!50-335St.LuciePlant,Unit1,FloridaPower6LightCo.50-389St.LuciePlant,Unit2,FloridaPower6LightCo.AUTH.PA'klE-AUTHORAFFILIATIONSTALL,J.A.F1oridaPower&LightCo.RECIP.NAMERECIPIENTAFFILIATIONDOCKET¹0500033505000389

SUBJECT:

NPDESnoncompliancenotification:on970614630,discoveredonedeadseaturtleoneachdate.Causedbyfive-inchbarriernetloadedw/algae.Removed.algaefromnet&handdrudgedsilttoallownettoreturntooriginalposition.DISTRIBUTIONCODE:ZE23DCOPIESRECEIVED:LTR"IENCL1SIZE:TITLE:EnvironmentalEventReport(perTechSpecs)NOTES:RECIPIENTIDCODE/NAMEPD2-3PDINTERNAL:ACRSOGC/HDS3EXTERNAL:NOACCOPIESLTTRENCL1111111'RECIPIENTIDCODE/NAMEWIENS,L.NRCPDRCOPIESLTTRENCL11111111NOTETOALL"RIDS"RECIPIENTS:PLEASEHELPUSTOREDUCEWASTElCONTACTTHEDOCUMENTCONTROLDESK,ROOMOWFNSD-5(EXT.415-2083)TOELIMINATEYOURNAMEFROMDISTRIBUTIONLISTSFORDOCUMENTSYOUDON'TNEED!TOTALNUMBEROFCOPIESREQUIRED:LTTR8ENCL8 I0' FloridaPower5LightCompany,6501SouthOceanOrive,JensenBeach,FL34957July7,1997L-97-17210CFR50.36bEPP4.1U.S.NuclearRegulatoryCommissionAttn:DocumentControlDeskWashington,DC20555RE:St.LucieUnits1and2DocketNos.50-335and50-389EnvironmentalProtectionPlanReportEventDates;June14,1997andJune30,1997UnusualorImortantEnvironmentalEventsTheattachedReportisbeingsubmittedpursuanttotherequirementsofSection4.1oftheSt.LucieUnit1andUnit2EnvironmentalProtection.Plans(EPP)toprovideadescriptionofreportablegreenseaturtlemortalitiesattheSt.LuciePlant.Shouldyouhaveanyquestionsonthisinformation,pleasecontactus.Verytrulyyours,J.A.StallVicePresidentSt.LuciePlantJAS/GRMAttachmentcc:RegionalAdministrator,RegionII,USNRCSeniorResidentInspector,USNRC,"St.LuciePlant9707i50009970707PDRADOCK050003358PDRllllllllllilllllllllllllllllllllllllllllanFPLGroupcompany St.IucieUnits1and2DocketNos.50-335and50-389L-97-172AttachmentPage1MortalityofGreenSeaTurtlesintheSt.LuciePlantIntakeCanalEVENTDATES:June4,1997andJune30,1997EVENTDESCRIPTION:Adeadsmallgreenseaturtleweighing5.6poundswasremovedfromthe5-inchmeshbarriernetatapproximately1410hoursonJune4,1997.Theturtlewasfoundjustunderthewaternearthetopofthenet.Theapparentcauseofdeathwasdrowning.Theturtleappearedtobeingoodconditionotherwise.Anothergreenseaturtleweighing20poundswasfoundonthebottomofthecanal50feetwestoftheendofthe16-footdiameterheadwallcatwalkstructureatapproximately1345hoursonJune30,1997.Thisturtlehadbecomeentangledinfishinglinethatwassnaggedontherockybottominthisareaanddrowned.Ittooappearedtobeingoodconditionotherwise.Fromtheconditionofthecarcass,theturtleappearedtohavedrownedthedaybefore.Thesearethethirdandfourthmortalitiesforthisspeciesin1997.TheproposedlimitsformortalitiesforthisspeciesintheNationalMarineFisheriesBiologicalOpinion,whichwastransmittedtoFPLbytheNRConMay30,1997,is3or1.5%ofthetotalcapturedwhicheverisgreater.Inordertoallowthefourthmortality,FPLwouldhavetocapture267ormoregreenturtles.AsofJune30,1997,wehavecaptured141greenturtles.CAUSEOFTHEEVENT:Therootcauseofthefirsteventwastheconditionofthe5-inchbarriernet.SinceearlyintheweekofMay26,thenethadbeenheavilyloadedwithafine,filamentousalgaethathadcausedthecurrenttostretchthenetsoitwasinamoreverticalplane.Thenetwasoriginallybuilttoa1:1slopetoallowthewatercurrenttohelpcarryweakorinjuredturtlestothesurface.Thestretchingofthenetcouldhaveheldtheturtleinplacetherebydrowningit.Itcannotbecertainthatthiswasthecauseofdeathbecausetheturtledidnotappeartobeentangledorheldinplacebythenet.Therefore,itwaspossiblethatitcouldhavedrownedonits3to5minutetripthroughtheintakepipeandthencametorestagainstthenetwhereitwasfound.Inadditiontotheloadingonthenetfromthealgae,diversalsofoundthebottomofthenetwasbeinghelddownbyalayerofsiltthathadbeendepositedonthebottomandthatthenylonnetstrandshadbeenstretchedoutofshape.Thiswasthefirsteventofthismagnitudeforthistypeofalgaesincethe5-inchmeshnetwasinstalledinJanuary1996.Diverswereinitiallydelayedinremovingthealgaeduetoplantoperationalconsiderations.Itwasthoughtthatduringthealgaeremoval St.QucieUnits1and2DocketNos.50-335and50-389L-97-172AttachmentPage2additionalalgaewouldbereleasedintotheintakecanalandcouldcauseincreasedblockageoftheintakecoolingwatersystemstrainers.Therootcauseofthesecondeventwasthepresenceofthefishinglineinthatareaofthecanal.ThefishinglinemostlikelyresultedfromhookandlinefishingbytheLandUtilizationDepartmentaspartofafishtaggingandreleaseprogram.Thisisavoluntary,mitigativeprogramtoremovefishentrainedinthecanalandreturnthemtothewild.Bothfishtrapsandhookandlinefishinghavebeenusedtoremovethefishfromthecanal.Thecatwalkthatformspartoftheheadwallstructureisthebestareatofishwithhookandline,buttherockybottominthatareatendstosnagfishingtackle.Partofthelineremainswheneitherthelinebreaksintryingtoretrievethetackleoriscutloosewhenthetacklecannotbefreed.ACTIONSTAKENTOCORRECTTHEREPORTEDEVENTS:Forthefirstmortality:Thefilamentousalgaewasremovedfromthe5-inchnet.2.Tocorrectthesiltationholdingdownthebottomofthenet,divershavehanddredgedthesiltallowingthenettoreturntoitsoriginalposition.Forthesecondmortality:1.Theimmediateareawheretheturtlewasfoundwassurveyedbythediverthatfoundtheturtleandanyothertackleinthatvicinitywasremoved.Alluseofhookandlinetackleforthefishtaggingandreleaseprogramwasimmediatelysuspendeduntilcompletionoftheanalysisoftheevent.2.Otherareasofthecanalwithsimilarbottomcharacteristicsorthatwereknowntocontainotherpossiblehazards;suchasrope,piecesofnetting,orothersimilardebris,weresurveyedbydiversandthematerialremoved.CORRECTIVEACTIONSTOPRECLUDEREPETITIONOFTHEEVENTS'.TheLandUtilizationDepartmenthasanexistinginspectionandmaintenanceprogramforthe'5-inchmeshbarriernet.Thisprogramwillbeenhancedinthefollowingways:A.Ameanshasbeendevelopedtodeterminetheslopeofthenetduringfutureinspectionsandtomeasureanysignificantdeviationfromtheas-builtconditions.

St.IucieUnits1and2DocketNos.50-335and50-389L-97-172AttachmentPage3ThenewmethodswillbeincorporatedintothenetinspectionprocessbyJuly30,1997.B.LandUtilizationwillmaintainclosercommunicationwithOperationsandincreasedvigilanceintheintakecanaltoprovideearlierinformationabouttheonsetofpotentialnetfoulingconditions.Whenconditionsarefoundthatindicatetheneedforimmediatecorrectiveaction,LandUtilizationDepartmentwillmoreactivelypursuesupportthroughtheWorkControlGroup.2.Thetwoprimarymethodsusedtocapturefishforthetagandreleaseprogramarehookandlineandfishtraps.Useofhookandlinewasimmediatelydiscontinued;however,eventhetrapshavealargeenoughopeningthatasmallturtlecouldbecaughtanddrowned.Forthatreason,sincethefishtaggingandreleaseprogramisavoluntaryprogram,itwillbediscontinuedexceptunderverycontrolledconditions;suchastheactivenettingthatisusedbyseveralaquariumsthatareobtainingspecimensfromtheintakecanal.Thesenetsaremannedbydiverswhoimmediatelyremoveanythingcaughtinthemsothatifaturtlewerecaught,itwouldnothaveachancetodrown.3.Sincethenumberofgreenturtlemortalitiesfor1997isnowovertheproposedlimitoftheIncidentalTakeStatementincludedwiththeNationalMarineFisheriesServiceBiologicalOpiniondatedFebruary7,1997,FPLrequeststheNRCtobeginthenecessarystepstoreinitiateformalconsultationunderSection7oftheEndangeredSpeciesAct.AGENCIESNOTIFIED'naccordancetotherequirementsintheFloridaDepartmentofEnvironmentalProtection'sMarineTurtlePermit1099,theirlocalofficeinTequesta,FLwasnotifiedwithin12.hoursofwheneachoftheturtleswerefound.Theirpreliminaryresponsewasarequesttoplacethecarcassesinafreezerforlaterpickupandpossibleevaluationofcauseofdeath.Thiswasdone.A72-hournotificationforthefirstmortalitywasmadetotheNRCat1330hoursonJune6,1997.ThisnotificationwasmadetoMr.L.A.Wiens,theNRCProjectManager.ThesecondmortalitywasreportedtoMr.R.E.Martin,NRC-NRR,at1335hoursonJuly1,1997.BothofthesenotificationswerepertheEnvironmentalProtectionPlan,Section4.1.