Decision due in December on Exelon's use of water from Schuylkill County mine
By Darrin Youker
Reading Eagle
7/21/2008
- The owners of the Limerick generating station should know in December whether they can continue with a project to use water from a Schuylkill County mine for cooling towers at their nuclear reactor.
For the past five years, Exelon Nuclear has pumped water from a mine near Pottsville into the Schuylkill to add volume to the river for use during the company's operations. Exelon now wants to make the project permanent.
Officials with the Delaware River Basin Commission, which has the final say on the project, are expected to vote on the measure in December.
Exelon is adding water to the river between April and November, said Katharine O'Hara, a commissioners spokeswoman.
Currently, Exelon uses the Schuylkill River and water pumped from the Delaware River in its cooling towers. The project could reduce the plant's operating cost because of the expense of pumping water from the Delaware River, said David Petersen, plant spokesman.
If the company's project is approved, the average Berks County resident will likely see little change in the river because Exelon has been adding water to the river for some time now, Petersen said.
"They've been seeing it for the past five years," he said of people living along the river.
Exelon wants to add water to the Schuylkill from the Wadesville Mine Pool, and supplemental volume from the Still Creek Reservoir, which is Tamaqua's water source. By adding mine water, and getting the plant's water temperature restrictions eased, Exelon could generate electricity more cheaply, Petersen said.
The restrictions bar the plant from pulling water from the Schuylkill during periods of low flow, or when the river temperature exceeds 59 degrees, O'Hara said.
Exelon wants to use Schuylkill River water regardless of its temperature, and during low flow, O'Hara said.
Experts with the commission are reviewing five years worth of data supplied by Exelon and have not yet formed an opinion on the project, O'Hara said. Final approval on the project rests with a five-member board, she said.
"We wanted to have multiple years of data on the project to show the effect on the quality of water in the Schuylkill River," she said.
Exelon uses about 17.5 million gallons of water a day, or 24,300 gallons a minute, and the mine pool can supply about 40 percent of the company's needs, according to company documents. On average, Exelon added 6.7 million gallons of water a day from the mine.
Under the company's plan, Exelon would pump water from the mine, owned by the Reading Anthracite Company, between April and November and then let the pool recharge the remainder of the year.
The mine pool water has not had a negative impact on the Schuylkill River's water quality, according to company documents. Under an agreement worked out with the commission, allowing Exelon to run this five-year project, the company is contributing money for Schuylkill River restoration projects. Last year Exelon awarded $250,275 in grants, including money for stream restoration projects in Berks County.
Bill Reichert, president of the Schuylkill River Headwaters Association, said he supports the project.
Unlike many mine discharges in Schuylkill County, which pour water laden with metals into the river, the Wadesville Mine Pool is clean, Reichert said.
"There has been virtually no impact on the river," he said.
•Contact reporter Darrin Youker at 610-371-5032 or
dyouker@readingeagle.com.
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