A TCEQ preliminary decision on the Luminant Generating Company application for continued waste water discharges has been received. TPWD had comment on the original application last November, but TCEQ chose to ignore that comment in their preliminary decision. This preliminary decision permits LGC to continue operating the existing two units plus adding a third later. TPWD feels just operation of the current units without lake nutrient control has resulted in the past fish kills. It is my opinion TCEQ's preliminary decision needs fisherman's comments. I have done so formally, and anticipate this will result in a public hearing where we fisherman can add our input. It is clearly possible to stop these fish kills by controlling the lake nutrient levels, similar power plant lake operations at Calavaras and braunig have not resulted in fish kills of similar magnitude. I requested a hearing on a Saturday so we can get there without losing a work day. I can supply PDF files of my comment letter, TPWD comment letter, the TCEQ preliminary decision, and LGC application to all interested. If you want this information send me your email address by PM, please add your phone number if you are willing to be at that comment hearing. My phone number is 972-298-2202

I am not opposed to even a third unit operation so long as they get control of the nutrients in the lake. If the current operating method is not changed and a third unit is brought on line it is my opinion there could be fish kills in the dead of the winter.

FYI: until these fish kills are prevented TPWD will not be stocking Bass or Red Fish in Lake Fairfield.

I also request LGC replace the fish stock their lack of lake water composition "management" killed.

Mr. Miller,

Thank you for your summation of the present condition of the fishery at Fairfield. We hear of summer fish kills there every year.

Reading between the lines, you feel as though the constant use of lake water to cool generators is stripping the nutrients out of Lake Fairfield. This hydrologic process reduces the number of fish available to anglers.

You assert that maintaining ideal levels of aquatic nutrients will cure the problem. Correct?

And for the sake of clarity, would you mind restating your second post above?

I thought the fish kills were a result of pumping in nutrient rich water from the Trinity River. It causes a bloom which results in fish kills when the bloom starts to die. I don't think the power plant will stop pumping in water so there will continue to be lots of nutrients in the lake. Pumping that water throw a marsh first would eliminate a lot of the nutrients.

I agree with that. We have a (Turd Polishing) wetlands here in Combine tx. It pulls contaminated water from the East fork Trinity river and sends it through the plants and the pumps that water back to Lavon.

Quiet an expensive undertaking

tree hugger

There are farms raising redfish for food sales. Some of them in years past donated fish to TPWD. Fairfield got about 2000 of them that year. GLC's lake management or lack thereof caused these kills. The responsible thing is to ask and expect LGC to get control and replace the fish stock that lack of management has killed.

Evaporation of lake water concentrates nutrients that come in from the water shed or water pumped up from the Trinity River.

The lack of sufficient watershed inflow brings LGC to respond by pumping Trinity River water into the lake. That river water has 100 time the Nitrogen and phospates that the lake has even when getting some pumped river water. Those extra nutrients foster a algae and phytoplankton over growth which at the end of the summer in the overnight of the first overcast days has resulted on ZERO dissolved oxygen events that are the cause of the fish kills. The lake aquatic population has been decimated as a consequence.

Finding less nutrient rich water sources (rainfall mine depressions are nearby) or treating the river water for the extra nutrients will fix the problem. TPWD feels one treatment could be a new wetlands.

You need to look up my postng history on Lake Fairfield and this issue in general. These nutrient blooms have killed most of the lake population.

TPWD has suspended stocking this lake with Bass and Reds until the issue is fixed. The fix is LGC needs to get control of the lake nutrient levels, and control somewhere like Calavaras and Braunig where these fish kills do not occur.

My covering note, but not my files are yet shown as received. TPWD letter is shown as received last November.

http://www10.tceq.state.tx.us/epic/CCD/i...esttimeout=9000

basically this water pumped in with high levels of nutrients causes a chain reaction with the end result being a fish kill during long periods of cloud cover.... only way to overcome this is to treat the trinity river or find a different source of water to pull from..... and as fisherman we need to fight this 3rd unit coming on line until they figure this out?

what is the most effective way for us to do that?

Whie I appreciate the post, I feel the PM to all of us, then immediate removal of yourself from the PM Topic so that no response could be made would qualify as some inventive spam in my PM box. This was creative even for the TFF. I applaud your creativity, while on the otherhand think you might be some kind of wacko??

here is the problem.. If we don't meet future needs for water and electric we will be in a world of hurt. I understand about fairfield and monticello could be also shut down soon... Rolling blackouts will happen.. I do not know what the answer for fairfield is..

Highly ironic that this plant has operated for quite some time with only two fish kills (that I remember). For there to be some sort of neglect on the plant operating agency (Luminent), there would certainly be more of a history of such.

I feel it was a combination of factors that led to the fish kills. Pumping poor quality water out of the Trinty during the low water period being the overriding factor.

I'm sure if the good ol' EPA felt that Luminent was solely at fault they would've made their position known. Lord only knows the EPA loves to target Luminent.

yea poor old luminant.....right. they dont care about fairfield or the fish. they want to pump water and make money, fish or no fish.

Questions about the Fairfield Lake fishery should be directed to District Biologist Richard Ott at (903) 566-2161, richard.ott@tpwd.state.tx.us

Call me a wacko if you must, right now I'm the only guy trying to advance this ball and we need your input as well. So call me what suits you, but please call me. I gave you my phone number, my identity profile has my email address.

This is serious stuff for anybody who wishes Fairfield to regain the awesome status it had, within our life time. The changes are do-able. Calavaras, Braunig and the early history of Fairfield lakes all cool power stations and do not kill similar fish species.

The TFF mail box limits us to 100. I had an overflow before I made contact with every one (~260) who I knew had previously commented on the Fairfield fish kills. Before I was done one guy alerted me to my full mail box, so in too much haste I deleted my outgoing PMs not realizing the receiver could not easily reply to me. (PS I believe my PM and email address could still be found under my identity tag).

so far two other guys have responded and posted comments to the TCEQ. I will have a suggested summary response and a link address ready in a few hours. If you want a copy of TCEQ ignored TPWD letter or my lengthy critique of the preliminary permit they are each about 17 pages of PDF file. If you want to go through TCEQ's hasseling system you can pull both down. If you want copies of them from me please PM me your name and email address or email me directly at Millerd1_airmail_net@yahoo.com

I would prefer we have a central collection point so we can come after this challenge as a cohesive unit.

We need to hit this hard this weekend the comment time window is running out. Just a few more hours for my comment templet.