NMFS questions CI tidal power impact

The National Marine Fisheries Service has sent a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, questioning the adequacy of proposed environmental studies for a pilot tidal power system that Ocean Renewable Power Co. wants to install in Alaska’s upper Cook Inlet, in an area identified as prime beluga whale habitat in a Cook Inlet beluga whale conservation plan. The area in question is also used by fish and is the site of salmon runs, NMFS said. In October NMFS listed the Cook Inlet beluga whale as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

OPRC has proposed installing a single tide-powered turbine module in Cook Inlet in 2010, 42 feet below the water surface at low tide, either near Fire Island or near Cairn Point in Knik Arm, with the possibility of adding four more modules in 2012. If the hydrokinetic system pans out it could supplement electricity supplies in Southcentral Alaska, supplies that are currently highly dependent on Cook Inlet natural gas.

NMFS says that although it supports the development of tidal power as a potential new energy source, the agency is also concerned about the possible impact of turbine blade strikes, underwater cables, industrial noise, electromagnetic radiation and habitat alteration on marine wildlife. The agency wants baseline environmental studies that precede installation of the pilot power plant to be extended from a proposed single summer field season in 2009 to at least a two-year time span, with more comprehensive wildlife monitoring arrangements than have currently been proposed.

The agency also says that OPRC’s stated intent to apply for an Incidental Harassment Authorization for beluga whales suggests that a formal consultation on potential beluga whale impacts will be necessary, under the terms of section 7 of the Endangered Species Act.

—Alan Bailey