'A ton of fish are dead': State investigating Susquehanna fish kill near Brunner Island

An aerial look at Brunner Island showing the two basins that environmental groups say are leeching contaminants into ground the Black Guy Creek and Susquehanna River.

Dave Neuman spends a lot of time fishing on the Susquehanna River.

He lives to fish. He grew up in West York, and now he has a place where Beaver Creek dumps into the Conewago, but he grew up and has spent much of his 64 years fishing on the river − from the New York border to the Chesapeake Bay. He figures that he is on the river at least 225 days a year fishing.

He fishes the warm-water discharge below Brunner Island, a good spot during cold weather, and he knows when something is amiss and what causes it.

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“You can just see it,” he said over the phone as he was fishing in the river.

He was on the river Tuesday afternoon, fishing about a half-mile downstream from the warm-water discharge from the Brunner Island Steam Electric Plant, a hybrid coal-natural gas generating station, when he noticed something strange.

He monitors the water temperature, a factor that weighs heavily on whether fish are active and want to bite. Downstream from the warm-water discharge from the power plant is a good place to fish, the warmer water keeps the fish active and willing to bite on a well-baited hook or lure.

At about 2:30 p.m., his measurements showed that the water temperature dropped from 48 degrees to 40 degrees in a very short amount of time. It was unusual, he said, and could be fatal to fish. From his experience, it could have only been caused by Brunner Island, perhaps a shutdown that closed the spigot on the warm water discharge. He also noticed a shiny oil slick spreading on the surface.

He reported his observations to the state Fish & Boat Commission and to Ted Evgeniadis, the Lower Susquehanna Riverkeeper, and further investigation showed that whatever happened resulted in killing hundreds – perhaps thousands – of fish, including channel catfish, large- and smallmouth bass and suckers, floating, belly-up on the river’s frigid surface.

State investigating

The state Fish & Boat Commission and Department of Environmental Protection are investigating. A Fish & Boat investigator confirmed that “several hundred” fish were killed and referred further inquiries to the department’s press office.

A DEP employee also confirmed the fish kill and said the department had responded to the scene. DEP spokesman John Repetz wrote in an email that the operator of Brunner Island conducted a planned shutdown and that DEP asked the company to investigate the incident and submit a report within 10 business days.

Taryne Williams, director of corporate communications for Talen Energy, wrote in an email that two of the island’s three generating units were taken offline routinely Tuesday and that the process includes steps to minimize temperature changes and are within regulatory requirements. The company is working with the state agencies to monitor the situation, Williams wrote.

Regarding the oil sheen, Williams said it was caused by the release of a biodegradable mineral oil used by a maintenance contractor at the plant that is not toxic to marine life. Williams reported that the company took steps to contain the spill and that DEP has not asked for any further action to be taken.

Evgeniadis responded to the scene and saw the dead fish and the oil slick. He has a lot of experience dealing with Brunner Island and its owner, Talen Energy, over environmental issues. The company has pledged to report temperature fluctuations in its discharge channel; if the water temperature fluctuates by six degrees in an hour, it must be reported to state regulators.

DEP reported 16 temperature fluctuations in its discharge channel since 2019. None of those, according to DEP records, resulted in fish kills.

But in 2018, DEP levied a $25,000 fine against Talen Energy for a December 2016 incident in which an estimated 12,000 fish were killed when the plant shut down two of its generating units, resulting in a steep drop in water temperature downstream from its discharge channel.

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Evgeniadis said “a ton of fish are dead.”

Evgeniadis said the state has to come down hard on Talen Energy. “It’s going to continue to happen,” he said. “If they’re going to continue to get slapped in the wrist, it’s going to continue to happen.”

Neuman hopes that something comes of his report. He just wants other people to care about the river as much as he does.

“If we have more fish kills, it’s time for Brunner Island to stand up,” he said. “Enough is enough.”

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: ‘A ton of fish are dead’: State investigating Susquehanna fish kill near Brunner Island