Kendall power plant to reduce draw on Charles (2/2/2011)

In some welcome news GenOn announced today that their Kendall Cogeneration plant, located just over the Longfellow Bridge, will be reducing its water  intake from the Charles River by a whopping 95% thanks to an innovative and environmentally beneficial steam exchange.  Currently the plant uses water from the Charles to cool its turbines.  The water is returned to the river at over 100F degrees.  Quoting from the article:

The agreement, negotiated with the Environmental Protection Agency New England office and state regulators, calls for the GenOn Kendall Cogeneration Station to slice by 95 percent the 70 million gallons of heated water that can be pumped into the river every day. Environmentalists say the hot water kills fish and contributes to algal blooms.

This is going to have a meaningful impact on the Charles’ health.  Cyanobacteria thrives in warm water and the Charles, as we here at the CRSC know all too well, is prone to blooms.  Read the full article here.