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    Complaint

    26696
    WPC
    9/18/2012
    Email
    Fish Kill
    9/18/2012
    03-OCT-2024 12:39PM

    Location based on SITE_ID

    Site ID
    4968
    Site
    TVA Allen Fossil Plant D4 Plant Retirement/ Decommissioning and Plant Site Restoration
    Location
    2574 Plant Rd
    City
    Memphis
    Description
    Building demolition and restoration of site to brownfield
    County
    Shelby
    EFO Name
    Memphis
    Site Owner
    Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA)

    Investigation Results

    Closed
    9/21/2012
    10/1/2012
    Yes

    Complaint Description and Writeup

    Mike Stiefel, P.E.
    Tennessee Valley Authority
    Water Permits and Compliance
    1101 Market Street, BR 4A
    Chattanooga, TN 37402-2801

    Tel: 423.751.6844 Fax: 423.751.7011 Cell: 423.595.6923
    emailed a fish kill report to TRT (he also left a voice message on 9/18/12):
    -----Original Message-----
    From: Farmer, Sandra Jayne
    Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 3:04 PM
    To: Tritapoe, Michael G; Casey, Robert Brian; Stone, Scott E
    Cc: Baxter, Dennis Scott; Alfonso, Raul M; Wilborn, James A
    Subject: FW: Emailing: DSC01509.JPG, DSC01510.JPG, DSC01511.JPG, DSC01512.JPG, DSC01513.JPG, DSC01514.JPG, DSC01515.JPG, DSC01516.JPG, DSC01517.JPG, DSC01518.JPG, DSC01520.JPG, DSC01521.JPG, DSC01522.JPG, DSC01523.JPG, DSC01524.JPG, DSC01525.JPG, DSC01526.JPG, DSC
    Importance: High

    Gentlemen,

    A fish kill was reported to the environmental scientist(me) at 1:00 pm cst, on the banks of Allen Fossil Plant and McKellar Lake, Memphis, TN. I immediately went to the lake to assess the damage and to identify if something was happening from Allen operations. Upon arrival at the lake, fish were found dead from the intake area of the plant to the other side of the Corp of Engineers property. This indicates that Allen was not at fault for this incident. Walking the banks Mr. Wilborn and I noticed that the wind was blowing in towards our shores and there were fish located on the banks of the sandbars in the middle of the lake. I called Michael Tritapoe - Regional Environmental Manager for Allen, and the Operations Manager, Brian Casey. I identified the issues to both and then called Dennis Baxter, Fisheries personnel to get further instructions. After speaking to Dennis, and explaining what I saw and the conditions which lead up to the discovery, we concluded that the shallow depth of the water in the lake, the fact that for two days this area has had heavy rains and occasional high winds and that the lake turned over; the fish died because there was not enough oxygen in the lake to sustain them. Dennis referred me to the ODS- Scott Stone, whom I called and reported the issues. The time was captured at 1410. The photos above are of the lake and the fish kill.

    Sandra J Farmer
    Program Administrator, Environmental
    TVA Allen Fossil Plant
    2574 Plant Road
    Memphis, TN 38109
    (901) 789-8464
    Nextel (901) 553-2864
    Fax (901) 789-8469

    9/21/12: MTW called Mr. Stiefel to inquire about the status of the fish kill. According to Mr. Stiefel, dead fish were no longer being observed. He stated that he will contact Mr. Travis Markum (TVA-Water Permits & Compliance Specialist) and have him submit further information with regard to this incident.
    10/1/12: Mr. Markum sent MTP the following information via email:
    Ms. Wilbert,

    On September 17, 2012, dead fish were discovered by TVA personnel during environmental walkdown. Dead fish were found along the banks of the intake area of the plant and even further upstream. They were also located along the shoreline of the lake from the mouth of the Mississippi to the termination of McKellar Lake.

    It is believed the fish died due to low oxygen as a result of low rainfall in Memphis this quarter causing low lake levels. It was also noted the water quality was very turbid at the time the dead fish were observed, likely due to heavy rainfall in the days leading up to this event. TVA provided a courtesy notification to TDEC the afternoon the observation was made.

    No more dead fish have been observed by TVA personnel since the initial observation. If you have any questions or need additional information, please let me know.

    ______________________________
    Travis R. Markum
    Water Permits & Compliance Specialist, III
    Tennessee Valley Authority
    1101 Market Street, BR 4A | Chattanooga, TN 37402
    : 423.751.2795 | : 423.751.7011 | : trmarkum@tva.gov
    If you have any questions or comments, call us at (615) 532-0287 or email the TDEC Help Desk at BG-Help_Desk@tn.gov.