Buffalo-Niagara Hydrokinetic Project

[Scott Kitchen]

Greetings, 

Attached for your review is an application for a Buffalo-Niagara Hydrokinetic Project in the upper Niagara River. 

If you have any questions about the project, can you please post them here?

[Scott Kitchen]

20231020-5108_Buffalo-Niagara%20Hydrokinetic%20Project_Preliminary%...

[Tony Scime]

My question is what happens to the fish life which get sucked through the turbines? 

My initial reaction is that this is something which should be passionately opposed by sportsmen and women of the Niagara River.

[John Jarosz]

I have reservations about this project:

1. There is a lot of debris that constantly flows down the river. What will be done to minimize/eliminate damage?

2. Who will do the maintenance work when a tree trunk gets jammed?

3. It appears that the platform will be anchored by cables. Years ago a barge rammed into the Peace Bridge. What happens when this jams into an abutment on the International Bridge

4. that whole area of the Upper is used for recreational fishing. It is also the "go-to" place to dip for emeralds. What will happen to them?

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I study it further

[Kyle Van Der Kooi]

Tony, I would imagine they install some sort of trash rack in front of the unit to prevent trees and other large debris from jamming the turbines. Depending on the sieve size, the mature muskies probably wouldn't be able to physically fit.

The main issues I see are:

1. It's still a relatively new energy technology with minimal implementation and lots of unknowns. Quite frankly I don't see these units producing significant amounts of power to drastically lower your monthly bills.

2.  Environmentally, is there an introduction of a magnetic field and what is that impact on aquatic life? Changes to the current flow - can we expect to see faster flow over the shoal beside Thompson's hole? What will happen downstream of the turbines with currents and how will sediment transport impact habitat, specifically near the triangle and Strawberry?

3. The footprint of the generators and surrounding area will probably be buoyed off, meaning boat traffic gets necked down to the Canadian side which means more boats running beside or overtop of Thompson's. 

Ultimately I don't think we want the Niagara river, specifically this proposed location which is adjacent to such critical fishing habitat, to turn into a test site. Perhaps they can push this project downstream towards Niagara Falls and the ICD?

[Tony Scime]

My main concern would be with the emerald shiners. Their population is a fraction of what it was thirty years ago. This is a principle, if not the sole migration route for the shiners between Lake Eire and the Niagara River. The route has already been significantly compromised by human construction - the building of the Peace Bridge, the filling in of the Black Rock harbor and marsh, the filling in of the LaSalle marsh in the Buffalo Harbor area, the extension of land for the expansion of the Marina on the Ontario side. Several of these projects have already increased the speed of the river currents to make it difficult for the migration of the shiners and other species. 

The consequences of human development along and within the river has been mostly bad for the river ecosystem. I would be very skeptical of any further development which isn't singularly for the purpose of habitat rehabilitation and development. 

Kyle Van Der Kooi said:

Tony, I would imagine they install some sort of trash rack in front of the unit to prevent trees and other large debris from jamming the turbines. Depending on the sieve size, the mature muskies probably wouldn't be able to physically fit.

The main issues I see are:

1. It's still a relatively new energy technology with minimal implementation and lots of unknowns. Quite frankly I don't see these units producing significant amounts of power to drastically lower your monthly bills.

2.  Environmentally, is there an introduction of a magnetic field and what is that impact on aquatic life? Changes to the current flow - can we expect to see faster flow over the shoal beside Thompson's hole? What will happen downstream of the turbines with currents and how will sediment transport impact habitat, specifically near the triangle and Strawberry?

3. The footprint of the generators and surrounding area will probably be buoyed off, meaning boat traffic gets necked down to the Canadian side which means more boats running beside or overtop of Thompson's. 

Ultimately I don't think we want the Niagara river, specifically this proposed location which is adjacent to such critical fishing habitat, to turn into a test site. Perhaps they can push this project downstream towards Niagara Falls and the ICD?

[Stephen Glassic]

It looks like this is very preliminary but the red line drawn around a section on the map is ultimately the area they want to fill with generators. Maybe up to 60 of those paddle-wheels from what is said in the proposal. Also, it seems like they would have to acquire additional permits from other various entities.

It looks like there are many unknowns that have not been discussed in the proposal or on the companies website. Their website seems like mostly slick advertising and very little technical info, research info or reports on currently operating projects. Also, it seems like they have not been consulting much with State, Federal or fisheries, environmental and wildlife concerns or experts. Their website does not provide any info at all about other projects that are in operation, in various stages of development or preliminary operation and development.

They are pushing full steam ahead because of all the Govt. money available for energy and infrastructure projects. I kinda wonder if money people are getting ahead of a technology that is still in development where all the bug have not yet been worked out and has not yet been perfected or proven viable.

It just seems like they want to use the Niagara River as and experiment for a project of a grand scale compared to any of their previous projects.