CARR and GlESEL: IMPACT OF THERMAL EFFLUENT 



dissolved oxygen and carbon dioxide, salinity, and 

 a variety of toxic substances. The St. Johns River 

 in the vicinity of Jacksonville receives a multitude 

 of pollutants in addition to thermal effluent. It is 

 impossible to quantify the relative role played by 

 other pollutants in altering the fish populations in 

 the thermally affected creeks. However, since our 

 control creek (Browns Creek) probably received 

 the same array of extraneous pollutants from the 

 river as did the heated creeks, it is possible to use 

 the fish population found in Browns Creek as an 

 indicator of how the system is faring without the 

 addition of the thermal effluent and the various 

 chemicals associated with power plant operation. 

 It is not the intent of this report to criticize the 

 Northside Generating Station or the Jacksonville 

 Electric Authority for the effects that the opera- 

 tion of their power plant is having upon the nur- 

 sery area capacity of the adjacent marshland. It is 

 realized that this plant is operating within the 

 guidelines dictated by appropriate State and Fed- 

 eral agencies. Further, it is recognized that the 

 acreage of marshland affected by this plant rep- 

 resents only a minute portion of the total marsh- 

 land habitat available in this area. However, it is 

 the intent of this report to show that massive dis- 

 charges of thermal effluent do have a very obvious 

 detrimental effect on the capacity of an estuarine 

 receiving water to continue functioning as a nur- 

 sery area for a variety of important species. This 

 particular detrimental effect has received inade- 

 quate attention in the past. Since nursery areas 

 represent one of our most valuable estuarine re- 

 sources, it is imperative that this resource and its 

 impairment should be given proper consideration 

 during the site selection stages that precede the 

 construction of future power plants. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 



This study was supported by a grant from the 

 Division of Sponsored Research at the University 

 of Florida. We are grateful to the Jacksonville 

 Electric Authority and to the personnel at the 

 Northside Generating Station for their coopera- 

 tion in permitting us access to their property and 

 providing storage space for our gear. We thank 

 Carter R. Gilbert of the Florida State Museum for 

 frequent assistance with the identification of 

 fishes and for constructive criticisms of the manu- 

 script. Assistance with the collection and the 

 sorting of samples was provided by Frank Hearne. 



LITERATURE CITED 



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