1.0 INTRODUCTION 



by Andrew J. McCusker and John D. Davis 

 Normandeau Associates, Inc. 

 Bedford, N. H. 



New Haven Harbor Station, a 460-MW oil-fired electric gener- 

 ating station operated by The United Illuminating Company (UI) , is 

 located on the east shore of New Haven Harbor in New Haven, Connecticut. 

 During normal operations, the plant interacts with the harbor in several 



ways. Through operation of a 625-cfs once-through cooling system, the 



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 plant adds waste heat to the harbor water at a rate of 2.1 x 10 BTU 



per hour with a design temperature increase (AT) of 15 °F. The plant 

 receives oil via barge approximately once a week. Additional inter- 

 action results from maintenance dredging of a channel leading to the 

 intake structure and around the oil off-loading pier. 



Planning for the New Haven Harbor Station began in 1970, 

 construction in 1973, and commercial operations in August 1975. The 

 overall process from planning through operations made the project 

 sxibject to the Federal Water Pollution Control Act of 1969 and amend- 

 ments of 1972 and 1977, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1972, 

 and regulations pursuant to those acts. Relevant regulations included 

 effluent standards and guidelines for the steam electric-power gener- 

 ating point-source category promulgated in October 1974 as well as the 

 316a and 316b draft guidelines also first issued in 1974. In September 

 1973, the State of Connecticut received approval from the Administrator 

 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to administer the NPDES 

 program through its Department of Environmental Protection. Under this 

 evolving framework of regulators and regulations, studies were conducted 

 to evaluate potential environmental impacts , to aid development of 

 recommendations for mitigative design measures, and to monitor environ- 

 mental effects of construction and operation of the facility. 



During planning and construction phases, the U.S. Army Corps 

 of Engineers (ACE) was the lead federal agency, and in 1972 prepared an 



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