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Site Description Report

Fisk Generating Station

111 West Cermak Road

Chicago, IL 60608

August 4, 2009

1.0 Background and Objectives

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in the process of developing 

316(b) cooling water intake structure requirements that reflect the best technology

available (BTA) for minimizing adverse environmental impact for all existing 

power plants and manufacturing facilities. As part of this process, EPA staff is 

visiting electric generators and manufacturers to better understand the cooling 

water intake structure (CWIS) technologies in use at facilities, including the sitespecific characteristics of each facility and how these affect the selection and 

performance of CWIS technologies. EPA is also visiting facilities to better 

understand cooling water use and specific issues or technologies that can affect 

316(b) compliance. As part of its site visit to the Crawford Generating Station, 

EPA also collected information on Midwest Generation’s Fisk Generating Station

(Fisk).

2.0 Facility Description

Fisk is located on a 40 acre site on the South branch of the Chicago River (just 

above the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal) in downtown Chicago. The facility

began operations in 19031and operates under NPDES permit IL0002178; the 

permit expired April 30, 2005 and has been administratively extended.

3.0 Electricity Generation and Transmission

Fisk is a coal-fired generating station with one generating unit and a total 

generating capacity of 348 MW. The unit came online in 1959. The facility

operates as a baseload generating station,2providing both electricity and voltage 

support to the Chicago area. The facility has one scheduled outage per year for 

maintenance; outages vary from 10-50 days, depending on the extent of activities 

required.

4.0 Cooling Water System and Intake Structure

Fisk withdraws once-through cooling water from a shoreline CWIS located near 

the end of a 1000 foot long intake canal. The facility’s two single speed 

circulating pumps have a combined design intake flow (DIF) is 323 million 

gallons per day (mgd), including service water.

 

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Fisk operated the first all steam-driven station in the US.

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Fisk’s gross capacity factor for 2009 was 59.6%.
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Water passes through a trash rack and into one of 4 screen bays, each with an 8 

foot wide coarse mesh (3/8”) traveling screen. Screens are rotated on a timer and 

debris and fish are deposited in a perforated basket for dewatering and eventually

disposed of in a landfill.

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 The design through-screen velocity is 1.69 feet per 

second (fps).

The facility’s NPDES permit does not contain any 316(b) requirements.

The facility’s discharge point is approximately 1000 feet upstream of the intake 

canal.

5.0 Impingement and Entrainment Information

Fisk conducted impingement and entrainment sampling in 2004-2005 in 

preparation for complying with the now-suspended 2004 Phase II rule. Weekly

impingement samples (not impingement mortality) were collected for a 24-hour 

period. A total of 1622 organisms were collected, consisting of 26 species; eight 

species comprised 94% of the biomass collected. The projected total annual 

impingement was 32,987 organisms per year. See Attachment B.

6.0 Cooling Tower Feasibility

In 2008, Midwest conducted a feasibility study for converting several of its plants 

to closed-cycle cooling. The study (conducted by Sargent & Lundy) concluded 

that there is sufficient space to install wet cooling towers at Fisk, but that the cost 

would be approximately $120 million.4 (See Attachment A.) Facility

representatives stated that financing and other considerations would likely render 

installation of cooling towers at this site impractical.

7.0 Debris Handling

Fisk screens a very large volume of trash from the river; approximately 60 tons of 

trash is removed each year. Facility representatives noted that Fisk is not 

permitted to return its screen wash water to the canal. Loading from other types 

of debris does not appear to be a major operational concern.

8.0 Repowering/Future Uses

EPA did not collect any information about repowering at this site.

 

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Per state law, the facility is prevented from returning anything back to the waterbody.

4 The study assumed that mechanical draft towers with plume abatement and drift eliminators would be 

installed and that existing structures on the site would need to be relocated. The study did not consider 

permitting or other technical feasibility concerns (e.g., conflicts with existing piping); it was a capital cost 

estimate.
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9.0 Cooling Ponds

There are no cooling ponds onsite.

10.0 Ownership

Fisk is owned by Midwest Generation, an investor-owned company and 

subsidiary of Edison International.

11.0 316(a)

The facility’s NPDES permit does not contain any 316(a) limits. The Ship Canal 

is a man-made waterway, designed to convey POTW effluent and is manipulated 

to provide flood control for the City of Chicago, as well as accommodate heavy

commercial barge traffic. As such, it has less stringent water quality standards for 

most pollutants, including temperature. Although Fisk discharges to the South 

Branch of the Chicago River (just upstream of the official beginning of the 

Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal), it is subject to the same less stringent thermal 

limits. The station has been consistently able to meet the existing thermal limits 

such that no 316(a) variance has been required.

12.0 Ash Handling

Fly ash is sent to an offsite landfill due to the use of activated carbon injection 

(ACI) for mercury control. The ACI system has been in service since July 1, 

2008; prior to the start-up of this unit, fly ash was sold for beneficial reuse..

13.0 Air Emissions Controls

Fisk uses electrostatic precipitators for particulate control, overfired air for NOx 

reduction, and activated carbon to remove mercury.

Attachment A Engineering Diagram for Cooling Tower Locations at Fisk 

Attachment B Executive Summary of Final Draft Impingement Mortality and 

Entrainment Characterization Study, Fisk Station December 2007
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Attachment A—Engineering Diagram for Cooling Tower Locations at Fisk

Please see the attached materials.

Attachment B—Executive Summary of Final Draft Impingement Mortality and 

Entrainment Characterization Study, Crawford Station December 2007

Please see the attached materials.