Opinion ID: 365744
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Flounder Larvae

Text: 15 The Administrator noted that he could not be certain from the record whether the winter flounder found near the intake were part of a local population distinct from other populations of flounder found elsewhere. If the flounder are a local population, then any impact on them from the plant would be magnified, at least potentially, because the local flounders would not interbreed with and recruit from others of the species to augment the population or replace those killed by the intake. Nor, the Administrator found, did the record conclusively demonstrate whether the flounder spawned close to shore or further out to sea. If they spawned closer to shore, it might be more likely that they constituted a distinct population confined to the Hampton-Seabrook Estuary. 5 16 Petitioners rely on these failures of proof to argue that the Administrator's conclusion that intake would not significantly endanger winter flounder is unsupported by the record. Resolution of these issues, however, was not essential to the Administrator's conclusion. 17 The Administrator reasoned that if the flounder were a local population and spawned in the estuary, then few of the larvae would reach the areas of the intake or the diffuser (where the heated water being expelled might endanger the larvae). That is so because the tidal movement of the water in the estuary, the tidal plume, rarely, if ever, reaches those areas. Moreover, the younger larvae, which are most at the mercy of the water movement, would likely be high in the estuary, close to freshwater, and therefore, unlikely to be swept out of the harbor by the tidal plume. Remand Opinion at 41. In addition, if flounder larvae leave the estuary, they will tend to disperse over a relatively broad area as the water in which they are transported mixes with the coastal water; and although some flounder larvae contained in this mixed coastal water may ultimately be carried northward toward the intake and diffuser, instead of southward with the generally-prevailing currents, only a small portion of these larvae will be affected by the intake and the diffuser. Id. at 42. 18 If, on the other hand, the flounder are a localized population but spawn offshore, a much greater area or volume of water must be considered than the area of the diffuser and intake and the waters impacted thereby. There is a vast expanse of coastal area available for spawning. The area around the intake and diffuser does not appear to be unique with respect to flounder spawning and winter flounder larvae population should inhabit areas to the north and south and inshore and offshore from the intake and diffuser. There are no physiographic structures restricting the spawning area. Neither is there any reason to believe that the coastal area off the Hampton-Seabrook harbor entrance and in the immediate vicinity of the intake and diffuser is different or a more attractive spawning ground than other areas along or off the coast. Nor does any biological reason suggest itself for spawning limited to the area of concern. Id. at 42-43. 19 The Administrator was satisfied that the winter flounder larvae would not be endangered even if the uncertainties pointed to by petitioners were resolved against PSCO. The Administrator's logic strikes us as compelling, and petitioners give us no reason to doubt either the reasoning or the particular facts upon which it is based. Therefore, we must uphold the Administrator's conclusion that the protection and propagation of the flounder is assured. We see no reason to delve into factual problems that are not essential to the decision.