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Phil Dirkx: Mussels place Nacimiento pipeline at risk

Posted by: Maven on August 23, 2009 at 9:53 am

From SanLuisObispo.com, this column by Phil Dirkx:

“A costly menace now threatens the 80-percent-complete Nacimiento pipeline project. It isn’t the menace of lawsuits by disgruntled water-bill payers. It’s the menace of damage by shellfish the size of pats of butter.

They are quagga mussels from Ukraine who sneak rides on boats and ships. They and their smaller cousins, zebra mussels, have done billions of dollars of damage to water-works and hydroelectric plants back East.

Their strength is in numbers. One female produces half a million offspring a year. Swarms of them attach in layers to almost any surface, including the insides of pipes and the outsides of docks. They clog intake screens and boat motors.

They devastate the environment. They eat every little thing. In some water where you could barely see 12 inches down, they clear it to 12 feet down. Nothing remains for other creatures. Quaggas accumulate so much toxic material from the water they become poisonous. Many birds that eat them die. …”

Read more of Phil Dirkx column by clicking here.

August 23, 2009 · Filed Under Bay Area, Invasive Plants & Species

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