The SOLEC (State of the Lakes Ecosystem Conference) 2004 Steering Committee recently recognized DTE Energy's Monroe Power Plant for its "exceptional performance and dedication to improving the Great Lakes." The SOLEC conferences are hosted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Environment Canada on behalf of the two countries.
Lake sturgeon are listed as threatened or endangered by 19 of the 20 states within their original range in the United States. DTE Energy has worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Michigan universities, Michigan Sea Grant, Michigan Departments of Natural Resources and Environmental Quality, Great Lakes Fishery Trust, and others for many years in an effort to rehabilitate lake sturgeon in the waterways connecting Lakes Huron and Erie. In 2000, the partners began planning the creation of an artificial spawning reef in the Detroit River. Construction took place in 2004.
Three different materials (coal cinders, cobble and broken limestone) were deposited to create spawning beds off the coast of Belle Isle in the Detroit River. DTE Energy's Monroe Power Plant stockpiled one of the materials - 765 tons of coal cinders - and the company paid for the transportation of the cinders from the plant to the barge site. Coal cinders, also known as bottom ash, are one of the by-products of the coal combustion process used in electrical generation. The material was chosen as one of the substrates because research has shown that sturgeon currently successfully spawn on beds of coal cinders dropped in the lakes by the 19th century freighters.
The project partners hope that sturgeon will use these beds in their next spawning season, and that their preference of one material or another will lead to future successful artificial spawning reefs throughout the Great Lakes system.
