Unconventional impacts from unconventional devices: Noise, electromagnetic energy, antifouling toxicity, and habitat alteration

Conventional dam-based hydropower production produces a variety of environmental stressors that have been debated and confronted for decades.  Hydrokinetic devices present some of the same or analogous stressors (e.g., changes in sediment transport and deposition; interference with animal movements and migrations; strike by rotor blades or other moving parts) and some potentially new stressors (e.g., noise during construction and operation; emission of electromagnetic fields [EMF]; and toxicity of paints, lubricants, and antifouling coatings).  Instead of waiting until these issues arise as impacts following full-scale deployment, the U.S. Department of Energy is funding a research program to better understand which stressors are likely to present realistic environmental concerns.  The types of hydrokinetic devices being proposed and tested are varied, as are the locations where they are proposed for deployment, i.e., coastal, estuarine, and big rivers.  Differences in hydrology, device type, and the affected aquatic communities (marine, estuarine, and riverine), will likely result in a different suite of environmental concerns for each project.  We will present results of a preliminary analysis of potential environmental stressors from the operation of hydrokinetic devices and the initial stages of studies to evaluate the effects of noise, EMF, and antifouling coatings.