Highland Man Wins Award for Fish Protection at Power Plant

From Con Ed

An engineer and an environmental scientist from Con Edison have each won a prestigious industry award for developing a system that protects fish in the East River near a steam and electric generating plant.

Gary Thorn, a section manager in Central Engineering, and Brian Brush, senior scientist in Environmental Health and Safety, were winners of the Technology Transfer Award from the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI).

The pair led a project to design a system of five screens with fine mesh panels to filter fish, eggs and larvae from the water cooling intake at the East River Generating Station off East 14th Street in Manhattan.

The screens, along with a fish-return system, reduce the plant’s impact on the river. The fish-return system uses a low-pressure spray to gently remove any aquatic organisms trapped on the screens and return them to the river.

“The East River and the Hudson River Estuary are among New York’s many wonderful natural resources,” said Andrea J. Schmitz, vice president, Environmental Health and Safety, at Con Edison. “The excellent work that Gary, Brian and their team did will keep the aquatic life abundant for years, providing great recreational and ecological benefits.”

“The engineering and planning for this project were extremely complex,” said Sanjay K. Bose, Con Edison’s vice president, Central Engineering. “Our experts selected the best technology available and applied it with great precision and attention to detail.”

The marine life in the river includes species such as the Atlantic croaker, Atlantic tomcod, cunner and bay anchovy.

Brush and Thorn received their awards at a ceremony in Charleston, S.C.

Thorn is a resident of Highland, N.Y., while Brush lives in Newtown, Penn. Both joined Con Edison in September 2008.

EPRI is a national energy research industry organization that seeks to make the delivery of electricity safe, reliable and efficient.

Con Edison is a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison, Inc. [NYSE: ED], one of the nation’s largest investor-owned energy companies, with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $41 billion in assets. The utility provides electric, gas and steam service to more than 3 million customers in New York City and Westchester County, New York.

Consolidated Edison, Inc. has been recognized for its environmental performance by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Department of Energy and other organizations. For additional information, visit conEd.com. To learn more about our sustainability initiatives, go towww.coned.com/sustainability