CHICAGO - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today that it will
delay activation of a new electric barrier, known as Barrier IIA, in the Chicago
Sanitary and Ship Canal near Romeoville, Illinois. The Army Corps had planned to
activate the barrier at 1 Volt/inch by January 31st, but will delay
these plans to conduct cooling system repairs. Inspection and maintenance crews
preparing barrier equipment for extended use identified concerns with the
condition of the cooling pipes after they de-watered the system coolant tank on
January 27th. The extent
of these defects was not visible during normal maintenance checks of the filled
coolant tank. Engineers charged
with keeping the barrier in continuous operations recommended defective pipes be
replaced prior to activation and extended use of the barrier. The corrosion of the cooling pipes was
not anticipated. The Army Corps and
other subject matter experts are examining the situation to ensure cooling
system repairs are completed effectively in a timely manner. The Army Corps now anticipates
completing repairs and activating Barrier IIA by mid to late March if fairly
favorable working conditions prevail.
The Army
Corps has been operating a similar demonstration barrier in the Sanitary and
Ship Canal since 2002, which remains in continuous operation. The purpose of the
barrier is to block the passage of aquatic nuisance species, such as Asian carp,
in order to prevent them from moving into the Great Lakes.
Chicago
District Commander, Col. Vincent V. Quarles, said he regrets the delay in
activating the new barrier, but he affirmed to a group of navigation and
environmental stakeholders in a pre-activation teleconference on Tuesday that
the Corps remains committed to keeping an electric barrier operating on the
canal and to doing so safely. “We want to make sure Barrier IIA
runs safely and effectively and to that end we decided it was prudent to make
repairs to the cooling system now before we put it into full time operation,”
Quarles said.