Ecological Changes Associated with the Industrialization of Cedar Bayou and Trinity Bay, Texas

Date

1974

Authors

Johnson, Roy B., Jr.

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Abstract

Cedar Bayou (a tributary of Galveston Bay) and Trinity Bay were studied before and after construction and operation of two industries. Cedar Bayou is the discharge site for U.S. Steel Company, and the intake site for Houston Lighting and Power Company's Cedar Bayou Generating Station. Trinity Bay, near Point Barrow, is the discharge site for thermal effluents from the power plant. Intake and discharge canals and channels, and a 1,052.2 hectare cooling pond were built in the study area. Water was circulated for cooling at the power plant for the first time in September 1970, reversing flow in the lower 12.9 kilometers of Cedar Bayou. Thermal effluents were discharged for the first time in November 1970 when electrical power generation was begun.

Description

79 pages

Keywords

ecology, power plants, industrial wastes, canals, cooling ponds, cooling water, blue crab, brown shrimp, white shrimp, gulf menhaden, Atlantic croaker, sand seatrout, power plants, sheepshead minnow, Gulf killifish, tidewater silverside, frequency, abundance, flooding, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), turbidity, bay anchovy, density, vegetation, salinity gradients, water quality

Citation