American Brook Lamprey Are Cool Fish That Need to Stay Cool

by Brian T. Lynch, MSW

A difference of 5 degrees Centigrade (9°F) in stream water doesn’t sound like much, but for the American Brook Lamprey that lives in the Black River between Hercules and Sunset Lake, it could be the difference between survival and extinction.

American Brook Lamprey are prehistoric freshwater fish that have survived every natural calamity over the past 360 million years. It is essentially unchanged from the earliest fossil records dating back that far. No one knows for how many millennia these “living fossils” have inhabited the Black River in Kenvil, but their presence in the stream is the best proof that Ashland Chemical has that the array of toxic chemicals on the highly polluted Hercules property is staying put rather than migrating into the "Great Spring," which is what Native Americans called the southern wetlands on the Hercules site. The American Brook Lamprey wouldn't be seen there because they are pollution intolerant. They are also intolerant of high turbidity, high saltation, and water temperatures above 20 degrees Centigrade, which is 68 degrees Fahrenheit. 

For this reason, the US EPA considers the Brook Lamprey an excellent biological indicator of water quality in our streams.  If the waters flowing from the Great Spring on the Hercules property were tainted with toxins, turbid, salt, or too warm, the lamprey would not have been observed at the Raritan Headwaters's monitoring site over the past three years. 

I am the NJ DEP-certified stream monitor for that site. Each year, my volunteer colleagues and I collect samples of the macroinvertebrates that live in the stream's substrate for laboratory analysis. This reach of the stream isn't well suited for the HDMI index used to analyze water quality based on the macroinvertebrates because the stream flows over a smooth bed of glacial sand. There are no cobbles or riffles to add oxygen to the water. Because cold water holds more oxygen than warm water, the cool temperatures here are even more critical for all the aquatic life in this part of the river. We also measure the stream's temperature, volume, and turbidity every year. On the warmest June monitoring day in 2022, after 3/4" of rain fell 18 hours earlier, the water temperature was 20 degrees Centigrade (68 degrees F). This is the upper limit beyond which the American Brook Lamprey can not survive. 

Why should their survival matter?

Among the many good reasons, these ancient survivors have one of the most robust immune systems on the planet. Scientists are convinced they hold genetic secrets that might enhance our immune system someday. There is an urgency to study these fish because their numbers are dwindling. They require cool, clear, pollution-free water to survive.

The Hercules permit request is a renewal of an active but obsolete permit from years ago. It allowed Hercules Powder Company to discharge treated wastewater into the Black River, but the property has been vacant for 27 years. It’s being renewed because the proposed redevelopment will need to rebuild the waste treatment plant for the proposed warehouse complex. Among the provisions from the old permit carried over to the new one is the 25°c maximum temperature range for the treated wastewater. The maximum water temperature in which the American Brook Lamprey can survive is 20°C. Because water temperatures in New Jersey are already rising due to global warming, this old temperature restriction is obsolete. New temperature parameters need to be calculated based on our changing climate conditions.

This is where the public can help. During the prior public comments period, the Raritan Headwaters Association made DEP aware of the American Brook Lamprey in the Black River. The harmful impact of carrying over the old temperature limit for treated wastewater was raised, but the revised permit retained the limit. They won’t reconsider this question again in the current public review period without strong public support for reconsideration.

If you agree that the temperature restrictions on wastewater discharged into the Black River should be lower than 25°c, please call or write Bennett Moss at the DEP address below. Here is the DEP memo:


From: Moss, Bennett [DEP] <Bennett.Moss@dep.nj.gov>
Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2023, 7:52 AM
To: Moss, Bennett [DEP] <Bennett.Moss@dep.nj.gov>
Subject: Issuance of the Re-Draft Permit Action for NJPDES DSW NJ0000876

Good morning,

Please find attached the Re-Draft Discharge to Surface Water Renewal Permit Action issued for the following facility as prepared by the Bureau of Surface Water and Pretreatment Permitting:

Permit Class: B – Industrial Wastewater
Permittee: Hercules, LLC
Facility: Hercules, LLC - Kenvil
Township / County: Roxbury Township, Morris County
Program Interest Number: 46431

The Department has attached a PDF version of the re-draft permit to provide you an opportunity to submit formal comments. The public comment period will close on June 16, 2023 as detailed in the re-draft permit cover letter. Notice of this re-draft permit action appeared in the May 17, 2023 DEP Bulletin. The DEP Bulletin is available on the internet at http://www.state.nj.us/dep/bulletin.

Please note that the Department has only issued this permit action by email and a paper copy of the permit will not be mailed. If you have any questions regarding this permit action, please contact me either by e-mail or by phone at (609) 292-4860.


Thank you,
Bennett

Bennett Moss, Environmental Specialist
Bureau of Surface Water & Pretreatment Permitting
Division of Water Quality
NJ Dept. of Environmental Protection
Phone: (609) 292-4860


Re-Draft Permit Renewal for NJPDES DSW NJ0000876.pdf
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