Today’s batch of burning questions, my smart-aleck answers and the real deal:
Question: I was recently kayaking on Lake Julian, and during my time on the water I ran across a dead fish. I know from previous articles in the paper that Duke energy has switched from producing electricity from coal burning to natural gas, and that significantly lowers the water temperature in the lake. Those articles also indicated that there would be a large number of fish of a certain species that would die because of their inability to live in hot water. Has that major die-off occurred as expected? Or because of our summer temperatures is it yet to come? How will the county handle the die-off, as this is a park? Or will Duke have to do a cleanup? How much will the temperature drop?
My answer: In other news, tilapia is on special at Ingles. Forever.
Real answer: So yes, the tilapia are the fish that do not fare well in colder water temperatures. And when Duke made the switch to natural gas and the lake temperature dropped, well, they did not enjoy the change.
"The transition of Lake Julian to a more natural state, consistent with other lakes in the region, eliminated the non-native species like tilapia, which could not adapt to the colder conditions of the lake," said Duke Energy Regional Manager Jason Walls. "These species could not naturally evolve here, but rather were introduced by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission."
The good news is other fish are doing fine.
"Even without the non-native fish in Lake Julian, the fishery will continue to thrive with species more appropriate for this region, including large mouth bass, channel catfish, brim and crappie," Walls said.
More: Duke Energy coal ash landfill at Asheville steam gets state approval to move forward
Yes, I know some people spell "brim" as "bream." Let's not let this divide the nation as so many other topics have these days.
It's also important to remember that Lake Julian never has been a natural body of water.
"Lake Julian was built in the early 1960s by Carolina Power & Light, a predecessor of Duke Energy, for the sole purpose of providing cooling water to support the operation of the coal-fired power plant," Walls said. "Warm water was discharged from the coal plant to cool in Lake Julian, resulting in warmer temperatures throughout the lake."
So when Duke retired the coal-fired plants earlier this year, the warm water flowing into the lake stopped, meaning it's not running at a more normal temperature for mountain lakes. This time of year, most mountain lakes are in the 80s.
Buncombe County's Recreation Services Department manages Lake Julian Park, and Director Josh O'Conner said the die-off was a one-off incident, "as the major die-off occurred earlier this year after the initial temperature change."
"It was difficult to gauge the total numbers impacted," O'Conner said. "We had a few — two-three 'pockets' — of 20-30 dead fish that appeared during the winter months as a result of currents within the lake," O'Conner said. "We did not experience a long period of die off and had relatively limited customer feedback about the event because of the season."
Duke handled the fish clean-up.
"I verified with staff, no additional sightings or complaints have been received this summer," O'Conner said.
Question: Several readers asked me about Sinclair Broadcasting and its plans to air an interview with the widely discredited scientist featured in the documentary "Plandemic." Some readers suggested Sinclair, which owns WLOS-News 13 here in Asheville, was going to air the actual documentary. At any rate, folks wanted to know how WLOS was going to handle this. In the interim, Sinclair decided to pull the interview with the scientist.
My answer: I'll note that I had to set down my hydroxychloriquine/bleach margarita to answer this question, and that was almost as inconvenient as wearing a mask for 20 minutes in the grocery store.
Real answer: WLOS General Manager Joe Fishleigh handled this one.
"First a few corrections: the interview with Judy Mikovits was scheduled to air on 'America This Week,' not on WLOS News," Fishleigh said. "America This Week is a show that airs across our parent company, Sinclair Broadcast Group’s resume of stations but is not connected to our local newscast."
More: Answer Man: WLOS weather anchors working from home? N. AVL Water outage?
Fishleigh also stressed, "There was never a consideration for ATW to air the 'Plandemic' documentary, only the aforementioned interview."
"According to our corporate news director, those plans no longer exist and that interview with Mikovits, who has been widely discredited, will not air," Fishleigh said. "We are licensed by the Federal Communications Commission. Commentary and opinions are indeed allowable under our license."
"I must add that the commentary and opinions expressed on America This Week are not necessarily shared by our staff locally," Fishleigh said.
This is the opinion of John Boyle. To submit a question, contact him at 232-5847 or jboyle@citizen-times.com
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The Link LonkJuly 30, 2020 at 07:43PM
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Answer Man: Lake Julian fish die-off? WLOS 'Plandemic' plan? - Citizen Times
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