Boaters beware: Electronic fish barrier could kill

[Spiel]

Boaters beware: Electronic fish barrier could kill

 

 

April 15, 2009

CAROLE SHARWARKO / suburbanchicagonews.com

 

 

ROMEOVILLE -- Homer Simpson once got shocked when he went fishing with a bug zapper. But if you reached into a certain spot in one local waterway, you wouldn't find the jolt so funny.

 

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week switched on a new electronic barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal designed to irritate pesky invasive Asian carp. But if boaters don't watch out, the charge coursing through the water could kill them.

 

"Serious injury or death could occur in the worst-case scenario," said barrier project manager Chuck Shea. "But if you're passing through the area, there's no real risk. What we don't want is people lingering in the area, fooling around."

 

One electrified barrier already was in place in the Romeoville area, just north of Lockport. The Army Corps of Engineers studied the effectiveness of that field, installed in 2002, and decided to go ahead with a second barrier. Shea said a third barrier is planned, and should go active by early 2011. All three are near one another, acting as fail-safes.

 

The barrier spans the width of the canal, about 160 feet. Running across the canal floor is a series of steel bar electrodes, which emit a one-volt-per-inch pulse of electricity. The system is about 130 feet long. Shea said it's the only one of its kind in the world, as far as he knows.

 

'Like a 'Star Wars' fence'

After considering several deterrent options, a group of agencies decided the electrified barrier was the best choice to keep the fish out but allow normal water traffic to continue.

"People think of it as a fence, but it's more of a field," said Pam Thiel, manager of fisheries for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service "It's like a 'Star Wars' fence."

 

As fish swim into the electrical field, they become "uncomfortable" and turn around, Thiel said. It doesn't kill the fish, just forces them back, not allowing them to enter the Great Lakes system. No migratory fish are in the area, so it's not disrupting any life cycles.

 

For a human, though, falling in could be deadly. Because they have a larger surface area than fish, people may receive a larger dose of electricity. And it's a continuous shock. At four to five shocks per second, a person in the field for seven minutes would get zapped about 2,000 times.

 

The Navy Experimental Diving Unit studied the field's potential effects on humans, and reported "the electric field may lead to paralysis of the muscles, and/or ventricular fibrillation potentially resulting in death after several minutes of exposure to the electric field."

 

Boaters need to know

It seems boaters take the threat seriously.

The U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit patrols those waters. Lt. Erick Johnson said the unit passed out about 1,500 fliers to every boat shop and marina in recent weeks to warn people about the new barrier.

 

"Every person we've approached is alarmed by how serious it is," Johnson said. "There's a real danger."

 

Land area near the barrier is fenced. The Army Corps of Engineers placed flashing signs in several spots upstream and downstream, letting boaters know they're pulling into the electrified area. To stay safe, boaters should go in the cabin, if possible, or stay near the middle of the boat. They also should keep children and pets away from the sides of the boat. Just don't touch the water.

 

The Coast Guard also issued a new life jacket requirement for the area, making all boaters wear a type 1 flotation device -- one that encircles the neck, Johnson said.

 

"If you go unconscious, your head stays above the water so that you can keep breathing," he said.

 

Boats may not pass one another in the barrier area, which takes about two minutes to maneuver, Johnson added. Also, they're not allowed to stop there. "Red flag" barges, those with flammable or explosive material, have to be guided through.

 

Not much recreational boat traffic moves through the area, Johnson said.

 

It's mostly people bringing their crafts up to Lake Michigan from southern marinas in spring, and floating them back at the end of the season.

 

Shea reminded that the canal isn't for human recreation. It's a not-so-clean channel for commercial ships and waste water.

 

"You don't want your children in that water anyway," he said. "That waterway is not approved for human contact."