EM - April/May 2012 - (Page 30)

30 ENERGY INTERNATIONAL April/May 2012 www.esb.ie/em Safety Improvement Plan a hit in the community ESB FISHErIES’ Shocking Success Ted Forde, Turlough Hill SSO, presenting Donoughmore National School with a First Aid Bag following the electricity generation awareness initiative. An eel being measured and examined after undergoing treatment. as part OF its saFEtY improvement plan, turlough Hill and liffey stations included a safety initiative with the local community. this initiative was suggested by staff and reflects their willingness over the years to make a contribution with community groups on an ongoing basis. Examples in the past have included a student photo competition with the winners being selected to be part of an EsB safety calendar, or a mural painting initiative in the tur- lough Hill cavern to illustrate what safety, the environment, equality and diversity mean to school children. this year’s suggestion from staff was to carry out an electricity generation awareness initiative with a local school. this was thought to be especially relevant to young people in order to make them aware of the dangers of electricity generation whilst acknowledging the vital role that electricity plays in all of our lives. n A silver eel being treated in the electro anaesthesia unit. Appreciation Jim Mc Nicholas the late Jim Mc nicholas, E&i supervisor ardnacrusha generating station, passed away unexpectedly on February 26th last. Jim’s untimely passing was greeted with a great sense of shock and loss by his colleagues at ardnacrusha and the wider EsB. Jake, as he was affectionately known, had a long association with the company which he joined in sligo district in 1968. His career path initially was with projects department and his work during this period took him to various locations within the organisation including turlough Hill, tarbert, aghada and Moneypoint. 1989 saw him joining the staff at ardnacrusha station where he was to spend the next 23 years until his untimely death. during all of this time Jake contributed greatly to EsB in all of these locations. He was a larger-than-life character and was renowned for his courtesy and kind words. His presence rubbed off on all his colleagues who had the pleasure of working alongside or under his supervision over the years. Jake always showed great interest and concern for his work colleagues and this manifested itself greatly in his final months; though coping with illness himself, he continued to help other colleagues with a kind word and the hand of genuine friendship. Over the years, whether at retirement functions, Christmas parties or company outings, Jake was ever present and enjoyed the banter and craic of such occasions greatly. Jake was a devoted family man who had many interests outside of EsB. Unusual perhaps for a Mayo native, he developed a great passion for rugby and tasted success with the famous shannon rugby Club both as a player and as an administrator. at the time of his death he was president Elect of the Club and on a personal level contributed greatly to the Club’s modern facilities at Coonagh. Jake enjoyed a flutter on the horses, but in the true West of ireland style, always underestimated his winnings and exaggerated his losses. the amount wagered remained a private matter between Jake and the bookies! news of Jake’s passing was greeted with great shock and disbelief as the staff at ardnacrusha assembled at the station on the morning after his death. the station as a workplace, and we as his colleagues will be the poorer for his passing. He will be sadly missed by us all. to his wife Bridie, daughters karen and suzanne, sons alan and Jim, and his granddaughter Jessica we extend our heartfelt sympathy. the huge numbers who attended his removal and funeral Masses in both Caherdavin in limerick and Balla in Mayo, where his remains were laid to rest, were testament to the high esteem in which he was held by all. May his gentle soul rest in peace. n sMitH-rOOt Europe recently carried out trials on electro anesthesia of silver eel at EsB’s salmon farm located at Ballyshannon in Co. donegal the silver eel were captured by EsB contract fishermen, belonging to the EsB trap and transport (t&t) system. the irish national Eel Management plan sets catch targets that must be achieved by EsB each year for the Erne, shannon and lee catchments. these migrating, t&tcaptured, silver eel are then transported for release by EsB Fisheries staff below each of the lowermost Erne, shannon and lee hydroelectric stations. the electro anesthesia equipment on trial was used previously in north america for other fish species, but has not been used before on European silver eel. dr denis doherty of EsB Fisheries Conservation and dr russell poole of the Marine institute assisted in the smithroot trial. the process of electro anesthesia renders fish unconscious and insensible quickly, without the use of chemical anesthetics. two different systems were used in the trials. the first is the Ea1000B electro anesthesia system, which is designed for application in hatchery settings. this unit allows large numbers of fish to be anesthetised, quickly and inexpensively. this technology allows the immediate release of sedated fish with no mandated withdrawal period. the second system, the pEs, is used to render small numbers of fish unconscious and insensible quickly. the system is portable to facilitate handling and tagging activities in the field, aboard boats and ships, and within aquaculture, hatchery and other research settings. this system also allows for the almost immediate release of sedated fish after a short recovery period. the conductivity of the Ballyshannon farm water supply was between 218 and 222 us/cm at a water temperature of 5.30C. Each fish was treated individually within a specially modified treatment tank, which provided a flow of water to help orient the fish and allowed for measurements of the voltage and amperage. all of the eels tested were healthy and each was measured and weighed prior to being used. the initial ‘shock’ period renders the fish immobile and the second stage results in an anesthesia stage. after the preliminary trials during River Erne silver eel being retained prior to their being tested. using various settings, it was found that the best results were obtained from a two-stage procedure using 100volts for 30 seconds at 30Hz, with a 100% duty cycle followed quickly by 50volts for 30 seconds at 25Hz. With the E-1000B equipment, the setting that was deemed to be the most appropriate was 30 volts for 56 seconds in stage 1 and 114 volts for 48 seconds in stage 2. Eels were examined for their ease of handling. some were also dissected to ensure that there was no internal damage. these results, whilst encouraging, indicate that the equipment works well in a hatchery based environment. However, its practicality in the field and the significant health and safety implications remain to be assessed. n 20 ESB International staff take part in the Connemarathon 2012 Half Marathon participants (l-r): Stuart Scott, Paul Murphy, Paudie Moroney, Aiden Harte, Robert Laird, Orlaith Harney, Sean Mulvey, Mark Dunne, Olive Dunne, James Finn, Emma Butler (Emma raised money for 1Life), Peter Corcoran, David Keogh, Selina Duignan, Colum O’Sullivan and James Tuohy. ESBI tHE COnnEMaratHOn 2012 race proved a great success with 3,000 people crossing the finish line in the three races (full, half and ultra marathons). Fastest EsBi staff in the half marathon was James tuohy (1hr29) and in the full marathon was Brian gray (3hr40). Full Marathon Participants (l-r): Séamus McCoubrey, Vincent Power, and Eileen Morgan missing from the photo is Brian Gray (Brian raised money for Irish Cancer Society). http://www.esb.ie/em

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of EM - April/May 2012

EM - April/May 2012
Contents
News
Services & Electric Ireland
ESB Networks Ltd
ESB Energy International
Health & Habitat
Life

EM - April/May 2012