Dominion Plans World's Biggest Community Fish Fry

More problems for Dominion's troubled Skiffes Creek transmission project in the WaPo.

The most recent problem involves fish.  More precisely, the Atlantic Sturgeon.

Under choppy waters was the spawning ground of the Atlantic sturgeon, a large, prehistoric-looking fish credited with saving the early settlers from starvation. So abundant were the fish then that members of native tribes would wade into the river and catch them by hand. By 40 years ago, however, the sturgeon were thought to be wiped out because of decades of overfishing. Today, the fish are struggling to make a comeback as a federally protected endangered species.

Environmentalists believe construction of overhead towers in the James River will disturb the spawning of the endangered sturgeons.

The thumping percussion of the pile driver is likely to disturb not only the sturgeon, but also other anadromous fish that live their early lives in rivers before moving on to the ocean as adults.

“Every sturgeon killed by ship strike or a tower being pounded into the ground in this important area is a step backward in the effort to recover this population,” he said.

But wait, Dominion has a solution to the noise problem (and, no, it doesn't involve giving the fish little headsets that play music from The Little Mermaid).  Dominion says it will construct "a plastic bubble curtain to blunt the hammering."

And if that doesn't work... residents of Jamestown can once again wade into the river and catch stunned sturgeons by hand.  Just think of all the community goodwill to be had if Dominion makes lemonade out of these sour lemons and sets up a riverside community fish fry for local residents!