Eight Things our Animal Friends Like about Riverbend Steam Station

1. Riverbend Steam Station is a 454-megawatt coal-fired generating facility located in Gaston County, N.C. Built in 1929, thefour-unit station is named for a bend in the Catawba River on which it is located. The site includes more than 500 acres of wildlife habitat.
2. Deer, turkey, quail and ospreys share the plant site in peaceful coexistence. Turkeys have even been seen following the heavy bulldozers that move coal around.
3. Steve Jones is Riverbend's environmental coordinator. He has watched the wildlife population thrive around the station for the past few year s as part of a partnership with the North Carolina Wildlife Federation's Wildlife and Industry Together (WAIT) program.
4. Jones spends most of his time monitoring air emissions and waste streams to ensure compliance. But station management has allowed him the flexibility to oversee a five-year wildlife plan under the WAIT partnership.
5. To date, two nature-trail bridges, bird houses and a wildlife feed plot have been completed by area Boy Scout troops. The feed plot includes sunflower, rye, millet and sorghum, ideal for deer, turkey and other small animals.
6. The station also allows buffers to grow up between site access roads and the tree lines. This provides ideal habitat for rabbits, quail and other small animals that can be easy prey for predators when out in the open.
7. June 9, Riverbend will host its ever-popular canoe and kayak-a-thon in conjunction with the N.C. Wildlife Federation. The Global Service Event is an easy-to-moderate seven-mile paddle event.
8. Riverbend is fast becoming "Osprey Central," with four active nests containing four adult pairs and one or two offspring. With the help of Power Delivery, three new osprey platforms have been installed, and Jones is hopeful the offspring will return next year.

Riverbend and Troop 59 "WAIT" for Earth Day

Riverbend Steam Station is a new member of the NC Wildlife Federation's (NCWF), Wildlife & Industry Together (WAIT) program. Riverbend and the Boy Scouts got an early start on Earth Day this weekend. Boy Scout Troop 59 of Mt. Holly, NC spent the weekend there working on the nature trail (see attached pictures). An old plank walkway was completely torn out and a new, elevated walkway was constructed over three small creeks. The Scouts also camped Saturday night and watched the full eclipse of the moon by the river. Then, the scouts got an early morning surprise when five deer ran through their campsite. Troop 59 is partnering with Riverbend to complete their entire 5 Year WAIT Plan. Eagle Scout prospects are leading the way for Troop 59, taking charge and utilizing their creativity and work ethics to enhance wildlife and wildlife education opportunities at Riverbend. Earlier this year they also put up signs designating a new buffer zone paralleling existing forest areas. The buffer will only be mowed every three years, allowing medium growth vegetation to border the forested area along the river. This promotes brooding and feeding areas for small game like quail, turkey, rabbits, and all kinds of birds, as well as a bedding area for deer. Troop 59's next projects this Earth Day season will be a mixed feed plot, building a riverside outdoor seating area with wooden timbers, identifying and marking trees, and Troop 59's Cub Scouts will build bird houses for the nature trail.

Each June Riverbend is the host site for the NCWF's biggest fundraiser, the Annual Catawba Canoe and Kayak-a-thon. It is also designated as a Duke Energy Global Service Event. This year's event will be June 9th.

Riverbend, with assistance from Power Delivery, erected a new utility pole last week with an osprey platform on top. EHS Field Support also had a platform installed last year at Riverbend. Each year the site's osprey population grows. Four years ago there was one osprey nest, but last year there were three on site and a fourth across the street. There were days last summer when 4 or 5 osprey could be seen soaring above the site, while chicks sat on their nests. Ospreys are already returning from their southern migration and can be seen back on three of their nests from last year. A new raptor visited Riverbend last week. An adolescent eagle was seen three times in one day in the forested area by the river. Wild turkeys are also in abundance around the site. Mallards, hooded mergansers, wood ducks, cormorants, Canada geese, heron and kingfisher frequent the secondary ash pond at Riverbend, and are especially abundant right now. Wildlife and industry are coexisting well at Riverbend Steam Station.