BY TERRY FLYNN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
RABBIT HASH -- A great horned owl chick peered from a nest high in a sycamore tree. Nearby, a whitetail doe moved almost noiselessly through the woods. Yet within sight of this serene woodland setting, a towering stack exhaled steam while the turbine generator at Cinergy's East Bend Station cranked out electric power for the area.
This seemingly incongruous picture in Boone County is a perfect example of what Cinergy officials say is their ongoing effort for environmental protection.
During a recent tour of the nearly 1,800 acres constituting the East Bend property off Ky. 338 along the Ohio River, Cinergy senior environmental scientist Tim Hayes was impressed with the number of black vultures mingling with turkey vultures. They were gathered near the lake that also is the plant's ash collection site. "We don't see many black vultures in western Indiana, where I live," he said, counting dozens of the big scavengers along with a plentiful number of Canada geese.
The pride of the East Bend plant's employees, who volunteer their efforts to maintain the environmental stability of the property, is some 20 acres of wetlands a short distance from Lick Creek and the Ohio River bank.
The site many years ago was a fish hatchery operation producing striped bass, which were released into the Ohio River and state lakes. The wetlands now are a gathering point for wood ducks, mallards, black ducks and Canada geese.
On this particular day, the area also saw visits from several great blue herons, red-tailed hawks, and even a startling white snowy egret most often seen in Florida.
The shallow bodies of water that are part of the wetlands are dotted with wood duck boxes mounted on poles about 7 feet off the ground. The large wooden boxes with entrance holes in the front simulate the natural nesting areas of wood ducks, such as hollow logs.
Mike Laytart, a welder and maintenance worker at East Bend who lives in Alexandria, built the wood duck boxes at his home and placed them around the wetlands. He also conducts a wood duck counting and banding operation each summer.
"We put out corn for the ducks, so they are accustomed to coming to a particular spot," he explained. "We use large nets, propelled into the air by rockets, to cover the ducks and hold them while we count and band them. We've never had an injury to a duck since we started." Last year, Mr. Laytart and his group of East Bend volunteers banded 360 wood ducks. The ducks can then be identified by other environmentalists and state game personnel as they follow their migratory path.
Mr. Hayes pointed to several acres of bare land above the ponds, where grass and scrub growth had been cleared.
"We're going to plant 4,000 to 4,500 tree saplings in that area," he said. "It will be bottom land hardwood, such as oak, which would normally grow in this area."
Cinergy also recently undertook a pilot tree harvesting program on about 125 acres across Ky. 338 from the plant, resulting in the harvest of 673 trees creating 141,000 board feet of lumber.
Cinergy media coordinator Kathy Meinke explained that sale of the lumber generated more than $33,000, with 75 percent going to the East Bend facility and the other 25 percent to the Cinergy Natural Resources Task Force.
"Funds like this are used for programs such as the tree planting in the wetlands," she said.
East Bend manager Carl Cassell of Union takes obvious pride in his facility's environmental management.
Although the East Bend property has all the attributes of a park, it is part of the Cinergy power plant complex and therefore not open to the public.
