As landfills reach capacity, what could be a better way to reuse decommissioned equipment than using it to build habitat for Alabama’s large offshore fisheries?

Alabama Power Company recently partnered with the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (ADCNR) Marine Resources Division (MRD) to utilize end-of-life concrete poles and tower segments to build a new reef in the (Conservation Commissioner) Christopher M. . Blankenship Reef area that covers 65 miles of the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico between 10 and 20 miles off the coast of Alabama.

Jason Carlee, Alabama Power’s water services manager in the Environmental Affairs Division, and Craig Newton, MRD’s artificial reef coordinator, noted that the placement of concrete poles during the Sept. 19 deployment reminded them of the old game Pick Up Sticks.

“We appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with the state,” Carlee said. “This is the fourth reef deployed by Alabama Power. This reef used concrete utility and transmission poles and steel mesh from transmission towers. We used The Reefmaker in Orange Beach to deploy the equipment, and Stewart Walter knows very precisely where he places the equipment. The goal was to stack the sticks in a crisscross pattern, a bit like Pick Up Sticks, to get some relief and not just lay them flat on the bottom. He also added a few transmission tower segments between the poles. There is plenty of surface area on these concrete posts for barnacles and other marine life to start this reef complex.

Newton, who oversees Alabama’s unprecedented reef areas that cover more than 1,200 square miles of bottom on the Gulf of Mexico, said the Blankenship Reef Area was authorized in 2021 and named in honor of the commissioner by Governor Kay Ivey. Shortly after the permit was issued, MRD began deploying reefs in the area and finished with 123 reefs using 164 super pyramid reef structures before the final deployments.

“We developed a mutually beneficial partnership with Alabama Power, and they reused these concrete utility poles and other materials to build this additional reef in the Blankenship Reef Area, which greatly increased the diversity of habitat types available to reef fish in this area. “, Newton said. “The concrete poles provide a unique habitat that is different from the 25-foot-tall concrete pyramids in that there are more nooks and crannies for fish, crabs and invertebrates to seek refuge and inhabit It is an exceptionally diverse reef habitat in 90 feet of water.

“I’m not sure kids today know what Pick Up Sticks are, but, if you can, imagine a setup that looks like Pick Up Sticks in the way those concrete posts were made deployed. In addition to the utility poles, sections of a transmission tower were deployed alongside and above the utility poles. This makes it possible to obtain a higher vertical relief as well as a significant number of small interstitial spaces.

Newton said the reef would provide prime habitat for red snapper, Alabama’s signature reef species, as well as gray triggerfish and gray (mangrove) snapper.

“This should be particularly productive for gray snapper production,” he said. “Their behavior is such that they prefer to live in relatively narrow spaces close to their habitat. This power pole configuration and transmission tower sections will provide this unique habitat in which gray snapper can thrive.

Commissioner Blankenship plans a long-term relationship with Alabama Power to continue building reefs off the coast of Alabama.

“I appreciate the reef building partnership with Alabama Power,” Commissioner Blankenship said. “Their commitment to sustainable development by reusing end-of-life materials to create a new living habitat for marine organisms is commendable. Alabama Power staff and management have been great to work with. I look forward to many future projects.

With the help of Alabama Power, MRD also deployed another reef in the Blankenship Reef area, but it was a decommissioned tugboat, the William Lee. The tug was donated by Hooks Towing of Chickasaw, Alabama, and Alabama Power financed the deployment.

The tug was 45 feet long and 25 feet wide. The William Lee was deployed 17 miles south of Dauphin Island, in the Blankenship Reef area.

“The tugboat William Lee has been cleaned and fully rehabilitated to remove any compounds that would not be conducive to the marine environment,” Newton said. “The empty steel hull had holes drilled into it so the fish could use the entire structure. The William Lee sits on the bottom about 105 feet below the surface and extends about 15 to 17 feet into the water column.

“It will be a good habitat not only for the typical red snapper and triggerfish, but also for amberjack. The water is a little too shallow to be considered a very good amberjack reef, but at certain times of year and under certain environmental conditions we expect there to be good amberjack on this reef .

Alabama Power began its reef deployment business by partnering with Cooper/T. Smith (CTS) and the Alabama Wildlife Federation (AWF) to deploy its first artificial reef in the Gulf of Mexico in 2016. Two boilers removed from plants in Washington and Theodore County were loaded and secured onto a hopper barge CTS recovery and deployed in an area located 25 miles southeast of Dauphin Island.

In 2019, three 13-by-26-foot storage tanks from the Washington and Barry County plants were repurposed and deployed by The Reefmaker as the first reefs in AWF’s new nearshore artificial reef area .

In November 2021, Alabama Power rolled out another removed parcel boiler and other materials from the Washington County Gogen plant. The material was again welded inside a CTS salvage barge and deployed to the AWF’s nearshore artificial reef area.

Alabama Power’s Carlee pointed out that these reefs provide multiple benefits to Alabamians.

“Alabama has created a world-class offshore reef fishery, and I understand that other states are trying to model what is being done in Alabama,” Carlee said. “It’s great for recreational and commercial fishing. It’s also incredible for economic development, bringing tourists from out of state to fish these reefs.

“But it’s wonderful to be able to collaborate with the state and find a way to reuse materials that have ended their useful life in our system.” It is better for the customer as well as us to reuse it rather than taking up space in a landfill. The state has done a wonderful job managing the reef system.

Newton said there are currently about 10,000 artificial reefs in the 1,200 square miles of reef bottom under Alabama’s artificial reef program (www.outdooralabama.com/saltwater-fishing/artificial-reefs).

“The private sector has played an extremely important role in building the reefs off Alabama,” he said. “That’s what really sets our program apart from other programs.” These are the partnerships we’ve built with the private sector, where private entities can go through a simple permitting process and build their own reefs.

“Over the last seven or eight years, we have seen a significant expansion of what was already an incredible artificial reef program. »

MRD obtained permits for an additional 60 square miles of water bottom 6 to 9 miles offshore and added the 65 square miles of bottom in the Blankenship Reef area. With the remediation of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, MRD has deployed several thousand new reef modules in the new reef areas.

“We’ve really changed the dynamics of the fishery and provided much greater access to reef fish populations by adding these nearshore artificial reefs,” Newton said. “For example, a family can travel 6 to 7 miles on an afternoon trip and have a respectable chance of catching a good red snapper. Prior to this expansion, this was simply not possible due to the limited amount of habitat. We have considerably increased accessibility to the natural resource with the development of these new reefs.