Boyle met with the article's authors and found not only was this biologist aware of the study, he hired them to perform it. Boyle then tried to link other activities to striped bass populations, mainly Con Ed's Indian Point nuclear power plant. Local fishermen long asserted that thousands of fish were killed by the plant's intake pipes and Dominick Pirone of the Long Island League of Salt Water Sportsmen alleged he was shown photos of a dead fish pile twelve feet high. Boyle later found that DEC gathered this proof and hid it, claiming the plant killed no fish. Infuriated, he tried to tie fish kills to the future Storm King plant. With testimony from a fisheries biologist of the United States Marine Gamefish Laboratory, Boyle undermined the DEC's faulty data, proving the site as critical bass spawning habitat.