Environmentalists get more time to challenge Turkey Point permit amid COVID-19 pandemic
Environmentalists have won a small victory in the ongoing battle over pollution concerns surrounding Florida Power & Light’s cooling canals at its Turkey Point nuclear plant.
They received a 30-day extension until June 4 to challenge a pollution permit for FPL’s troubled canals, which are unlined and have created an underground saltwater plume that has tainted surrounding groundwater and Biscayne Bay.
More than 60 environmental groups had requested 60 more days, citing coronavirus and legal issues, including a recent Supreme Court decision that sided with clean water advocates in Hawaii.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection said last month that it intended to grant FPL the permit even though the utility hasn’t complied with cleanup agreements with local and state governments, environmentalists said.
“It’s important for the public to participate in the rule-making process surrounding this permit and all the unresolved pollution issues,” said Miami Waterkeeper executive director Rachel Silverstein. “This is a difficult time because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it makes it harder for the public to engage. But we need people to understand the serious implications of allowing FPL to operate without making significant improvements.”
Controversy has plagued Turkey Point’s cooling system for over a decade. The issues led state and county regulators to cite FPL for polluting the waters in Biscayne Bay; they ordered the company to come up with a plan to clean up its operations.
In addition to the underground salt water plume, FPL has also struggled with hot temperatures in the cooling canal system after the company completed a massive multimillion-dollar overhaul to boost power coming from the reactors. The hotter and increasingly saltier canals triggered algae blooms, threatened to shut down the reactors, and forced FPL to scramble to look for water to cool and freshen the system.
Now, environmentalists want FPL to comply with pledges to improve operations before it can receive the permit to use the treated wastewater.
FPL spokesman Peter Robbins defended the steps the company has taken to address environmental issues. He said that since 2010, FPL has implemented an extensive groundwater, surface water and ecological monitoring network covering Biscayne Bay, Card Sound, canals and wetlands surrounding Turkey Point. He also said that FPL operates the facility and cooling canal system within all federal and state regulations.
But a recent Supreme Court opinion in County of Maui v. Hawaii Wildlife Fund, issued late last month, could potentially bolster the legal arguments of activists. The court ruled that pollution discharges to navigable waters through groundwater are regulated under the Clean Water Act. That decision could apply to FPL’s operations because water from Turkey Point’s cooling canals moves into the groundwater before reaching Biscayne Bay.
In Hawaii, after a decades-long legal dispute involving pollution from a wastewater treatment plant damaging a coral reef, the court held that the Clean Water Act “requires a permit if the addition of the pollutants through groundwater is the functional equivalent of a direct discharge from the point source into navigable waters.”
“This decision is a huge victory for clean water,” said David Henkin, the Earthjustice attorney who argued the case before the court. “We are glad the Court has recognized the importance of protecting clean water for all Americans.”
Even before the Supreme Court opinion, South Florida environmentalists argued the state wasn’t forcing FPL to do enough to address ongoing impacts from the cooling canals.
“The permit is flawed, and we know the remediation plan is also flawed and insufficient,” said Laura Reynolds, a consultant for the Florida Keys Fishing Guides Association. The group has documented damage to seagrass meadows adjacent to the plant and nearby pollution hot spots.
After Miami-Dade cited the cooling canals for polluting Biscayne Bay in 2016 — when water monitoring turned up elevated levels of ammonia and tritium, a radioactive isotope used to track water from nuclear plants — FPL entered into a cleanup deal, promising to resolve the issues and monitor water quality over the following 10 years. That agreement required FPL to reduce an underground saltwater plume that began spreading after temperatures in the canals jumped and salinity spiked following an increase in power production.
The company said that this renewed permit proposed by the DEP simply expands upon the existing monitoring programs.
“The data, which is continuously shared with county, state and federal regulators, shows that the water quality and ecological health of the Bay and Card Sound adjacent to the cooling canal system are among the best in the entire bay,” said Robbins.
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
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