Cleaning up Turkey Point canals

In response to recent coverage about our Turkey Point facility’s canal system – a first of its kind system that the federal government required us to build – I want to assure the community that FPL is fully aware of the seriousness of the matter. We’re a company that takes environmental stewardship seriously, and we are working aggressively to address the canal system’s salinity-related issues.

There is no overnight fix for this type of challenge, but we are implementing multiple measures that have already begun to yield positive results, reducing the salinity levels in the canals by more than half, which puts them on par with the salinity of Biscayne Bay. More work still needs to be done, and we continue to work closely with Miami-Dade County, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the South Florida Water Management District.

We’ve collected extensive data on the water quality and other aspects of the cooling canals, surrounding areas and Biscayne Bay, for many years. We have made this data available to the partner agencies so they are best equipped to help us develop an appropriate long-term solution.

The Herald’s article on a judge’s order in recent litigation related to the canal system didn’t take into account an important agreement that we reached with Miami-Dade regarding specific measures to address the salinity issue. In fact, by the time the judge’s order was issued, we had already begun taking action.

The action we’re taking is not just because of a consent agreement, but because it’s the right thing to do. As a local company with employees throughout South Florida, we’re a part of the communities we serve, and we want to assure our neighbors that the health of Biscayne Bay, the Everglades and all of Florida’s important waterways matters to us as much as it matters to them.

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 8:41 PM with the headline "Cleaning up Turkey Point canals."