Florida Senate Committees to Hold Public Workshop Friday to Discuss Threats from FPL’s Polluting Turkey Point Cooling Canal System
Citizens, Organizations Invited to Voice Concerns
Contacts: Jen Rennicks, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, 865-235-1448
Laura Reynolds, Conservation Concepts/Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, 786-543-1926
What: Two Florida Senate committees will jointly hold a workshop on Friday, April 29 from 4-8 p.m. at the Homestead campus of Miami-Dade College to discuss Florida Power & Light’s Turkey Point cooling canals. Due to an antiquated, problematic cooling canal system, the utility’s aging Turkey Point nuclear reactors are polluting Biscayne National Park and the Biscayne Aquifer upon which three million Miami-Dade residents rely on for drinking water and recreation.
The water-intensive Turkey Point power plant includes two nuclear reactors and is located in Miami-Dade County near Homestead, Florida. The facility is one of Florida’s biggest water users and discharges up to 3 million pounds of salt and other contaminants directly into the Biscayne Aquifer each day. Additionally, at least 60 million gallons of water evaporates each day, water sorely needed for Everglades Restoration and sea-level rise mitigation efforts.
FPL has been under scrutiny from a variety of municipalities and elected officials as well as diverse community interests including the national parks, local environmental organizations and businesses – all demanding immediate action to force FPL to stop this contamination and implement measures to fix these serious problems.
The public is encouraged to attend and voice their concerns about the polluting cooling canals.
When & Where:
4:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Miami Dade College, Homestead Campus
Room F-222
500 College Terrace
Homestead, FL 33030
http://www.mdc.edu/homestead/campus-information/idrections.aspx
Who: The Senate Communications, Energy, and Public Utilities committee, meeting jointly with the Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee will hear presentations from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources, Miami-Dade County (DERM), the Federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and others and discuss the cooling canal concerns. Local residents and advocates, including Southern Alliance for Clean Energy and others, will be available for media interviews regarding the threats the Turkey Point cooling canals pose to Biscayne National Parks, the Biscayne Aquifer and surrounding communities.
How: The public can speak at the meeting by attending in-person. For more information, find the meeting notice here and visit the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy’s website.
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About Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Founded in 1985, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is a nonprofit organization that promotes responsible energy choices that work to address the impacts of global climate change and ensure clean, safe, and healthy communities throughout the Southeast. Learn more at www.cleanenergy.org.