[ssg II]

What's your opinion? Has anybody ever lived near a coal-burning plant & did you see a lot of negative impact to the environment? Can the Everglades handle any more pollution?

[pslOldTimer]

What plant are you asking about?

[ssg II]

They are trying to build a coal-burning plant in Moore Haven, right at the tip of the Everglades. From what I've read, this type of plant produces serious emissions into the air and mercury into the water. It was voted down in St. Lucie county a couple of years ago, so now FPL is trying in Glades county.

[watsont3]

Originally Posted by sunshinegirl

They are trying to build a coal-burning plant in Moore Haven, right at the tip of the Everglades. From what I've read, this type of plant produces serious emissions into the air and mercury into the water. It was voted down in St. Lucie county a couple of years ago, so now FPL is trying in Glades county.

Would you accept a nuclear plant in the area?

[firemed]

Originally Posted by watsont3

Would you accept a nuclear plant in the area?

Yes I would , Name a problem with a nuclear plant in the U.S, Florida needs power to keep all the a/c units running year round.

[pslOldTimer]

Originally Posted by watsont3

Would you accept a nuclear plant in the area?

Absolutely. I live less than 10 miles from the twin St. Lucie nuclear plants and have for almost 35 years, along with over 200,000 others.

[pslOldTimer]

Originally Posted by sunshinegirl

They are trying to build a coal-burning plant in Moore Haven, right at the tip of the Everglades. From what I've read, this type of plant produces serious emissions into the air and mercury into the water. It was voted down in St. Lucie county a couple of years ago, so now FPL is trying in Glades county.

OK, I thought maybe that was it.

When FPL first proposed the plant in St. Lucie County, they said it was going to use coal gasification technology, where the coal is cleanly converted to gas, and the gas is cleanly burned in the plant. At that time, there were only a couple of similar plants in the entire world and none in the US. I was enthusiastically in favor of it, because the new technology promised to avoid all the problems in a normal coal-fired plant.

Them FPL changed their description to a normal coal-fired plant, and suddenly it was not as attractive. Living in St. Lucie County, I was glad they rejected it. Next, FPL approached Okeechobee County. The original St. Lucie proposal was right next to the Okeechobee County line; we thought maybe they would simply go across the line and install the plant next to St. Lucie County. Later, I heard that the Okeechobee property they were considering was in the Northwest area of the county, near the Kissimmee River. Then, Okeechobee County denied the plant, as well.

So, FPL moved on down to Glades County, near Moore Haven. Now, Glades is a very poor county with few jobs and industry and very little dependable tax revenues. A plant like FPL's would inject proportionately huge amounts of revenue (approx $21 Million per year) into the county coffers and enable the county to provide many beneficial services for the poverty-filled area. It was too much temptation, and the local leaders approved the plant.

While oil and gas are becoming scarce resources with increasing prices, coal is abundant in the US, and our national government has encouraged companies like FPL to take advantage of the resource. I'm not certain, but my bet would be that there are significant tax credits involved. From this point of view, coal is a good thing.

It would be a great thing if the really advanced gasification technology would be used. My guess it that it's not far enough perfected, or too expensive, for FPL to use it.

So, with all that said, what is the impact? Glades County is poor, somewhat isolated, sparsely populated, and the impact of the revenue will be seen by most residents as offsetting the possible disadvantages. I suppose one could say that it is at the top of the Everglades, but that is the historical Everglades, not the current ecosystem. Everglades National Park is many miles, at least 50, further south. Most of the distance in between Moore Haven and the Everglades consists of sugar cane fields. There is enormous pollution and huge clouds of smoke hovering over the area at several times during the year when the cane fields are burned off; it's much worse than the coal plant would be.

Taking all this into consideration, I think I feel that the citizens of Glades County should do what they want. It's far enough away from urban areas and the Everglades to do little harm to them, and probably won't be as bad as the cane burning. There is also a benefit to the rest of us that we will continue to get power at a reasonable price without depleting oil or gas reserves or depending on foreign suppliers. It's eventually going to go somewhere; St. Lucie was not the right place, Okeechobee is more rural but still close to others; Glades may just be far enough removed to make it viable.

[ssg II]

Originally Posted by watsont3

Would you accept a nuclear plant in the area?

You bet. My brother is a nuclear engineer, so perhaps I'm biased, but I'm convinced nuke plants are the cleanest & safest. I don't know why FPL is not going nuclear there, but I suspect it's economic. We all know they're about to go broke and have a responsibility to their shareholders.

pslOldTimer makes a good point: This is very attractive to an economically depressed area. FPL says this plant would create 300 jobs, making it the largest employer in the county. But it seems Lykes Brothers (Big Sugar) hasn't shared the wealth, either. Per capita income is less than $18,000 in Glades County. Same old story; the rich get richer at the expense of destroying the local ecosystem and paying minimum wage.

[firemed]

Originally Posted by sunshinegirl

You bet. My brother is a nuclear engineer, so perhaps I'm biased, but I'm convinced nuke plants are the cleanest & safest. I don't know why FPL is not going nuclear there, but I suspect it's economic. We all know they're about to go broke and have a responsibility to their shareholders.

pslOldTimer makes a good point: This is very attractive to an economically depressed area. FPL says this plant would create 300 jobs, making it the largest employer in the county. But it seems Lykes Brothers (Big Sugar) hasn't shared the wealth, either. Per capita income is less than $18,000 in Glades County. Same old story; the rich get richer at the expense of destroying the local ecosystem and paying minimum wage.

Very well said !!!

[Marshmaid]

These are the costs that now can be collected from Florida consumers early.
Energy Costs May Explode in Switch to Nuclear Power
Apr 04 - Oakland Tribune After painstakingly analyzing the costs of U.S. nuclear power plants built decades ago, energy experts caution that a resurrection of nuclear power could bring along some financial risk and surprisingly high electricity costs.
Moderator cut: Provide a link instead of copying and pasting everything here, please