Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Everglades Coalition Annual Conference generates controversy ... by gimleteye

Everglades advocates from the big non-profits are uncomfortable when grass roots activists emerge with a different focus, enthusiasm and energy. The grass roots have been all over FPL, one of the co-sponsors of this year's Everglades Coalition Meeting in downtown Miami, for FPL's nuclear ambition at Turkey Point and new energy plants in Palm Beach and Martin County. Some are claiming that the environmental groups also sponsoring the event are giving cover to FPL. Click on 'read more' to read a public letter to the chairs of the Everglades Coalition.

Dear Mark Perry, State Co-Chair and Sara Fain, National Co-Chair,

I was shocked and dismayed that neither the Everglades Coalition Conference
web site and press releases (below) nor the National Parks Conservation
Association (NPCA) web site and meeting agenda included any reference to the
catastrophic damage to the Everglades from the existing and proposed FPL
fossil fuel plants in Martin and Palm Beach Counties, respectively. In my
opinion, the water use alone from these largest-existing and
largest-proposed power plants in the US is sufficient to negate any bona
fide Everglades "restoration" efforts, even excluding the irreversible
damage that will occur if the so-called "restoration reservoirs" are
constructed.

Is this glaring omission the result of FPL's sponsorship of the Everglades
Coalition Conference? Honestly, I expected more from both Mark and the
NPCA.

At least NPCA appeared to refrain from posting the embarrassing agenda for
the Conference on its web site. In my opinion, the threat from these FPL
facilities to the Everglades -including Everglades National Park - far
exceeds the "Dark Horizons" threats from coal-fired facilities described by
NPCA, below.

"Dark Horizons: 10 National Parks Most Threatened by New Coal-Fired Power
Plants May 2008"


Where are the voices of the scientists in this conference? In addition to
the scientific documentation of impacts from fossil fuel facilities like the
FPL facilities referenced above, it's a well-established scientific fact
that the mined/bermed "reservoirs" will further deplete the aquifer system
on which survival of the Everglades depends.

As the Executive Director of Florida Oceanographic Society, Mark should be
leading the fight against the proposed FPL facility adjacent to the northern
boundary of the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge, in the heart of the
Everglades. The acidic emissions and discharges from that proposed facility
alone will have devastating adverse impacts on the entire coastal ecosystem
in southeast Florida.

Likewise, the water use of that proposed FPL facility - estimated by Palm
Beach County as the equivalent of approximately 75,000 homes - will have
significant adverse impacts on both coastal areas and the remaining
Everglades.

If co-chairs from the Florida Oceanographic Society and National Parks
Conservation Association aren't addressing these fatal flaws in Everglades
"restoration" during the Everglades Coalition Conference, how can we ever
expect any of the important scientific aspects of Everglades restoration to
be addressed?

I certainly hope you will adjust the proposed conference agenda to address
the critical issues of impacts from those two FPL facilities and the
so-called "restoration reservoirs."
Sincerely,
Sydney Bacchus, Ph. D.
Hydroecologist

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

*FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE*

January 4, 2009


Contact: Panagiote Tsolkas, PBCEC Co-Chair, 561- 380-9452

Barry Silver, Esq. 561-302-1818


*What is FPL hiding in Barley Barber?*


Martin & Palm Beach Counties, FL – "Our organization is concerned that
FPL's spokesperson, Michael Rock, has failed to respond to our requests that
began last August, regarding why its public access to Barley Barber Swamp
has not been re-opened and the environmental tours resumed," said Panagioti
Tsolkas, Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition (PBCEC) Co-Chair.


In a December interview, Jackie Anderson, another spokesperson for FPL,
claimed "This unique ecosystem continues to thrive just as it has since we
preserved it more than 30 years ago." The presentation in Indiantown by
Hydroecologist Sydney Bacchus, Ph. D. refuted that claim. "I'd prefer to
think that FPL simply hasn't been in Barley Barber Swamp recently and
observed the obvious signs of ecosystem collapse, rather than think that FPL
is trying to hide the extensive damage the Martin County power plant has
caused by excluding the public from those wetlands," said Dr. Bacchus.


"Instead of holding the annual Everglades Coalition Conference in Miami
next week, attendees should be touring Barley Barber Swamp as an example of
the magnitude of environmental damage that will occur if the so-called
'restoration reservoirs' are constructed throughout the Everglades,"
cautioned Dr. Bacchus. "Environmentally sensitive areas like the J.W.
Corbett Wildlife Management Area (WMA) would suffer a double dose of damage
if the new West County Energy Center, fueled by gas and oil, is constructed
as planned between J.W. Corbett WMA and the Loxahatchee National Wildlife
Refuge."


Tsolkas notes, "If FPL used security threats to close public access to the
Barley Barber Swamp 'Preserve' we should expect similar closure of J.W.
Corbett WMA and the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge if the new FPL
facility is constructed between those two public areas."


Anyone concerned about public closure of J.W. Corbett WMA and the
Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge because of the proposed FPL facility
between those two public areas should contact their state and federal
elected officials.


For more information on FPL's oil and gas facilities and other related
issues, see: www.RiverofGas.info