FPL gets key Miami-Dade approval for Turkey Point rock-ming project, despite opposition

Persistent lobbying efforts at the Miami-Dade County over the years paid off for FPL yesterday, as the Miami-Dade County Planning Advisory Board in a 5-3 vote approved an FPL land-use change request that would allow rock-pit mining in the south of the county -- despite strong opposition from environmentalists, farmers, Biscayne National Park and the U.S. Air Force.

The Miami Herald reported today on the approval by the board that sent to the County Commission for its approval or rejection next month a plan by FPL to rock mine near Biscayne Bay in order to provide landfill for the two new Turkey Point 6 & 7 nuclear reactors planned for the power plant.

Red the full Herald story online, here.

Miami-Dade County to hear pros, cons of Turkey Point landfill plans

Front page story this morning in the Miami Herald outlines what's at stake today in the hearing before Miami-Dade Planning Advisory Board for a permit to allow rock mining for landfill purposes related top construction of new Turkey Point nuclear reactors 6 & 7.

According to the story, FPL canals criticized as health risk, by Herald staff writer Curtis Morgan:

Environmental groups, backed by Biscayne National Park, will ask Miami-Dade's Planning Advisory Board on Monday to reject a request key to its Turkey Point plan. The land-use change would clear the way for FPL to dig rock pits in up to 880 acres of nearby farmland as a source of limestone fill for future construction.

The story goes on to say that:

... spiking chloride -- a measure of salt -- in monitoring wells west of FPL's site, and new aerial electromagnetic assessment techniques used by the U.S. Geological Survey, suggest South Miami-Dade's salt concerns are the most serious in South Florida. Salt fronts typically ebb and flow, but preliminary data suggest the salt is moving inland yearly in spots.

Read the Herald story in full online, here.

FPL prominent in Eye On Miami roundup on 'Environmental Issues We Are Facing'

Genius of Despair gives a nice (well, frightening, really!) roundup today at Eye on Miami of the pressing environmental issues facing all who live in Miami-Dade.

FPL related exigencies noted, include numbers 1, 2 and 6, which we've taken the liberty of reprinting here:

1. Nuclear and Coal Technologies Need to be Removed from the Renewable Portfolio:
These two technologies will take away funding for development of real renewable energy sources like solar and wind. This week there were important State Senate Committee Hearings on SB 1154 and it will be important to be vocal on this issue.

2. Biscayne Bay Aquatic Preserve:
At least $10 million for water managers to buy endangered Biscayne Bay wetland is gone, and more than $140,000 has been slashed from the Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas program. As Laura Reynolds (Tropical Audubon) sees it, Biscayne National Park's fragile ecosystem is suffering a slow "death by a thousand cuts." (Hit read more).

Without management, the Bay will degrade. For example boat propeller scarring in shallow sea grass areas of the bay is a problem in the preserve. Boaters disregard markers and just plough through the flats. Eventually, these scars erode and become trenches. For history buffs, who could forget the FP&L debacle of the 1960’s, when hot water was dumped into Biscayne Bay by the Company from their nuclear reactors. Large areas of sea grass and masses of marine organisms – both plants and animals – were killed.

Action: Press county and state officials to protect the bay and South Miami-Dade's fresh water supply.

6. Rock Mining Near Biscayne National Park:
Turkey Point Nuclear Power plant needs to raise the grade to expand and build two more reactors. They need enormous amounts of fill and it is feared that they will excavate near the park, causing saltwater intrusion and endangering our water supply. Also Cemex had a permit application last year to mine 26 million cubic yards on 200 acres very close to the park, at Florida City Quarry. Rock mining near Biscayne National Park will seriously affect water quality in the Park. This is one obvious problem. There is no doubt that marine life in the park will be detrimentally impacted, counter to the Park’s Management Plan.

Do check out the full post: Rundown of Environmental Issues We Are Facing. And be sure to follow Genius's counsel to "write to the Governor about all these issues. Express your concern for the future of the environment in Florida."

Environmentalists concerned over FPL's planned expansion of Turkey Point

The Miami Herald reported Sunday that environmental groups concerned over saltwater intrusion into the Biscayne Bay estuary point to FPL's planned expansion of its Turkey Point power plant as one of the projects of most concern.


According to the Herald report:

Florida Power and Light's planned expansion of the Turkey Point nuclear facility also threatens the fresh water supply of many [commercially important fish species], warned Dawn Shirreffs, a Clean Water Action organizer.

The saltwater ''intrusion line,'' which marks how far west that water has crept, is moving between 300 and 400 feet inland every year, she said.

FPL spokesman Michael Waldron said in an e-mail that saltwater intrusion existed several miles inland from the site decades before the plant was built in the early 1970s and that the utility is ``working closely with a number of state, county and regional agencies to monitor the current conditions of the cooling canal system.''

However, Shirreffs said that FPL's plan to dig for fill materials in agriculturally zoned land close to Biscayne National Park could make the situation worse.

Digging the holes at all could pull the intrusion even further inland, [Tropical Audubon Society's Laura] Reynolds said.

''When you dig holes that close to the coast you change the hydrology,'' she added. ``Digging pits pulls water in from other locations because limestone is very porous.''

Environmentalists also believe that the canals which circulate water to cool the existing plant at Turkey Point are making the problem worse. ''FPL says it's a closed system, but it isn't, it leaks,'' said Biscayne National Park resource manager Elsa Alvear.

That water is very salty and dense, blocking the eastward flow of freshwater from inland, Alvear said. She added that water collection wells planned for the plant's expansion would suck up any freshwater used to rehydrate south Miami-Dade's coast, canceling out its intended benefits.

Read the full Miami Herald story online, here.

FPL backs out of Turkey Point nuclear safety meeting

Florida Power & Light representatives failed to show last night at the South Dade Government Center to discuss nuclear safety at the Turkey Point power plant.

That, to the surprise of none of those present, as word had already circulated among the citizens and residents of Miami-Dade County who turned up in order to share their concerns at the public meeting called by Commissioner Katy Sorensen (District 8).

WFOR-CBS4's Natalia Zea was on hand to cover the meeting and the station aired a report in its 11 pm nightly newscast, complete with comments by Sorensen about the "arrogance" of FPL in not showing up and a written response from FPL on its reasoning for not sending a representative:

View the full video online at CBS4, here.

WPLG-Local 10 also covered the meeting, though their nightly news report estimate of 50 attendees falls short of the nearly 100 in Stop FPL's head-count of the packed meeting room:

View the full WPLG-10 video online, here.

Those who did show up ranged from environmentalists and neighbors living in the shadow of Turkey Point concerned about recent reports of safety breaches at the plant, to leaders and residents of nearby communities concerned about high-voltage transmission lines from the Turkey Point 6 & 7 reactors running along US 1. But, the empty chairs at the front of the meeting hall clearly showed that FPL feels it has no need to address such concerns face to face with its customers.

Sorenensen had cautioned in a letter to the Miami Herald on Thursday that FPL might well be a no-show, but still urged the utility to send representatives to the meeting to explain recent reports of safety breaches at the plant.

Miami New Times' Tim Elfrink posted at the Riptide 2.0 blog late in the afternoon on FPL's expected no-show and like CBS4 shared the lame excuse from FPL for not engaging with its customers on their Turkey Point safety concerns in the form of a carefully prepared text.

Likewise, blogger Jorge Lune also contacted FPL and was treated with a similar written response from the company.

While FPL may think it can get away with not responding to a meeting request from a County Commissioner and its customers, it may not have it so easy in April when it will have to appear before a public meeting convened by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on April 23rd.

ZNet article on Palm Beach activists jailed for protecting environment against FPL power plant

Very well-researched and thoughtful piece yesterday by Howard Lisnoff at ZNet, titled Jailed Activists Seek to Free Enslaved Environment, about the West County Energy Center (WCEC) in Palm Beach and the arrest and trial of the environmental activists who've tried to stop it.

As Lisnoff points out:

The [WCEC] power plant being built by Florida Power & Light will release 12.3 tons of carbon dioxide a year into an atmosphere already drenched and laden with global greenhouse gasses, and inject an astounding 13.5 million gallons of contaminated cooling water a day "into underground aquifers and allow it to seep into water bodies," according to Dr. Sydney Bacchus, a hydroecologist, who testified in defense of the protesters at their trial.

Lisnoff reviews the trial proceedings, interviews scientists and jailed activists Panagioti Tsolkas and Lynne Purvis in this well-researched piece, concluding among other things that:

In February 2008, scores of protesters momentarily stopped the construction of what soon will be one of the largest fossil-fuel burning plants in the U.S. They faced the power of an industry entrenched in the political establishment of Florida that can purchase enough lobbying muscle to do just about anything it wants done. These protesters faced jail time and a huge fine levied against them for acting out of moral courage in pursuit of the greater good. They faced a hostile judge and prosecutor who belittled the environmental alarm that is so apparent in South Florida. A huge amount of good science was thrown out of the courtroom in return for what was convenient and expedient for the purpose of supporting a major industry player in Florida Power & Light.

The full article at ZNet by Howard Lisnoff is available online, here.

For all those who care about our natural environment and what a giant energy utility can do to harm it if left unchecked, this piece is more than well-worth the read ...

Earth First! Roadshow in South Florida this weekend: March 20 - Miami / March 21 - Jupiter / March 22 - Lake Worth

This just in from Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition, which has been on the front lines -- literally -- in the fight against FPL over the West County Energy Center and Barley Barber swamp, and has done some absolutely great demonstrations in front of the FPL headquarters in Juno ...

EARTH FIRST! ROADSHOW IN SOUTH FLORIDA THIS WEEKEND ...

3/20, Miami, FL
8:00pm Black Mangrove Collective
This event will include a presentation from Max Rameau of Take Back the Land
Location: 138 NW 37th Street, Miami
www.theblackmangrove.com

3/21, Jupiter FL,
Earth First! Benefit Show at Adam Barksdale’s place, with 14 bands, show starts at 4pm, EF! Roadshow will be tabling at event, doing our puppet show at 4pm and slideshow presentation at 7pm… donation $5-10
Location: 13926 157th Ct N, Jupiter Fl, 33478
For more details: www.earthfirstroadshow.wordpress.com

These two events on Friday and Saturday will be followed on Sunday with ...

Sunday March 22 at 7pm
Benefit Dinner and Theater at the Canew (collective house in LW)
822 North C Street, Lake Worth

Join us for a local foods dinner, activist theater and direct action slide show to benefit a great cause; the local Earth First! direct action movement and touring roadshow!

Making the connections between local sustainability and environmental action:
* local foods dinner - direct from our bountiful backyard garden
* tour of the garden, bee-hives, home-made solar panel and water systems
* exciting puppet theater & presentation by Earth First! about the U.S.radical environmental movement
* good company to boot!

Sliding scale donation from $10 - $20. Money will support the Earth First! direct action movement and roadshow. Wine and beer cash bar available.

Seating is limited, please R.S.V.P and let us know your meal preference (vegan, vegetarian, omnivore) evergladesearthfirst@gmail.com or 561-584-2644

PLEASE COME OUT TO ONE OF THESE EVENTS TO SHOW SUPPORT FOR AND NETWORK WITH THE ACTIVISTS AT EARTH FIRST! AND THE PALM BEACH COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL COALITION.

Miami Herald, WWF get it wrong on FPL and the "renewable portfolio standard"

Hat tip to gimleteye over at Eye on Miami for Sunday's post taking to task the Miami Herald's editorial support of the "'renewable portfolio standard'' that is up for consideration by the legislature at Gov. Charlie Crist's behest.

Titled "FPL and environmentalists: one hand giveth, the other hand taketh away...," the post rightfully points out the shortsightedness of the Herald's editorial, "Solar power vital to state's future," for its having failed to note that FPL has lobbied hard to include "nuclear energy" in Gov. Crist's so-called "renewable portfolio standard."

Stop FPL has posted previously here and here on FPL's efforts to have nuclear power redefined as "renewable" energy and to have it included in the State's diversified energy portfolio.

But, in all the media hooplah over FPL's groundbreaking last week over a solar plant in De Soto County -- at a mere 25-megawatts, representing a miniscule portion of FPL's overall electric power output for the State of Florida -- the FPL PR machine showed its prowess, managing to arrange to have some on-side environmentalists like the World Wildlife Fund's Debbie Harrison pronounce in the energy giant's favor and to use that to obfuscate the real story for reporters and editorial writers around the State.

As gimleteye so rightfully pointed out, such environmentalist support for FPL's meager solar initiatives belies the fact that:

FPL is hell-bent on destroying Biscayne National Park: not by direct impacts from nuclear power, but from rock mining nearby to get fill for its massive footprint and from water supply for the new cooling units that put the entire region at risk. The company is spending vast amounts of ratepayer dollars to push its plan through local and state permitting processes; witholding key aspects of the plan until they can be rushed through at the last moment, according to predetermined outcomes.

By including nuclear in the state requirements for what qualifies to be "renewable", FPL can minimize the effort to get consumers to use solar. Surely, Ms. Harrision knows that FPL and its brethren continue to resist fundamental reform of the regulatory structure in Florida. By centralizing solar through massive PV arrays it owns, FPL can control its business model. When consumers use solar on their rooftops or in their backyards, the control FPL can exert is massively fragmented.

Couldn't have said it better ourselves!

Eye on Miami is to be commended for pointing this out and the Miami Herald should be ashamed for having overlooked the obvious contradictions in the Governor's "renewable energy portfolio."

It's one thing to have FPL press releases disseminated and reposted across the Web, it's quite another for the editorial writers at the formerly august Miami Herald to swallow the FPL PR machine's pronouncements without bothering to do real investigation into the story behind the story ...

Stop FPL favorite videos: new feature, courtesy of YouTube & Everglades Earth First!

Stop FPL presents ... the "Stop FPL Video Favorites" widget in the right-hand column of this site, linking to our favorite online videos at the Everglades Earth First! channel at YouTube.

Instead of searching YouTube, you can now just wait until the EEF! videos rotate through in sequence and watch them all!

Among our favorites: the Wackenhut guards "Are You Sleeping?" video and the amazing footage of 100-year-old Cypress in Barley Barber swamp that are under threat from FPL's West County Energy Center.

Residents want to stop FPL high-voltage lines along US 1, Florida East Coast Railroad

Three proposed routes for FPL high-voltage transmission lines ran into strong opposition from local residents at what the Miami Herald described today as "a packed South Miami/Florida Power & Light Company workshop Monday."

FPL representatives faced off at South Miami City Hall against a standing-room only crowd expressing concerns over health risks from electric and magnetic fields (EMF) from the high-voltage transmission lines and calling on FPL to bury the lines underground.

According to the Herald:

With three proposed lines -- one cutting through the western edge of the city on the old Florida East Coast Railroad property that runs along South Miami Elementary and High schools, one running along State Road 874, and another along U.S. 1 -- each brought opposition from residents.

South Miami's Vice-Mayor Brian Beasley was said by the paper to be upset that FPL had already narrowed the transmission routes to those three options:

"It bothers me that they got rid of the other routes," he said, talking about previously proposed routes that would have stayed out of South Miami, yet have already been decided upon as not viable. "I didn't want to wait this long because now we only have these options.''

Resident Michael Tangeman said the transmission lines are directly linked to the Turkey Point nuclear plant and said the "entire process and concept needs to be reviewed. In March 2009, there will be a base rate increase from FPL for nuclear reactors that we never asked for, don't need and don't want.''

FPL spokesman Ramon Ferrer told the Herald that the lines were necessary to bring the power from Turkey Point to Miami. As for underground, Ferrer was quoted as saying that "Certainly, when it comes to transmission lines, the undergrounding is more expensive, but we have not discarded that."

Read the full Miami Herald story online, here.

See related Stop FPL post: South Miami Mayor links to FPL questioned

Gov. Crist wants diversified energy supply, FPL continues to push nuclear

The FPL PR campaign against choosing renewables that actually offset carbon emissions and in favor of gas-fired and nuclear-powered generation doesn't miss a beat.

While Florida Gov. Charlie Crist was telling the State legislature in Tallahassee that his "administration is committed to a diverse energy supply that balances solar, wind and nuclear," FPL spokespersons were continuing to push their two-part messaging built around zero-carbon emissions to the media.

First, goes the messaging, if John and Jane Q. Public want cleaner energy, then they should be be prepared to pay higher prices for it on their monthly electricity. Witness a perfect example of the messaging as picked up and localized in today's story in Florida Today titled "Want cleaner energy? Get ready to pay."

That's customers who should pay ... with no shouldering of the cost or responsibility for clean energy accruing to "good corporate citizen" FPL's investors, who in February saw their shareholder dividend payouts increased by 6 percent to 47.25 cents per share hot on the heels of FPL Group's announced 4Q-08 increase in profits of 82%, even as fuel costs to the energy giant were falling like a rock.

Second part of the messaging? Note FPL spokesperson Randy Clerihue's comment to Florida Today:

... that 70 percent of FPL's fuel for powering electricity-producing turbines comes from natural gas and nuclear power. Natural gas has about half the carbon emissions of coal while nuclear power has zero carbon emissions.

The clear subtext of that statement is that nuclear is clean and green, with zero carbon emissions, so if Floridans want clean energy and zero carbon emissions, they should be prepared to put up with FPL's ongoing expansion of nuclear energy.

Or, if you have a problem with nuclear -- maybe that pesky little detail, that nobody has yet figured out how to safely dispose of the radioactive waste generated by nuclear plants that tends to hang around the planet for millions of years -- then why not try gas-fired plants as the next best thing! Just witness the wonders that the West County Energy Center is doing for the environment in Barley Barber swamp ...

No emphasis on conversion to true renewables like solar here in the Sunshine State, no real dedication to harnessing the winds that blow almost constantly across the Florida peninsula.

Just take what's on offer from FPL and the PSC and the politicians whose campaign coffers are filled with FPL-linked donations funnelled by the legions of FPL lobbyists deployed around the state. True competition will be blocked, communities from South Daytona to Biscayne Park who want to renegotiate their FPL franchise agreements in order to switch to providers who can help them convert to alternative renewable energy will be bullied ....

Oh, and by the way, you'll also have to pay for it -- and in 2010, FPL customers will have to pay for two new reactors at Turkey Point to the tune of nearly a billion dollars more -- whether you like it or not!

So, thanks Guv ... glad you're committed to energy diversity, but we'd like to see a bit more real "balance" in the equation, so that solar- and wind-generated power can come close to the nuclear-powered and coal-fired electricity that FPL keeps sending us through the grid and that required to subsidize, like it or not!

Boca neighborhood hopes to stop FPL, T-Mobile tower extension

Boca Raton area residents are protesting FPL plans to add a T-mobile cellular extension to a 70-foot transmission tower in their area, brining the total height of the tower to 80 feet, according to a story today in the South Forida Sun-Sentinel.

The paper reports that the The Palm Beach Farms Neighborhood Association is against the proposed extension, which "does not require City Council approval. City code allows the antenna, as does federal law."

Unknown heretofore to this blog is the fact reported by the paper that:

FPL has a contract with T-Mobile to lease the cell phone company space. In a statement, the company said: "It is common practice for communication carriers to use our poles to attach its facilities. It is also a common practice for us to use their poles to attach our equipment."

Read the full Sun-Sentinel story online, here.

Stop FPL from ... taking credit for saving the manatees?!?!

You gotta love this one ... FPL taking credit for saving the manatees!

Yep, FPL basically taking credit in a Florida Today story up on the Space Coast for the discharge from its power plants staving off the extinction of the manatees.

Now admittedly, the manatee population in Florida is suffering from a decline in warm water habitat. And, FPL power plants do generate warm water discharge. But, to put the two together in a piece about the "positive effects" of FPL power plants on our natural environment.

Wow, you gotta hand it to FPL ... what a PR machine!!!

But, shame on Florida Today for printing this story and providing a PR platform for the ludicrous implication that FPL is somehow saving the manatees.

Read the full Florida Today story online, here.

Florida renewable energy groups call for $114 million trust fund

A different kind of campaign to effect political change than the type we're accustomed to seeing from FPL and its lobbyists is being generated by three Florida energy groups that have banded together in the Florida Clean Energy Campaign.

Last week, the Florida Renewable Energy Association, Florida Alliance for Renewable Energy and Florida Renewable Energy Producers Association banded together to announce their support for a $114 million "clean energy fund to help solve the crisis in funding the state's renewable energy programs."

Called the Florida Clean Energy Trust Fund, the idea is to tap into the estimated 80% of Floridians who have told pollsters that they would be willing to pay up to $1 per month extra on their electric bill to support solar development programs.

See the announcement online at RenewableEnergyWorld.com.

More information abo0ut the Florida Clean Energy Trust Fund is online, here.

Has FPL over-expanded capacity? CEO says customers "cutting back"

Electric utilities may not be going the route of the belly-up banking industry, but Andrew Gordon of Investor’s Daily Edge suggests that there are reasons for investors to sell off stocks as the “recession has finally caught up to the utilities.”

In an online post at the blog Offshoreinn, titled No Shelter for Safe Investors in Utilities, Gordon is quoted as saying FPL is cutting back spending and citing FPL CEO Lewis Hay for the reason why:

“A lot of people think demand for electricity is inelastic. It’s not. Our customers are cutting back, and they’re not paying their bills, either.”

So, did Florida Power & Light just think the heady days of development and expansion would last forever? Did they simply over-expand, lobbying legislators and cities and counties for more power-plant construction and transmission line extension without anticipating that someday it would all come grinding to a halt?

And, what is the public left with? FPL's record profits for 2008, costs continually passed along to their customers, ongoing FPL-caused environmental degradation and the constant bullying for more nuclear and coal-fired plants, high-voltage lines and right-of-ways through our communities ...

Time to stand up and fight to end the monopolistic control of our energy future in Florida by a single provider! Time to Stop FPL!

Coal is bad. Period. Stop FPL agrees ...

Hat tip to Gimleteye over at Eye on Miami for this post, Coal is bad. Period.

It's a link to and reprint of Bill McKibben's article Why I’ll Get Arrested To Stop the Burning of Coal, originally published at Yale University's 360Environment.

Well worth the read, especially given the lobbying efforts by FPL and others to get the Florida Public Services Commission (PSC) to change the State's definition of "clean energy" to include nuclear and clean coal.

See also our previous posts:

FL PSC says 'clean energy' should include nukes, coal

Florida Comission tells FPL nuclear is not green

Anti-FPL activists gets Palm Beach Post reader support

Anti-FPL protester Panagioti Tsolkas received positive support from Palm Beach Post readers in letters to the editor published by the paper on Sunday.

Following criticism in a Feb. 8 column by retired Post editorial writer Dan Moffett, one reader wrote in that the actions of Tsolkas and others arrested for protesting environmental damage by an FPL plant in Palm Beach County are "legitimate attempts to draw attention to serious, even life-threatening situations," and continued:

"The protest against Florida Power & Light Co.'s West County Energy Center was a perfect example. This project could pollute our air and threaten the purity of our ground water. Its location makes it a danger to the Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge."

Another reader said that Moffett's column was "an untruthful attempt to influence readers against an environmental activist who risked his safety and freedom to protect what little remains of the environment in Florida," adding that:

"Throughout our history, the powers of the status quo have used all kinds of punitive measures to silence our voices. But we will not be dissuaded, we will not be frightened, we will not be silenced.

Tsolkas also wrote in his own defense:

I was sentenced to 60 days in the Palm Beach County Jail by Judge Laura Johnson - double the time requested by the state attorney - for asserting my right to defend land, liberty and the water we all drink from.

And, he noted the response of Henry David Thoreau, jailed for opposing slavery, to his friend Ralph Waldo Emerson when the latter visited Thoreau in jail:

When asked by Emerson what he was doing in jail, Thoreau responded with an answer that should resonate with people of conscience today in Palm Beach County; perhaps even The Post's Dan Moffett: "What are you doing out there?"

Read the letters to the Palm Beach Post editor, here.

Anti-FPL activist writes 'Open Letter' from jail

Panagioti Tsolkas, Palm Beach County activist incarcerated for protesting the West County Energy Center and sentenced to 60 days in jail "for defending my home from Florida Power and Light," has written an Open letter to people of the Everglades (and those who care about it), posted today at the Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition's site.

Since writing the letter, Tsolkas was released on a $5,000 appellate bond and after serving 16 days of the 60-day sentence is now awaiting an appeal to a higher court of the circuit court verdict against him and co-activist Lynn Purvis, who has opted to serve out her entire 30-day sentence.

Stop FPL has posted about the two activists' sentencing here and about the efforts to stop the environmental degradation caused by the West County Energy Center, here.

The latter post links to a lengthy story at Broward-Palm Beach New Times, here.

Meanwhile, Everglades Earth First! has called for a Week of Action in Solidarity with jailed activists, with details online here.

FPL hat-racking? Anna Maria Islanders have a story to tell

The 2010 tropical storm season is just around the corner and that means all those out-of-state FPL-affiliated tree-trimming crews from Asplundh and other companies will descend on Florida and commence their annual spate of hat-racking trees, wherever they can find them even remotely close to a power distribution line.

The Anna Maria Islander reported in March 2007 on a local couple's horror story. The newspaper report outlined FPL's PR pitch about the professionalism of their tree-trimmers in the runup to line clearing in the Holmes Beach area of the island in anticipation of the 2007 storm season.

But, local couple Pat and Austin Rice had a warning for Islanders:

"If you have some trees, don't just say ‘yes' to trimming," Austin Rice said from his home in the 500 block of 74th Street last week. "If you say ‘yes,' say ‘we want to know exactly what you're going to do."

The Rices said they weren't opposed to tree-trimming, per se, they just didn't understand why their olive tree had been decimated by the Asplundh crew:

"They just came in and ‘whack, whack,'" said Pat Rice. "It wasn't hurting the power lines at all."

"Every year we trim them," Austin Rice said.

He said a contractor came to the house on Feb. 25 and said a crew would need to trim on Feb. 26.

The Rices agreed, but the crew didn't arrive on Feb. 26.

The next day, the Rices left Holmes Beach for a visit to Punta Gorda. Austin Rice remembers seeing the orange Asplundh trucks on the road headed for Anna Maria Island.

When the couple returned home, two of the three olive trees had been "trimmed" — one had been trimmed of about a quarter of its leaves and branches.

A complaint was registered with FPL and several days later, on a Saturday, a crew returned to the Rices' yard to rectify the complaint.

"The only thing left to do was cut it down," Austin Rice said.

Read the full Islander story online, here.

Anti-FPL demo called in Palm Beach for Feb. 24

The Palm Beach County Environmental Coalition has called for a Feb. 18-24 week of solidarity with 26 activists arrested for blockading the construction entrance to the 3,800-MW West County Energy Center in Palm Beach County and to protest the Feb. 2 sentencing of two activists in an earlier protest at the site.

On Feb. 18, over a hundred anti-FPL activists gathered and 26 were arrested for blockading the construction entrance to the power plant, which is adjacent to headwaters of both the Everglades and Loxahatchee River.

On February 2, 2009, two of the activists, Lynne Purvis and Panagioti Tsolkas, were sentenced to 30 days and 60 days, respectively, for their participation in the blockade of the plant's entrance.

The coalition says the plant is being blockaded because:

The WCEC is permitted by the DEP to use over 7 billion gallons of water a year, drawn from surface, aquifer and re-use sources in and near the Everglades. It has also been permitted to emit over 12 million tons of C02 annually—an amount greater than the thirty least polluting nations on Earth.

Read more here about the week of "Solidarity actions with Everglades Earth First! Political Prisoners, Feb 18-24 and the Feb. 24 demonstration called for the DEP Southeast Regional Office 3-5pm at 400 N. Congress, West Palm Beach.