FKAA Board of Directors Advocates for Decommissioning of Turkey Point Cooling Canals

Florida Keys – March 2, 2018 – The FKAA Board of Directors listened to a compelling presentation regarding the advancement of hypersaline waters from Florida Power and Light’s Cooling Canal System (CCS) at the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant in Miami-Dade County.

FPL currently utilizes 168 miles of cooling canals as a recirculating system to cool its two nuclear reactors which is the only system of its kind still allowed in the United States.  Since initial operation back in 1973, evaporative losses were replenished with seawater from Biscayne Bay resulting in a hypersaline water that has been leaching into and contaminating the Biscayne Aquifer. This underground plume of hypersaline water is actively monitored by FKAA, and although not an immediate threat, it has been advancing radially at a rate of approximately one mile every 10 years.  This plume is of significant concern as it threatens to contaminate the primary source of drinking water for FKAA, and thus of all Monroe County, if left unfettered.

Recently both Miami-Dade County and the State of Florida have required remedial action on the part of FPL to halt and retract the plume.  In addition, Miami-Dade is considering partnering with FPL to build a wastewater treatment plant in a cost-sharing arrangement that would utilize recycled water generated from the new facility to freshen the CCS with a less saline water supply.  In updating the FKAA Board, consulting hydrogeologist Kirk Martin explained that this action would increase the head pressure on the existing underground hypersaline plume resulting in continued radial expansion of the plume.  While using recycled water as makeup to mitigate evaporative losses in the CCS is a positive step, implementing this option would not address the existing contamination already threatening FKAA’s water supply, and would continue to exacerbate the existing threat.

While the Board recognizes the benefit of FPL collaborating to produce millions of gallons of reclaimed water, it feels strongly that FPL must:

  1. Halt movement and remediate the existing underground hypersaline plume it created; AND
  2. Prevent any further contamination of the Biscayne Aquifer by its operations; AND
  3. Decommission the CCS and replace them with cooling towers, which is a more modern and industry-standard technology that will prevent any potential water supply contamination.

 The Board has directed staff to aggressively advocate this position to both State and Federal regulatory agencies and elected officials to insure the concerns are heard and action is taken.

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