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Item N7BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS County of Monroe A Mayor Heather Carruthers, District 3 ( T$ne Florida Keys (, Mayor Pro Tem George Neugent, District 2 t� ) ��` �� �' Danny L. Kolhage, District 1 David Rice, District 4 Sylvia J. Murphy, District 5 County Commission Meeting April 20, 2016 Agenda Item Number: N.7 Agenda Item Summary #1568 BULK ITEM: No DEPARTMENT: County Administrator TIME APPROXIMATE: STAFF CONTACT: Lisa Tennyson (305) 292-4444 11:15 AM AGENDA ITEM WORDING: TIME APPROXIMATE 11:15 A.M.: Discussion regarding Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station, including presentation by Florida Power and Light. ITEM BACKGROUND: Turkey Point is owned by Florida Power and Light. It is a twin reactor nuclear power station located 25 miles south of Miami. The plant's cooling canal system is a 5,900 acre network of unlined canals. The plant's cooling canals' waters have migrated beyond the canals, causing an underground saltwater plume to grow and migrate westward, toward wellfields that provide drinking water for the Florida Keys into the Biscayne Bay. PREVIOUS RELEVANT BOCC ACTION: March 23, 2016 BOCC Meeting: Discussion and presentation by Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority. CONTRACT/AGREEMENT CHANGES: N/A DOCUMENTATION: FINANCIAL IMPACT: Effective Date: N/A Expiration Date: Total Dollar Value of Contract: Total Cost to County: Current Year Portion: Budgeted: Source of Funds: CPI: Indirect Costs: Estimated Ongoing Costs Not Included in above dollar amounts: Revenue Producing: Grant: County Match: Insurance Required: Additional Details: None. If yes, amount: STAFF RECOMMENDATION: N/A REVIEWED BY: Bob Shillinger Kathy Peters Board of County Commissioners Completed Completed Pending 04/05/2016 4:58 PM 04/06/2016 8:28 AM 04/20/2016 9:00 AM _-- (�sF end LASTC::5� STAND t�_ County Commission Meeting April 20, 2016 Agenda Item N.7. Discussion regarding Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station Comments by Deb Curlee on behalf of Last Stand The spread of salt water from Florida Power and Light's Turkey Point Cooling Canal System is perceived as a crisis situation by Monroe County residents and Last Stand because the condition was recognized years ago, but efforts to date have not stopped or even slowed threats to the drinking water supply for more than 3 million people in South Florida. A recent report from Miami -Dade County of tritium concentrations more than 200 times normal in Biscayne Bay shows the lack of containment of emissions from the Cooling Canal System is not limited to the hyper -saline plume west of the canals. The short term fix that diverts 100 million gallons per day of fresh surface water from the L31-E canal to address high water temperatures in the Cooling Canal System is not sustainable. This fresh water is needed for the full restoration and ecological health of the natural resources of Biscayne Bay and Biscayne Bay National Park. We share Monroe County's concerns that this temporary remedy may be exacerbating the spread of cooling canal water. Last Stand has joined the 61 member organizations of the Everglades Coalition calling for federal, state and local government agencies to work with FPL to identify a sustainable, long-term solution to the cooling canal crisis. FPL needs to take immediate steps that will better protect drinking water resources, safeguard Everglades restoration efforts and preserve Biscayne Bay and Biscayne Bay National Park from the impacts of Turkey Point operations. Specifically, we are asking Monroe County BOCC to cooperate with Miami -Dade County, Florida Keys Aqueduct Authority and other like-minded entities to compel FPL to avoid further delays in developing a sustainable Salinity Management Plan. We would like to see quarterly reports from FPL describing the progress in creating the plan, identifying the timeline for implementation of options to stop emissions into groundwater from the Cooling Canal System and to report on the status of any further migration of the salt water plume towards the drinking water supply used by Monroe County. Delay is not an option. The time for FPL to take action is now. PO Box 146, Key West, FL 33041-0146 www.keyslaststand.oinfo keyslaststand.org I 4 100u 1 icuds ot,Ho[ Ida Resolution in Support of the Protection of Biscayne Bay and Biscayne \ra,nr ll Marshall t ""udnti°" National Park from the Impacts of the Turkey Point Cooling Canal System \uduhun FlFlorida :Atldnho❑ of 101.10 1ACst I -fond❑ \uduhon of the \V'c,1eYn l 1.,,I WHEREAS, Biscayne National Park is a national treasure, protecting some of the nudt,ht,n Societe of I: r 1Racl.counin F1; fisher, of Naplc' only living coral in the continental United States and the longest stretch of mangrove Caloosahatchcc Ricci C itiren, :Association habitat for Ri\cn\atch forest remaining on Florida's east coast, providing and nursery grounds ('cntcr for Blologlcal nncr,it' important commercial and recreational fish, shellfish, and crustaceans, and offering t Iwn\\atcr.ACt1011 f_,on,cn,ulc\ of Soutlwe>t I lond,t refuge to many endangered species; 1)elonda, o1 A\ ddlite UmL, I)urlim-\\ildlilc I WHEREAS, Turkey Point, owned and operated by Florida Power & Light (FPL), is arthlusticc it Plndzili located directly the shores of Biscayne Bay and Biscayne National Park; I ,c I�cr��ladc> Poundalion kidcn1 on I wradadc> Lzo� ( nlci I :rLdad,> Iru,t WHEREAS, a system of unlined cooling canals covering approximately 5900 acres Iorlda T,on,enation Aoler, I ducatlon I Lind I loiida Ikl,�nders orthe I mlronlncnt are used to cool water from Turkey Point operations; I londa KeN, I n\ironmcntul I and I londa Nattvc Plant Socirt\ Plorlda ()(cnnogral,hic Socich WHEREAS, the plant's cooling canal system experiences heating and evaporation, I ucnd, of the Arthur R Mar,hall salt and other chemicals in its waters, and has created three issues I mahatchee Vatioltul U lldht,: Rct�l e which concentrates I IIcnd, of'l'c I \cr_ladcs of concern to the Coalition: I Icndn-(lade, ,Auduhon Society Intcrn.wonal IXid -Shy A, oclauon 11 (Impie' 1. Biscayne Aquifer Contaminated by Hypersaline Cooling Canal Water Baal. A\ altos I CaLrlc or:Amcrica wl \\:dion I caauc Ilorlda Dmion °�'� vv allon I c°�'"` I Iolld,l <), `Ilalier WHEREAS, the limestone geology of South Florida enables direct interaction Baal. A\,dum I I Stand porous between cooling canal system water and the underlying Biscayne Aquifer, resulting in ,l>1 I ca_"` of A\,Imca voter, of Iond'l the of dense hypersaline water from the canals into the Biscayne Aquifer I ovahainc,,c Rncl roahilon \Isrtm COMM coltscrvahon ,AIllanec movement and the loading of approximately 600,000 pounds of salt a day into the Aquifer; 'vhami I'lnc Rocklamk roarl,on \1l;unl \\atcr6ccpcl \,111011al \uduh„n Socict% WHEREAS, a massive hypersaline plume is now spreading through the Biscayne \,Illon�ll Par}., (oll,el\atloil \"ocl„llolt Aquifer in all directions, including west toward our wellfields and east under Biscayne \atlolml A\ 11,11dc ltclll_c :A,rocn,ilo„ \;llur,ll 1zc„lurcc, I)cicns: council National Park; \„rill C.,rolma (41Mald Bound School c¢ut R.�canh V C omcnaUun \-wclauon RCII hcl WHEREAS, the Biscayne Aquifer supplies drinking water to more than three million tianlhcl-1 :q�tl,a con,cnn ,nx) I oundatloll freshwater recharge to Biscayne National Park people in South Florida and provides ,l�rra c Iuh through freshwater springs; SlCrrl l 1uh I lorlda (haplcr ,lcrrl t-lul, Iiro„ard (I101111 ';' (Iul� (,.It"„ `'r""l' WHEREAS, FPL and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection have been tilcrr,t ( lull (cutlet 1 Iolida I Ilon;, (1ro�11) aware of the fact that water from the cooling canals has been contaminating ',icrra ( lull I o.:d,utehcc `1l.tir.l r "I' Arnittl 01"111' for more than six years, yet a long-term solution to the problem has not ,nook mid (uwi h,h I tmlidatl South Ilorld,l Auduhon ,o.lcl, groundwater been identified; Snuth�m VIllanec 101 ( I he I lonlla AA lldhlc I cdcr;ulun 1� In,uulr: [of Rcuon,d t on,rn,won I he A,ulonal V1 ddlllL� I edcmllon nonmcni I of t r,rata VIrinu I nhir,ll \uduhun Soi lcl� Continitted to frill protection any/ restoration of'Anterica's Everglades 450N. Park Road 301. 1ioll,,\vood FL ,3021 1 vttvyvv.evcrgladc,coaliIit) I inl0aevereInde,coaIition.orL J* 2. Cooling Canal Waters Interacting with Ground Waters that Feed into Biscayne Bay Surface Waters WHEREAS, a recent report from Miami -Dade County definitively shows that water from the cooling canals is now seeping into Biscayne Bay, impacting ground waters that feed surface waters tidally connected to Biscayne National Park; WHEREAS, the County report states that surface waters fed by ground water in Biscayne Bay have tritium levels more than 200 times higher than normal, and elevated levels of ammonia,I phosphorus,2 and sodium; WHEREAS, tritium is a radioactive isotope that is used as a tracer to identify the presence of water originating from the cooling canal system; WHEREAS, the addition of hypersaline water and excess nutrients into Biscayne Bay ground waters and interacting surface waters threatens the ecological health of the Bay and could trigger toxic algal blooms due to its low nutrient and phosphorus -limited environment; WHEREAS, FPL entered into a Consent Agreement with Miami -Dade County's Division of Environmental Resources Management (DERM) to remediate the landward migration of the hypersaline plume and is currently implementing the requirements of that agreement, however this agreement does not address the spread of the plume to the east under Biscayne National Park or the use of alternative, sustainable water sources for plant operations; 3. Fresh Surface Water Needed for Full Restoration Diverted Away from Biscayne Bay WHEREAS, hypersalinity and excessively high temperatures in the cooling canals resulted in the emergency redirection of up to 100 million gallons of water a day of fresh surface water from the L31-E canal that will be needed for the full restoration of Biscayne Bay and Biscayne National Park; WHEREAS, such a practice is neither sustainable nor compatible with the hundreds of millions of dollars being invested by Miami -Dade County, the State of Florida, and the federal government to restore Biscayne Bay and Biscayne National Park through the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetlands project, with the goal of increasing desperately needed freshwater flows to coastal areas; WHEREAS, the redirection of fresh water away from Biscayne Bay, the introduction of hypersaline water from Turkey Point cooling canals into the Biscayne Aquifer and Biscayne Bay ground and interacting surface waters jeopardizes critical restoration efforts and ecological function. 1 Levels of ammonia were detected at up to 3.29 milligrams per liter, well above Miami -Dade County water quality standards of 0.5 milligrams per liter. z Elevated levels of phosphorus were identified above the state numeric criteria of seven (7) parts per billion, typically ranging from three (3) to 230 parts per billion. Committed to full protection and restoration of America's Everglades 41 O \. Park Roaci 3,01. I lolk wood I L ' 30? 1 \v.c\cruladc5coalition.ore inli� ii c�rr�ladcscoalition.orb_ THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Everglades Coalition, with its 61 member organizations committed to the full protection and restoration of America's Everglades, calls on local, state, and federal government agencies, including but not limited to the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Interior, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, South Florida Water Management District, Miami -Dade County and Monroe County, to protect the surrounding ground and surface waters. We encourage them to work with FPL to identify a sustainable, long-term solution to the cooling canal crisis occurring at Turkey Point in order to protect the natural resources of Biscayne Bay and Biscayne National Park and safeguard Everglades restoration efforts and drinking water supplies. The Everglades Coalition asks local, state, and federal agencies to conduct additional monitoring of the groundwater plume and hydrological connections to Biscayne Bay. Finally, we urge FPL to discontinue further use of water from the L-31 E canal to freshen the cooling canals and withdraw their request for permitted withdrawals, as this water is vital to the ecological health and full restoration of Biscayne Bay and Biscayne National Park. Adopted April 19th, 2016 Ca., Capp - � �e Cara Capp Michael J. Baldwin National Co -Chair State Co -Chair Committed to fill! protection and restoration of America's Everglades 450\. IIitrk Read 101. 1ioIk%wod 11. ,3021 vv.e\cr_ladc,,CoaIition.uru, I infoeicvCr,ladcscoaIiIion .org