STATE OF FLORIDA
DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
In re: )
Florida Power and Light Company ) St. Lucie Power Plant, Unit No. 2 )
Modification of Terms of ) CASE NO. 79-2542EPP Certification No. PA-74-02, St. )
Lucie County, Florida, )
)
Petitioner. )
)
RECOMMENDED ORDER
This proceeding was held pursuant to the Florida Electrical Power Plant Siting Act, Chapter 403, Part II, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 17-17, Florida Administrative Code, to consider the Petition for Modification of Terms of Certification filed by the Florida Power and Light Company on January 11, 1980. Through that Petition, Florida Power and Light Company has sought permission to alter the original design of the cooling water discharge system for the St.
Lucie Power Plant Unit No. 2.
The Florida Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Board pursuant to Chapter 403, Part II, Florida Statutes, issued site certification subject to conditions, for St. Lucie Power Plant Unit No. 2 by Order dated May 18, 1976. (Case No. 75- 006EPP). The Board's Order approved and adopted the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Recommended Order submitted by the Hearing Officer on October 8, 1975. Paragraph 6 of the Hearing Officer's Findings of Fact described the cooling water discharge system certified by the Governor and Cabinet for St. Lucie Unit No. 2.
Pursuant to notice, a public hearing was held in Ft. Pierce, Florida on January 28, 1980, for the purpose of receiving evidence and testimony concerning the modification sought by Florida Power and Light Company. The Hearing included an examination of the following: the necessity for the design alteration, the expected environmental impact from construction and operation of the modified cooling water discharge facilities; and other public interests and issues relevant to the Petition to Modify.
Written notice of these modification proceedings was sent to all parties of record in the prior certification proceedings. The following parties entered appearances at and participated in the modification hearing:
Florida Power and Light Company
Florida Department of Environmental Regulation
Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County.
Having considered all the testimony and evidence properly admitted, having heard the arguments of counsel, and being otherwise fully apprised herein, the following Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommended Order are entered:
FINDINGS OF FACT
Unit No. 2 is certified to be a nuclear facility situated on 300 acres of a 1132 acre site previously cleared and filled on Hutchinson Island in St. Lucie County, Florida. The site is presently occupied by Unit No. 1, also a nuclear facility. Hutchinson Island is a typical but highly developed coastal barrier island of the Florida Atlantic Coast. The site prior to development was predominantly flat and water covered, with dense vegetation typical of coastal mangrove swamp. On the Eastern side of the island, the land rises slightly in a dune to approximately 15 feet above mean low water.
The cooling system for Unit No. 2 is essentially the same as that for Unit No. 1. It is proposed that the existing intake and discharge canals, present on the 300 acre tract for Unit No. 1, will be utilized by Unit No. 2. As originally planned and presently certified, the discharge structure for cooling water from Unit No. 2 consists of an open discharge canal, excavated to elevation - 17 feet. This canal is 28 feet wide at the bottom, with a slope of
to 3. The open discharge canal extends from the plant approximately 2200 feet to a point 400 feet west of the existing shoreline. From there, a 12 foot diameter concrete conduit, for each unit, is buried beneath the ground and carries the discharged water under the beach and ocean floor out to the ocean discharge structures. The conduit for Unit No. 2 will extend approximately 2800 feet from the shoreline.
The Unit No. 2 ocean discharge structure consists of a multiport diffuser containing 48 ports. Each port will be 1.5 feet in diameter, spaced
22.5 feet between centers and oriented to discharge horizontally. The jets will be mounted in an alternating manner on either side of a 1,060 foot manifold. Ocean depth at the discharge point will be approximately - 35 to - 40 feet mean low water. Exit velocity of the discharged water from each port will be approximately 13 feet per second.
The effects on the environment which would occur from construction of the discharge conduit with the multi-port diffuser originally planned for Unit No. 2 were thoroughly studied and were the subject of extensive testimony at the 1975 certification hearing. Paragraphs 11, 44, 46, 50, 53, 54, 55 and 64 of the Findings of Fact contained in the October 8, 1975 Recommended Order, discuss and summarize the studies and testimony.
On January 11, 1980, Florida Power & Light Company filed and served on all parties a "Petition for Modification of Terms of Certification" pursuant to Section 403.516(3), Florida Statutes. The petition requests a modification to the certification previously issued to reflect proposed design modifications to the cooling water discharge system which are necessary to account for design head losses resulting from the final multi-port diffuser design and to allow a margin for greater than anticipated marine fouling effects. The petition filed by Florida Power & Light Company seeks to modify the original design from that described in paragraph 6 of the Recommended Order entered October 8, 1975 by widening the distance which the open discharge canal extends along the shoreline, increasing the size and length of the conduit, and increasing the number of ports in the diffuser.
On January 28, 1980, pursuant to Sections 120.57 and 403.615(3), Florida Statutes, and proper notice published in the local newspapers and served on all parties, a formal hearing was held at the St. Lucie County Library, 124 North Indian River Drive, Fort Pierce, Florida. At the hearing, Florida Power & Light Company presented three (3) witnesses who testified in support of the
Petition for Modification of Terms of Certification. These witnesses, Clifford
Kent, James O'Hara, and J. Ross Wilcox, described the need for, and the effects of the proposed modifications. Their testimony demonstrated that the proposed modification will result in improved availability of St. Lucie Unit No. 2, and will not result in a significant environmental impact or effect to the public that was not previously considered in the certification proceedings. Florida Power & Light Company also introduced into the record documentary evidence reflecting that it has applied for and been granted the following permits and approvals for this project:
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Construction Permit No. 79K-1019 issued January 7, 1980, and
State of Florida, Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund (Department of Natural Resources) Easement No. 25624 (2670-56)A, St. Lucie County, approved January 8, 1980. The testimony and evidence were not opposed or contradicted by testimony or evidence of any other party.
At the hearing on the petition to modify, the Department of Environmental Regulation presented evidence indicating that the effects anticipated from construction of the modified discharge system would increase turbidity in the ocean during construction in the immediate area of the excavation. Adequate control structures are to be used however. The construction of the canal extension would remove approximately two acres of impounded mangrove habitat. To mitigate this loss, Florida power & Light Company proposes to breach the dike on the northern mangrove area to allow approximately 50 acres of mangrove to function more normally with the Indian River estuary. The environmental effects from operation of the revised Unit No.
discharge system will be approximately the same as the original proposal.
The Department of Environmental Regulation has recommended that the proposed modification be certified subject to the following additional conditions:
That the dike around the mangrove area north of the discharge canal be opened up to Big Mud Creek by breaching the dike in three
(3) places. Each breach in the dike shall be a minimum of ten feet (10') wide at the bottom and the bottom elevation of the breach shall not be higher than one foot below mean sea level (- 1 MSL) or deeper than - 3 MSL.
That the Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Beaches and Shores be allowed to inspect the dune once restored. Florida Power and Light Company has agreed to the imposition of the proposed conditions.
The Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie County has stated that its experts have concluded that the anticipated effects on the environment from the proposed modification will not be dramatically different from those which have previously occurred. Accordingly, the Alliance does not oppose this petition to modify.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
This proceeding was held pursuant to the Florida Electrical Power Plant Siting Act, Chapter 403, Part II, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 17-17, Florida Administrative Code, to consider the subject Petition to Modify the Terms of Site Certification.
Notice, in accordance with Chapter 403 and Chapter 120, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 17-17, Florida Administrative Code, has been given to all persons and parties entitled hereto, as well as to the general public.
The purpose of this modification hearing was to receive testimony and evidence concerning the need for and effects of the proposed modifications to tide discharge system.
The record in this proceeding consists of the following: The Petition for Modification of Terms of Certification; intermediate ruling of the Hearing Officer; the Notice of Hearing to Modify a Previously Certified Electrical Power Plant Located on Hutchinson Island, Florida with Proofs of Publication of Such Notice; documentary evidence received at the formal hearing; witness testimony received at the formal hearing; and the Official Transcript of the proceedings.
The location and operation of the modified cooling water discharge system, if made subject to all original and modified conditions of certification and the two additional conditions proposed by the Department of Environmental Regulation, will not result in a significant environmental impact or effect to the public.
The construction and operational safeguards for the proposed Unit No.
2 cooling water discharge system, as modified, are technically sufficient for the welfare and protection of the people of Florida.
The certification of the proposed modification to the Unit No. 2 cooling water discharge system will increase the availability of the unit.
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Having reviewed the record of this proceeding, and based upon the findings of fact and conclusions of law set forth herein, it is hereby recommended that the Petition to Modify the Terms of Certification be granted and that paragraph 6 of the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law and Recommended Order entered October 8, 1975, be modified as follows:
The discharge structure for cooling water consists of an open discharge canal, excavated to elevation -17 feet. This canal is 28 feet wide at the bottom, with a slope of 1 to 3.
The open discharge canal extends from the plant approximately 2200 feet to a point 300 feet west of the existing shoreline. From the canal, a
12 foot diameter concrete conduit for Unit No. 1 and a 16 foot diameter conduit for Unit No. 2, are buried beneath the ground and carry the dis- charged water under the beach and ocean floor out to the ocean discharge structures. The con- duit for Unit No. 2 will extend approximately 3050 to 3070 feet from the shoreline.
The Unit No. 2 ocean discharge pipe consists of a multi-port diffuser containing 50 riser pipes lined with Goodrich No-foul rubber. Each riser pipe will be 4 feet in diameter, spaced 24 feet between centers with a discharge port sized to issue a jet 16 inches in diameter, discharging
4 - 6 feet above ocean bottom, oriented to discharge at a 25 degree angle from the centerline of the pipeline, directed offshore. The riser pipes will
be mounted on the top of a 1380 to 1400 foot manifold. Ocean depth at the discharge point will be approxi- mately -35 to -40 feet mean low water. Exit velocity of the discharged water from each port will be approxi- mately 12 - 14 feet per second.
The ocean discharge structure for Unit No. 1 consists of a "Y" type, high velocity, jet dis- charge in a water depth of approximately - 30 mean low water.
It is further recommended that the modification of certification include the terms and be made subject to all original conditions of certification as well as the conditions described in Finding of Fact Numbers 7a and b.
DONE AND ORDERED this 29th day of February, 1980, in Tallahassee, Florida.
CHRIS H. BENTLEY, Director
Division of Administrative Hearings Room 101, Collins Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301
(904) 488-9675
COPIES FURNISHED:
William S. Bilenky, Esquire Mr. Estes Whitfield General Counsel Office of Planning and Florida Public Service Budgeting
Commission Office of the Governor Room 207 Fletcher Bldg. 404 Carlton Building
Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Jacob D. Varn, Secretary Citizens United Against Attn: Hamilton S. Oven Radioactive Environment Department of Environmental c/o Harry H. Alder
Regulation 304 St. Andrews Lane
2600 Blair Stone Road Fort Pierce, Florida 33450 Twin Towers Office Building
Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Honorable Bob Graham
Governor, State of Florida Sheri W. Smallwood, Esquire The Capitol
Department of Environmental Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Regulation
2600 Blair Stone Road
Twin Towers Office Building Honorable George Firestone Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Secretary of State
The Capitol
Joan M. Heggen, Secretary Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Department of Community Affairs
2571 Executive Center Circle, East Honorable Jim smith Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Attorney General
The Capitol
Mr. E. C. Hutchinson, Administrator Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Power Plant Siting program
Bureau of Land and Water Management Honorable Gerald Lewis Department of Community Affairs Comptroller
530 Carlton Building The Capitol
Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Conservation Alliance of St. Lucie Honorable William Gunter County Treasurer
c/o Mrs. Marjorie Silver Alder The Capitol
304 St. Andrews Lane Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Fort Pierce, Florida 33450
Honorable Ralph D. Turlington Martin County Conservation Alliance Commissioner of Education Martin Harold Hodder, Esquire The Capitol
1131 N.E. 86th Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Miami, Florida 33138
Honorable Doyle Conner League of Women Voters of Commissioner of Agriculture
St. Lucie County The Capitol
c/o Mrs. Judith James Tallahassee, Florida 32301 Route 3, Box 423
Fort Pierce, Florida 33450 Wade L. Hopping, Esquire
Hopping, Boyd, Green & Sams
Norman A. Coll, Esquire Post Office Box 6526
Steel Hector & Davis Tallahassee, Florida 32301 1400 S.E. First National Bank
Bldg.
Miami, Florida 33131
| Issue Date | Proceedings |
|---|---|
| Feb. 29, 1980 | Recommended Order sent out. CASE CLOSED. |
| Issue Date | Document | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Feb. 29, 1980 | Recommended Order | Allow the permit, but with modifications. |
