STATE OF FLORIDA
DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
IN RE: JACKSONVILLE ELECTRIC AUTHORITY ) ST JOHNS RIVER POWER PARK, )
POWER PLANT SITE CERTIFICATION ) CASE NO. 81-357EPP APPLICATION. )
)
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 403.508, Florida Statutes, the undersigned conducted a land use hearing in this cause on May 5, 1981, in Jacksonville, Florida.
APPEARANCES
For Applicant Jacksonville Electric Authority: Gary P. Sams, Esquire
Hopping, Boyd, Green & Sams
420 Lewis State Bank Building Post Office Box 6526 Tallahassee, Florida 32301
For State of Florida Department of Environmental Regulation: Louis F. Hubener, Esquire
Assistant General Counsel
Department of Environmental Regulation Twin Towers Office Building
2600 Blair Stone Road Tallahassee, Florida 32301
For State of Florida Department of Veteran and Community Affairs:
C. Laurence Keesey, Esquire
Department of Veteran and Community Affairs Carlton Building, Room 204
Tallahassee, Florida 32301 For Sea Oats Garden and Circle:
Mrs. L. B. (Priscilla) Andrews Sea Oats Garden Circle
115 Palm Avenue Jacksonville, Florida 32218
For Heckscher Drive Community Club:
Jean Ila Creech, Spokesperson Heckscher Drive Community Club 5900 Heckscher Drive
Jacksonville, Florida 32226
For Agricural Stabilization and Conservation Service:
Douglas I. Moore Chairman-Duval County
The Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture
12275 Holstein Drive
Jacksonville, Florida 32226 For Clean Air Coalition, Inc.:
John Kern, President Clean Air Coalition, Inc. 630 Edgewood Avenue
Jacksonville, Florida 32205
For the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, Inc.: Gerald Bartles
Executive Vice President
Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, Inc. Post Office Box 329
Jacksonville, Florida 32201
This land use hearing is part of the site certification proceeding in accordance with the Florida Electrical Power Plant Siting Act, Part II, Chapter 403, Florida Statutes. Having considered all the testimony, evidence and argument presented, the Hearing Officer enters the following:
FINDINGS OF FACT
The Department of Environmental Regulation published notice of this land use hearing on March 21, 1981 in the Florida Times-Union newspaper. Notice was also published in the Florida Administrative Weekly. The Applicant, Jacksonville Electric Authority, (hereinafter JEA) posted notice of this hearing at the proposed site and the Department of Environmental Regulation (hereinafter DER) mailed notice of this hearing to the chief executives of the local and regional authorities with responsibility for zoning and land use planning whose jurisdiction includes the site.
JEA is an electric utility and agency of the City of Jacksonville. Its application in this proceeding seeks site certification for the construction of a coal-fired electric generating plant and ancillary facilities, including a coal unloading facility and ancillary facilities, including a coal unloading facility and associated transmission lines, all of which are to be located in Duval County, Florida.
The proposed site comprises approximately 1,636 acres located north of the St. Johns Rive in northern Duval County, immediately contiguous to JEA's existing Northside Generating Station.
Ordinance 80-1290-700 of the City of Jacksonville was adopted specifically for the purpose of zoning the land which comprises the site for which certification is sought in a classification which allows the land use JEA intends by its application. The Ordinance zones the site as GU, Government Use, a zoning classification which does allow the use to which the land will be put
by the Applicant should the site be certified. By the terms of this Ordinance, the classification GU shall apply to the subject land on the date that Fee Simple title to that land passes to the Jacksonville Electric Authority. To the extent that Fee Simple title to that land has not already passed to the Jacksonville Electric Authority, the subject land is currently zoned IH, Industrial Heavy. JEA is a governmental agency of the City of Jacksonville and possesses all powers of eminent domain necessary to acquire the land comprising the site.
The foregoing zoning classification does not apply to any land located within Government Lot 2, Section 6, Township 1 South, Range 28 East. JEA has stated that it has not intent to develop any part of Government Lot 2 within the proposed site and it is therefore not considered part of the site.
The site certification application includes a proposed coal unloading facility to be located on approximately 55 acres of Blount Island, contiguous to the St. Johns River, and owned by the Jacksonville Port Authority, another agency of the City of Jacksonville. That 55-acre parcel is currently zoned IW, Industrial Waterfront, and a coal unloading facility is consistent with the uses allowed within the IQ zoning classification.
The site certification application includes certain directly associated transmission lines to connect the proposed generating facility to the existing transmission network. The preferred corridors for these directly associated transmission lines extend in the same general direction as the existing transmission lines from JEA's Northside Generating Station and will run to existing substations in all cases. Transmission lines, substations and similar installations are classified as "essential services" and as such are permitted in any zoning district within Duval County without any unique zoning to allow that land use.
The use of the proposed site, including the coal handling facility and directly associated transmission lines, are all consistent with the elements of the 2005 Comprehensive Plan of the City of Jacksonville relating to land use. The plant site and the coal unloading facility appear on the land use plan map as "water related industrial" uses, and JEA has stated its intent to comply with the locational criteria for transmission lines found in the electric utility element of the City of Jacksonville 2005 Comprehensive Plan.
The 2005 Comprehensive Plan has been approved by the State Department of Community Affairs and the Northeast Florida Regional Planning Council for consistency with state and regional land use planning requirements.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
All parties and the public were afforded proper notice of this proceeding as required by law.
The sole issue for determination at the land use hearing required by Section 403.508, Florida Statutes, is whether or not the proposed site is consistent and in complinance with existing land use plans and zoning ordinances. As shown by the Findings of Fact above, the proposed site in this cause is consistent, and in complinance with, existing-land use plans and zoning ordinances so long as JEA holds Fee Simple title to the land which comprises the proposed site.
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Therefore, it is hereby recommended that the land use proposed for the site is consistent and in compliance with existing land use plans and zoning ordinances so long as JEA holds Fee Simple title to the subject land.
DONE and ORDERED this 8th day of July, 1981, in Tallahassee, Florida.
CHRIS H. BENTLEY, Director
Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building
2009 Apalachee Parkway
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
(904) 488-9675
Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 8th day of July, 1981.
COPIES FURNISHED:
Gary P. Sams, Esquire Hopping, Boyd, Green & Sams Post Office Box 6526 Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Arthur Shell, Esquire Florida Public Service
Commission
101 East Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301
C. Laurence Keesey, Esquire Department of Veteran and
Community Affairs
204 Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Louis Hubener, Esquire Department of Environmental
Regulation
2600 Blair Stone Road Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Hamilton S. Oven, Administrator Power Plant Siting
Department of Environmental Regulation
2600 Blair Stone Road Tallahassee, Florida 32301
E. Lee Worsham, Esquire
St. Johns River Water Management District
Post Office Box 1429 Palatka, Florida 32077
George W. Kent, Jr., Esquire Post Office Box 49
Orange Park, Florida 32073
STATE OF FLORIDA
DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
IN RE: JACKSONVILLE ELECTRIC AUTHORITY )
ST. JOHNS RIVER POWER PARK, POWER PLANT ) CASE NO. 81-357EPP SITE CERTIFICATION APPLICATION. )
)
AMENDED RECOMMENDED ORDER
Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and a Recommended Order were entered in this cause by the undersigned on July 8, 1981. That recommended Order stated "Therefore, it is hereby recommended that the land use proposed for the site is consistent and in compliance with existing land use plans and zoning ordinances so long as JEA holds Fee Simple title to the subject land." The condition of that recommendation, that JEA hold Fee Simple title to certain lands, was intended to apply only to that part of the site comprising approximately 1,636 acres located north of the St. Johns River in northern Duval County, and immediately contiguous with JEA's existing Northside Generating Station. It was not intended to apply to the proposed coal unloading facility on Blount Island, or the associated transmission line corridors. The zoning applicable to those two parts of the overall site do not require that JEA hold Fee Simple title.
Therefore, the Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Recommended Order dated July 8, 1981 is amended to read as follows:
"Therefore, it is hereby recommended that the land use proposed for the site is consistent and in compliance with existing land use plans and zoning ordinances so long as JEA holds Fee Simple title to the land which comprises that part of the site consisting of approximately 1,636 acres located north of the St. Johns River in northern Duval County, and immediately contiguous to JEA's existing Northside Generating Station."
DONE and ORDERED this 20th day of July, 1981, in Tallahassee, Florida.
CHRIS H. BENTLEY, Director
Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building
2009 Apalachee Parkway
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
(904) 488-9675
Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 20th day of July, 1981.
COPIES FURNISHED:
Gary P. Sam, Esquire Hopping, Boyd, Green & Sams Post Office Box 6526 Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Arthur Shell, Esquire Florida Public Service
Commission
101 East Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301
C. Laurence Keesey, Esquire Department of Veteran and Community Affairs
204 Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Louis Hubener, Esquire Department of Environmental
Regulation
2600 Blair Stone Road Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Hamilton S. Oven, Administrator Power Plant Siting
Department of Environmental Regulation
2600 Blair Stone Road Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Lee Worsham, Esquire St. Johns River Water
Management District Post Office Box 1429 Palatka, Florida 32077
George W. Kent, Jr., Esquire Post Office Box 49
Orange Park, Florida 32073
================================================================= AGENCY FINAL ORDER
=================================================================
BEFORE THE GOVERNOR AND CABINET OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
In Re:
Jacksonville Electric Authority St. Johns River Power Park,
Power Plant Site Certification CASE NO. 81-357EPP Application
/
The following persons were present and participated in the disposition of this matter:
Honorable Bob Graham Governor
Honorable Jim Smith Attorney General
Honorable Bill Gunter
Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner
Honorable Gerald A. Lewis Comptroller
Honorable Doyle Conner Commissioner of Agriculture
Honorable Ralph D. Turlington Commissioner of Education
FINAL ORDER ADOPTING HEARING OFFICER'S ORDER RECOMMENDING BOARD
FINDING OF CONSISTENCY AND COMPLIANCE
WITH EXISTING LAND USE PLANS AND ZONING ORDINANCES BY THE GOVERNOR AND CABINET:
Having heard presentations by the parties, reviewed the Recommended Order dated July 8, 1981, as modified by the Amended Recommended Order dated July 20, 1981, (attached and incorporated as Exhibits "A" and "B"), and being fully advised herein, it is
ORDERED:
The Recommended Order as modified by the Amended Recommended Order is adopted.
The proposed site is found and held to be in conformity with existing land use plans and zoning ordinances in effect as of this date.
The responsible zoning or planning authorities are ordered to refrain from hereafter changing such land use plans *
* NOTE: The remaining text of this Agency Final Order was not filed with this Division and is therefore not a part of this ACCESS document.
================================================================= SITE CERTIFICATION RECOMMENDED ORDER
=================================================================
STATE OF FLORIDA
DIVISION OF ADMINISTRATIVE HEARINGS
IN RE: JACKSONVILLE ELECTRIC AUTHORITY )
ST. JOHNS RIVER POWER PARK, POWER ) Case No. 81-357EPP PLANT SITE CERTIFICATION APPLICATION )
)
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 Jacksonville Electric Authority's (JEA) application for site certification of a two-unit electrical generating facility, its associated facilities, and its directly associated transmission lines, collectively known as St. Johns River Power Park Units Number 1 and Number 2, proposed for Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida.
The Governor and Cabinet, sitting as the Board under Chapter 403, Part II, Florida Statutes, entered an ORDER dated September 1, 1981, holding that the proposed site for Units 1 and 2 is consistent and in compliance with existing land-use plans and zoning ordinances.
Pursuant to proper notice, a certification hearing as required by Section 403.508(3), Florida Statutes, was held in Jacksonville, Florida, December 1, 2, 3, and 4, 1981, for the purpose of receiving testimony and evidence concerning whether the location and operation of the proposed facilities will produce minimal adverse effects on human health, the environment, the ecology of the land and its wildlife, and the ecology of state waters and their aquatic life. The hearing included an examination of the following: the need for power as determined by the Florida Public Service Commission; the expected environmental impact from construction and operation of the facility; operational safeguards of the facility; and other public interests and issues relevant to certification of the proposed site. The following are parties to this proceeding:
Applicant, Jacksonville Electric Authority;
Florida Department of Environmental Regulation;
Florida Department of Veteran and Community Affairs;
St. Johns River Water Management District;
Heckscher Drive Community Club;
Clean Air Coalition, Inc.;
Sea Oats Garden Circle;
Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce, Inc.;
Florida Department of Natural Resources;
Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund;
Florida Department of Transportation;
Consolidated City of Jacksonville; and
Jacksonville Port Authority.
Beginning at 7:30 P.M. on December 1, 1981, a session of this certification hearing was convened for the sole purpose of allowing the public an opportunity to present testimony and evidence. In order for such testimony and evidence to be considered in this proceeding, it must have been under oath and subject to cross examination. Eighteen members of the public chose to so testify.
Having considered all testimony and evidence properly admitted, having heard argument of counsel, and being otherwise fully apprised herein, the following Findings of Fact, Conclusions of Law, and Recommended Order are entered.
FINDINGS OF FACT
The proposed site of the St. Johns River Power Park (SJRPP) is approximately nine miles northeast of downtown Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida. That part of the site upon which Units 1 and 2 will be located occupies approximately 1,656 acres of land contiguous to the existing Jacksonville Electric Authority's Northside Generating Station. The New Berlin Road bounds the site to the west, the Jacksonville City Landfill bounds the site to the north and Clapboard and Brown's Creeks and their associated wetlands bound the site on the northeast, east, and southeast. There is an existing borrow pit on the southeast side of the proposed site. Approximately 290 acres of the proposed site are comprised of various types of wetlands. Approximately
90 acres of these wetlands will actually be used for construction of Units 1 and
Approximately 1,307 acres of the site are covered with trees, shrubs and grasses, with the trees generally being fairly young and scattered.
That part of the site upon which the proposed coal unloading facility will be located is comprised of approximately 55 acres of land on Blount Island, in Duval County. This site is contiguous to the St. Johns River Fulton-Dame Point Cutoff to the south, salt marsh and Offshore Power Systems Corporation to the east, Undine Street to the north and the Jacksonville Port Authority to the west. The Blount Island portion of the site will allow an ocean vessel to unload coal for use in proposed Units 1 and 2. The primary purpose stated by the Applicant for building the Blount Island Coal unloading facility is to provide an alternative means of supplying coal to the site. The Applicant states that its primary source of transporting coal from the coal fields to the site is by cross-country rail line. However, the Applicant asserts that having the capability of bringing in coal by sea renders the Applicant much more
flexible in achieving the best price for coal and reduces the potential for interrupting coal supply via a transportation strike or some natural disaster.
The site as proposed also includes four 230 kv directly associated transmission linens. The four transmission lines will be paired in two corridors. The transmission lines will extend from the site of Units 1 and 2 to the Fort Carolyn Substation and the Robinwood Substation south of the plant and to the Normandy Substation west of Jacksonville. Variable width corridors are proposed to the Normandy and Robinwood Substations with corridor width being generally from 0.5 mile to 1.0 mile. Wider corridors were assigned to relatively homogeneous areas. The proposed corridors are depicted in Figure
9.6-2, Volume 2, Applicant's Composite Exhibit G-4. The environmental impacts of the construction of the proposed transmission lines will be minimal.
Units 1 and 2, as proposed, are each 612 gross megawatt (550 net megawatt) coal-fired steam electric generating units with related facilities. Each unit will have a natural gas cooling tower approximately 462 feet high and
350 feet in diameter at the base, Makeup and blowdown water for these cooling towers will be withdrawn from and returned to the discharge channel of the existing Northside Generating Station. The two units will share a 640 foot high reinforced concrete chimney. Each unit will be equipped with a flue gas desulfurization system (FGD system) and an electrostatic precipitator. The units are designed to burn coal with a wide range of characteristics similar to most coals found east of the Mississippi River. The units are also designed for potential conversion to oil, natural gas, and refuse as alternative fuels.
The principal electrical generating components will be located on approximately 300 acres inside the plant rail loop. Rail service by the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad is available to the site. The primary solid by- products of Units 1 and 2 will be fly ash from the precipitator, bottom ash from the boiler and a commercial grade gypsum from the FGD system. The Applicant intends to attempt to market those by-products for purposes such as road construction and wallboard manufacturing. To the extent that the attempt to market those by-products is not successful, those by-products will be disposed of in a landfill in ten-acre cells with a maximum height of 60 feet on an area of the site 560 acres in size outside the rail loop. Approximately 760 to 780 acres of the plant site will remain physically undisturbed by direct construction activities. A fenced buffer zone approximately 200 feet wide will be maintained around the site with additional fencing around the developed areas of the plant site.
No endangered plant species were identified on either the proposed site for Units 1 and 2 or the Blount Island portion of the site. No endangered plant species are reported to occur in Duval County. One individual of a species, spoon flower (Peltandra Sagittifolia), which is listed as "Rare" for Duval County, was found in the bayhead community bordering the hardwood swamp in the southern portion of the proposed site for Units 1 and 2. The species listed as "Threatened" for Duval County, Jackson-Vine (Smilax Smallai) and Bartram's Ixia (Spenostigma Coelestinum), were not observed on the proposed site during a reasonable investigation.
The individual example of the Spoon Flower, listed as "Rare" for Duval County, will be destroyed during construction. The loss of one individual example of this rare plant species in this case is not a significant impact on the environment. No plant species listed by either the State of Florida or the United States Government as endangered or threatened will be affected by construction activities.
With regard to wildlife, several species listed as "Endangered," "Threatened," or "Species of Special Concern" by the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission were observed on or near the site. These include the Least Turn (Sterna Albifrons), Wood Stork (Mycteria Americana) and Gopher Tortoise (Gopherus Polyphemus). Least Turns, listed as "Threatened" in Florida, were observed in the vicinity of the site and nested in three small colonies on Blount Island. Wood Storks, listed as "Endangered" in Florida, were observed feeding on Blount Island. Gopher Tortoises, listed as a "Species of Special Concern in Florida", were common on the proposed site. Although a search was conducted for Bald Eagles, no eagles or signs of eagles were located on or near the proposed site.
The development of the site will not physically include the existing nesting areas on Blount Island of the Least Turn. Further, a study of Least Turn nesting areas indicates that 80 percent of such nesting areas are man-made and composed primarily of dredging and development spoil. Therefore, no adverse impact is predicted on the Least Turn and a positive effect may result because disposal of dredge material will be timed so that it does not disturb nesting birds. The areas of the proposed site in which Wood Storks were observed feeding in open water habitats will not be directly affected by construction. Further, there is an abundance of alternative feeding sites in the area and no significant impact to Wood Storks in the area is expected. Finally, no significant adverse impact will occur to Gopher Tortoises.
Site specific field studies failed to show any significant population of either game or non-game species within the site boundary. Game animal abundance is very low with huntable populations of only marsh rabbits being present. No white tail deer or their tracks were seen on site.
Archaeological sites have been satisfactorily identified and primarily lie along the perimeter of the plant site. These archaeological sites will be adequately protected by fencing and compliance by the applicant with proposed Condition of Certification XIX.
The north/south orientation of the 300 acre rail loop area on the main site for Units 1 and 2 does not require any filling of salt marsh. Salt marsh is ecologically the most valuable type of vegetative community on or near the plant site. However, the north/south orientation of the rail loop will require the filling of 33 acres of a hardwood swamp. A different orientation of the rail loop could reasonably be expected to impact on a greater area of hardwood swamp. The thirty-three acres of hardwood swamp which will be filled is not connected to the adjoining salt marsh by a continually flowing stream nor is it connected to other wetlands isolated from the salt marsh.
All facilities at the site of Units 1 and 2 and at the Blount Island coal unloading site will be located above the elevation of the storm of record and the calculated 100-year flood.
Because of the high groundwater levels at the site, some dewatering of the shallow aquifers will be required during plant construction to permit excavation for structural foundations. Deep excavation will be required for the coal and limestone unloading facilities and the emergency reclaim hopper. These excavations may penetrate the full thickness of the water table aquifer and intermediate sands and the uppermost portions of the shallow rock aquifer. Groundwater control measures will be employed that are designed to limit the lateral extent of dewatering effects and minimize the quantities of groundwater
which must be produced in order to achieve the desired level of dewatering. These groundwater control measures may include the use of sheet piles, slurry walls, grout curtains, dewatering wells constructed on benches within the excavation, or other methods as required to limit dewatering impacts to the immediate vicinity of the site. The methods or method best suited to the specific site will be selected by the construction dewatering contractor.
Impacts of dewatering will be monitored using an appropriate observation well or array of observation wells. The quantity of existing groundwater discharged to the wetlands outside the property boundaries is not expected to be significantly affected by permanent dewatering associated with site drainage. It is not expected that significant water level drawdowns as a result of construction dewatering will take place outside of the property boundaries.
Proposed Condition of Certification II.a.12, Applicant's Exhibit H-4, sets forth a satisfactory control measure with regard to storm water runoff from the site during construction and operation. It requires the use of sufficient measures to limit the suspended solids and storm water runoff to 50 mg/l or less at the point of discharge during rainfall periods less than the ten-year, 24- hour rainfall, and to prevent an increase in turbidity of more than fifty Jackson turbidity units above background in waters of the state.
All coal and limestone areas will be lined and runoff collected from them will be treated. The coal pile runoff sedimentation pond has been designed to prevent violations of surface water quality standards. A monitoring and sampling program will be conducted to determine that levels of suspended solids, turbidity, oil and grease, and total residual chlorine entering the receiving waters meet the levels set forth in proposed Conditions of Certification at Sections II.8.12, II.b, and IV.a, Applicant's Exhibit H-4.
During construction of the site, the contractor will control accelerated erosion by compaction of embankments, early soil stabilization, limitation of exposed areas, maintenance of relatively flat grades, stabilized storm water flat grades, stabilized storm water outlets, flat bottom ditches, diversion and interceptor dikes, critical area stabilization with semi-permanent and permanent seedings, temporary mulch or rock cover, and such other appropriate erosion control techniques as may be necessary, including a routine inspection program.
Sedimentation will be controlled during construction by use of sediment control basins and traps, filter berms, straw bales, sediment control fences, perforated riser pipes at drainage structures, or other applicable devices as appropriate. Site drainage shall be toward the south to a sediment control pond located near the plant rail loop.
As necessary, water and/or dust suppression chemicals will be applied by the contractor during construction to exposed areas to control fugitive dust. All main construction roads and parking area surfaces will have prepared surfaces to further control fugitive dust.
The Applicant has stated a commitment to comply with local and state regulations regarding open burning during clearing of the site.
The construction and operation of Units 1 and 2 will increase current vehicular volumes on routes presently accessing the site. These volumes will be at their greatest during construction. The application proposes certain road improvements which are reasonable in scope and which will satisfactorily accommodate the predicted increased traffic volume. No significant adverse
impact on the environment or existing roadways in the vicinity of the site will occur because of the increased volume of traffic.
Noise impacts from the construction and operation of Units 1 and 2 will fall within acceptable levels. The process of cleaning steam lines by blowing high pressure steam through them will create high noise levels over a two-week period preceding the startup of each unit. The Applicant will confine such steam blowouts to daylight hours and precede such blowouts by a public awareness campaign. Contractors, during construction, will maintain noise attenuating devices on their equipment to minimize impacts and construction will occur primarily during daylight hours. From a distance plant noise during operation will be perceived as a low-level hum. The location of the nearest residence to the site is approximately one mile and the area surrounding the site is generally sparsely settled and already subject to considerable industrial and traffic generated noise.
Trains will deliver coal during both day and night. Because of the demands of scheduling equipment and the costs of such scheduling, the proposed carrier for the coal, Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, is unwilling to restrict delivery to daylight hours. Such a restriction, if acceded to by the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, would increase the cost of coal delivery to the site. If all coal is brought to the site over land by train rather than by sea, the maximum number of trains required would be one per day. These trains would approach and depart the site slowly, thus reducing the noise generated by the train. It is expected that the longest delay of traffic by a coal train at a crossing will be a delay of five minutes.
Security of the site will be provided by perimeter fencing and controlled access gates and turnstiles. During construction, safety programs will include observance of OSHA regulations and a site-specific safety program.
By the use of mathematical modeling, the thermal impacts of withdrawing cooling water from the Northside Generating Station discharge channel, passing it through the Units 1 and 2 cooling towers and returning blowdown to the Northside Generating Station discharge channel have been predicted. These predictions indicate that the temperature of the water at the edge of a seventeen-acre maximum instantaneous zone of thermal mixing will not be higher than 2 degrees Fahrenheit above ambient temperatures during the months of June, July, August and September, or higher than 4 degrees Fahrenheit above ambient temperatures during the remainder of the year. The Northside Generating Station has a NPDES permit requiring an absolute discharge temperature limit of
104 degrees Fahrenheit or 19 degrees Fahrenheit above ambient at the point of discharge. It is predicted that this requirement will be adhered to by the proposed Units 1 and 2 discharge. The use of natural draft cooling towers will reduce the net heat load to the St. Johns River now occurring from the Northside Generating Station alone.
The use of the Northside Generating Stations's discharge channel as a source of cooling water minimizes the potential for the destruction of aquatic organisms by impingement and entrainment, because such organisms would already have been subjected to the circulating water system of the Northside Generating Station with attendant impingement and entrainment.
The coal and limestone handling systems will use dust collector units of the dry bag filter type. These collectors will operate automatically when the associated coal and limestone handling equipment is operating. The coal and limestone handling systems are within structural steel framed enclosed buildings
or galleries with the following exceptions: railway ingress and egress doors which are normally left open when coal or limestone is being unloaded; lowering well discharge windows above coal pile; stacker reclaimer and all conveyors on or connected to the emergency reclaim belt conveyor; and stacker-reclaimer and slewing stacker discharges. The stacker-reclaimer and slewing stacker conveyors are protected from dust generating winds by sheetmetal holds rather than being totally enclosed. The stacker-reclaimer conveyor is sheltered by a wind fence on both sides where not enclosed in a gallery. Further, dusting in unenclosed areas is suppressed by "wet-water" sprays. The system operates automatically when coal is flowing. This control technique represents the best available control technology.
Active and inactive storage pile emissions are controlled by surface treatment, except that which is caused by the stacking and reclaiming operations. The fugitive dust controls proposed constitute the best available control technology.
Oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, and non-methane hydrocarbons will be controlled by steam generator design and operating practices to achieve required emission levels. This constitutes the best available control technology. The electrostatic precipitator, which will have a design removal efficiency of 99.78 percent, is also the best available control technology for particulate emissions. Drift eliminators will limit the drift rate from the cooling towers to 0.002 percent of the circulating water flow. Again, this constitutes the best available control technology.
The FGD System has a design removal efficiency of 90 percent under worst case coal conditions, and in no event will exceed an emission rate of 0.76 lb/NNBtu on a 30-day rolling average. This also constitutes the best available control technology for sulfuroxides.
Bottom ash and gypsum by-products will be moved in open trucks in a wet condition to minimize fugitive dust emissions. Fly ash will be transported in closed trucks. The overall air quality control system will comply with Federal New Source Performance standards.
Air quality modeling predicts that Units 1 and 2 will comply with all state and federal ambient air quality standards except for SO2 emissions at certain times when other JEA generating stations are also operating. In order to avoid such violations, JEA has agreed to submit to DER no later than June 1, 1984, for its approval or disapproval, a proposed operating plan that will allow JEA to permanently eliminate emissions from existing steam generating units equivalent to the impact of the emissions of JEA's proposed Units 1 and 2. As set forth in the proposed Conditions of Certification at Section I.e, Applicant's Exhibit H-4, JEA should not be allowed to operate its southside, Northside, or Kennedy Generating Stations in such a manner as to cause violation of ambient air quality standards for SO2 when Units 1 and 2 are operating. The proposed condition set forth in Section 1.2 is a reasonable and satisfactory means of alleviating the problem of SO2 violations. Upon implementation of the operating conditions as required by the proposed Conditions of Certification, Units 1 and 2 will comply with all state and federal ambient air quality standards and prevention of significant deterioration increments, including all of those specifically applicable to Duval County non-attainment areas and the Okefenokee Wilderness Area which is located as near as 61 kilometers to the site.
In operation of Units 1 and 2, water will be discharged into Brown's Creek through an existing borrow pit and into the St. Johns River through the diffuser of the existing Northside Generating Station. The discharges reaching Brown's Creek will be area rainfall runoff and will not violate the State of Florida Class III surface water quality criteria. The discharge to the St. Johns River will be composed of the cooling tower blowdown and other wastewater streams.
Computer modeling was used to predict a "worst-case" situation with regard to the wastewater discharge to the St. Johns. The results of that modeling indicate that under a worst-case assumption, aluminum, total residual chlorine, chloride, copper, cyanide, iron, mercury, oil and grease, selenium, and silver would exceed Class III standards at the point of discharge. In every instance except chloride and selenium, the maximum ambient levels of these parameters, as determined during a one-year monitoring program, were also in excess of Class III standards. Chloride and selenium would meet Class III standards with mixing zones of approximately 80 square meters. The other parameters exhibit a rapid approach to ambient levels within a 31-acre mixing zone. When ambient river water is in violation of Class III standards, the conservative, worst-case assumption used in the computer modeling predicts that the remaining eight chemical parameters may not meet the surface water quality standards of the Department of Environmental Regulation at the mixing zone boundary.
Historical water quality data show there are substances which have been observed in concentrations exceeding their applicable water quality criteria in the St. Johns River water in the vicinity of the proposed site. A statistical analysis of ambient water quality indicates that, of the samples collected during a one-year monitoring program conducted in the vicinity of the proposed site, the mean concentrations of six chemical parameters, and the maximum concentrations of those six chemical parameters, as well as the maximum concentrations of two other chemical parameters exceeded their expected water quality criteria.
Because water from the St. Johns River, when used as cooling water, is concentrated approximately 1.5 times by evaporation in the cooling towers and is then discharged as the major portion of the combined wastewaters from Units 1 and 2, the ambient St. Johns River water quality has the most significant effect on the quality of the wastewater discharge. If the ambient St. Johns River water quality does not exceed the applicable water quality standards, the discharge will not exceed water quality standards. To offset this difficulty, the Applicant has requested, for the chemical parameters of aluminum, copper, cyanide, iron, mercury, oil and grease, silver and total residual chlorine, a mixing zone of 125,600 square meters (31 acres). Further variances from applicable rules and standards of the Department of Environmental Regulation, as more specifically set forth in the Amended Petition for Variance, are requested for those eight substances. Those variances would apply to discharges occurring only when ambient St. Johns River concentrations of those substances are within
10 percent of or exceed the applicable water quality criteria for Class III Waters as adopted by the Department of Environmental Regulation and the City of Jacksonville.
The wastewater treatment system proposed for Units 1 and 2 will contribute relatively small amounts of the foregoing substances to the discharge to the St. Johns River. By far, the primary contributor of the foregoing substances to the wastewater discharge is the ambient level of those substances existent in the St. Johns River from which the cooling water will be withdrawn.
Therefore, to the extent that cooling water must be withdrawn from the St. Johns River, the level of the foregoing substances in the discharge is largely beyond the control of the Applicant.
No evidence was presented from which it could be concluded that an alternative source of water for makeup to the cooling towers would necessarily lead to a net decrease in adverse environmental impact. For example, use of groundwater as makeup to the cooling towers could increase the potential for drawdown and chloride intrusions into the Floridan Aquifer. Other alternatives would similarly invite adverse effects whose net impact would not necessarily be significantly less than that of the system as proposed. Computer modeling was conducted assuming a 31-acre mixing zone and a discharge of pure water into that mixing zone. That model indicated that under such circumstances ambient concentrations of the eight chemical substances listed above could be reduced only to about seven percent below ambient St. Johns River concentration. Further, when considering the net impact on the minimum St. Johns River flow rate of 10,000 cfs, only a theoretical 0.63 percent decrease in ambient river concentrations could be realized in the vicinity of the proposed discharge. Thus, it is concluded that even if this alternative were feasible, it would have only a slight improving effect on water quality at the edge of a 31-acre mixing zone in the St. Johns River.
No competent substantial evidence has been presented from which it can be concluded that discharges of wastewaters at the concentration levels proposed by the Applicant will adversely affect the biota in the St. Johns River or the health of humans who eat fish or shellfish from the river. The actual contribution of the plant discharge to the level of the subject substances presently found in the river will be relatively small. No competent substantial evidence was presented from which it could be concluded that mercury levels in the fish and shellfish from the St. Johns River exceed the standard set for such levels in food for human consumption by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
In order to limit the adverse impact of granting the subject wastewater discharge variances, the Applicant has agreed to the imposition of effluent limitations on the possible contribution of plant wastewater streams to water quality conditions in the St. Johns River and has accepted the imposition of 1.5 cycles of concentration as the allowable impact of the cooling towers on ambient river concentrations. The Applicant has further committed itself to conduct an intensive study of the impacts of discharging copper, mercury, and total residual chlorine in order to determine whether the time-limited variances should be extended beyond two years from the commencement of commercial operation.
The groundwater requirements of proposed Units 1 and 2 are estimated to be in the range of 2,600 to 3,600 gallons per minute on an average basis, depending on the groundwater requirements of the FGD system, and 54,000 gallons per minute for a short-term (24 hour) demand. A significant user of the required groundwater is the FGD system, which requires groundwater as opposed to saline water in order to avoid corrosion and to produce marketable gypsum. The production of marketable gypsum has the potential of producing the amount of solid waste that must be landfilled as a result of the operation of Units 1 and 2.
Groundwater will not be used in the cooling towers and reuse of wastewaters will be maximized in order to minimize total groundwater demand. Groundwater will be pumped from four production wells. One of these will essentially be a standby well and one will essentially be a monitoring well.
Production wells will be drilled to a 750 foot depth so as to penetrate only the Ocala Limestone Formation of the Floridan Aquifer. Such a design will minimize the potential for chloride (salt water) intrusion into the Floridan Aquifer.
At an annual average production rate of 3600 gallons per minute, there will be approximately 15 feet of drawdown at the nearest site boundary, with approximately 9 feet of drawdown at the nearest offsite well. Of the approximately 90 inventoried Floridan Aquifer wells within the general vicinity of the site, approximately 30 could experience water level declines of one foot or greater and approximately 15 could experience declines greater than two feet. The current piezometric level at the nearest well is approximately 15 feet above land surface. Thus, with nine feet of additional drawdown caused by the site production, the piezometric level at that well will be reduced to six feet above land surface. That well is known to be equipped with a surface pump and is not currently in use.
The effect of decreasing the hydraulic head against which a pump must operate by nine feet could mean a decrease in the discharge rate from the pump and thus a longer pumping period to pump a given quantity of water. This could have an adverse economic impact upon the user of the pump. These impacts have not been quantified. No artesian wells are expected to cease flowing as a result solely of the site groundwater usage. Water levels in Floridan Aquifer wells in the area of the site are currently declining at an average rate of approximately 0.5 feet per year. Thus, over an assumed forty-year life of the proposed units, the Floridan Aquifer water level could be expected to decline by approximately 20 feet, to, at or near, land surface. Many flowing artesian wells over that period of time could thus cease to flow and would have to be equipped with pumps even if Units 1 and 2 were not constructed. However, the effect of the groundwater withdrawals for Units 1 and 2 will be to advance by as much as twelve years the point in time at which domestic Floridan wells would cease to flow at the surface and have to be equipped with pumps. The economic impact of this effect has not been quantified.
Within the perimeter of the primary site for Units 1 and 2 the groundwater within the shallow aquifer system generally flows to the south and east in the direction of the wetland areas adjacent to Brown's Creek and Clapboard Creek. Based upon the water level gradient and the aquifer properties inferred from pumping tests done on the site, the volumetric flow rate per unit cross-sectional area aquifer is approximately one gallon per day per square foot of aquifer in a vertical plain. The quality of water within the shallow water table aquifer is good.
The Blount Island coal off-loading facility will include a lined coal storage pile and associated facilities. Runoff and leachate generated at the coal pile will be collected and diverted to a treatment facility. Effluent from the treatment facility will then be directed to a percolation pond so as to percolate downward into the shallow groundwater regime on Blount Island. The groundwater quality in the vicinity of the coal off-loading facility on Blount Island is quite variable, but generally poor. The extremely poor quality of shallow groundwater on Blount Island coupled with the availability of large quantities of water of good quality from the Floridan Aquifer, makes it extremely unlikely that the shallow groundwater on Blount Island would ever be considered as a water supply source. Since the water to be percolated at the percolation pond will be effluent from the treatment facility, rather than direct coal pile runoff, applicable water quality standards are not expected to be exceeded even if the local groundwater were to be considered Class I-B water which is unlikely.
The facilities at the main site for Units 1 and 2 which could potentially degrade groundwater quality include the coal pile, sedimentation pond and other liquid waste storage areas, and solid waste storage areas. The coal pile and liquid waste storage areas will be lined with relatively impermeable materials so as to preclude liquid waste or leachates from percolating into the underlying groundwater. These areas will be monitored by downgradient monitoring wells so as to detect any possible leaks in the lining materials. The relatively small amount of liquid which might enter the groundwater through a leaky liner, coupled with a rather low probability of such an event occurring, indicate that there is little chance of groundwater degradation resulting from such a source.
During the life of Units 1 and 2, it is estimated that approximately two million tons of bottom ash, eight million tons of fly ash, and seventeen million tons of FGD wastes will be generated. The FGD waste will be oxidized and dewatered to produce a marketable, commercial-grade gypsum. Commercial markets for fly ash and bottom ash are also anticipated. In the event, however, that markets do not develop for these waste products, they will be disposed of onsite in a managed landfill. Because of the uncertainties involved in characterizing leachates which might be generated from such a solid waste disposal area, a test program has been proposed. These uncertainties include the marketability of the waste products, the specific source of coal for fuel, and the natural variations in groundwater conditions and aquifer properties. These uncertainties make it impossible to predict the quantity or quality of solid waste leachates which may be produced at the main site for Units 1 and 2 and which might eventually reach the property boundary. Thus, a test program is designed to meet several objectives:
To characterize the physical aspects of waste material;
To characterize hydrologic aspects of the waste pile; and
To characterize waste leachate properties.
The monitoring and testing program will include continuous monitoring of site precipitation, surface runoff volumes and leachate volumes generated, and periodic sampling and chemical analysis of precipitation, runoff and leachate. The program will also include physical and hydrologic testing. The results of the program will be complemented by data obtained from groundwater monitoring at the solid waste landfill area. Should the test program suggest the potential for long-term violation of water quality standards at the property boundary, there are reasonable appropriate mitigative measures that could be implemented to prevent violation of water quality standards. The proposed Conditions of Certification with regard to lining of the solid waste disposal areas and the testing program to demonstrate the quality and quantity of leachate from an unlined or uncontrolled solid waste facility as set forth in conditions III.g and XII are sufficient to assure that Florida water criteria will not be violated.
The St. Johns River Water Management District has filed its report as required by Section 403.507(1)(a), Florida Statutes, and in that report does not object to certification of site with certain conditions it proposes for certification.
The Department of Veteran and Community Affairs has filed its report as required by Section 403.507(1)(a), Florida Statutes, and in that report concludes that the proposed project is essentially compatible with the majority of policies in the State Comprehensive Plan.
The construction of Units 1 and 2 as proposed will require connection to, use of or the crossing over of the works and properties of the State of Florida governed by the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, the Florida Department of Transportation, the St. Johns River Water Management District, the City of Jacksonville, and the Jacksonville Port Authority. The position of those entities with regard to the use of their works and properties are set forth in part in Stipulations between the Applicant and each individual agency which Stipulations are contained in Applicant's Exhibit
H-3 is discussed below in the Conclusions of Law.
The State of Florida, Department of Environmental Regulation, has recommended certification of Units 1 and 2 pursuant to certain Conditions of Certification which are set forth in Applicant's Exhibit H-4.
The application proposes to transport the coal unloaded at the proposed coal unloading facility on Blount Island to the mainland site of Units
1 and 2 by shuttle train over a rail line connecting the coal unloading facility on Blount Island to the mainland facility. Applicant's Exhibit G-4, Vol. 2, paragraph 9.8.4. According to the application, this would require the construction of new railroad tracks as depicted in Figure 3.10-1 of Applicant's Exhibit G-4. The application states that among the alternative systems investigated by the Applicant for the transportation of coal from Blount Island to the mainland were three which would use overland conveyor delivery rather than shuttle train. Applicant's Exhibit G-4, Vol. 2, p. 9.8-3. These three alternatives were rejected in the application "[b]ecause of the high costs and attendant potential right-of-way and environmental problems which are associated with the long, overland conveyor. . . " delivery systems. (Emphasis added) Applicant's Exhibit G-4, Vol 2, paragraph 9.8.4, p. 9.8-5. This issue has become somewhat confused, however, by the evidence presented in this proceeding and by the matters set forth in the Applicant's Proposed Recommended Order which apparently contradict or amend the proposal and conclusions in the application.
Both the evidence presented by the Applicant and its Proposed Recommended Order establish that instead of proposing the use of shuttle trains for transporting coal from Blount Island to the mainland, the Applicant has amended its application and seeks to use a conveyor system. In Paragraph 8 of the Applicant's Proposed Recommended Order is is stated that "The plant will also be connected to the proposed Blount Island deep water coal unloading facility by rail, or by an enclosed conveyor or other similar means of conveyance located within the transmission line right-of-way." (Emphasis added.) Thus, in that statement the Applicant recedes from his position in the application that a shuttle train instead of a conveyor delivery system will be used to transport coal from Blount Island to the mainland. In Paragraph 21 of the Applicant's Proposed Recommended Order it is stated that the Applicant has entered into various agreements with the Jacksonville Port Authority, the Department of Public Works of the City of Jacksonville, the Florida Department of Transportation, the staff of the Department of Natural Resources and Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund, and the St. Johns River Water Management District, which, if adopted, would allow the transport of coal from Blount Island to the mainland ". . . by enclosed conveyor or similar enclosed means of conveyance." (Emphasis added). The Proposed Recommended Order notes that the use of such a system would further minimize any impacts from rail
traffic to the site. Again, the Applicant indicates its intention to use a conveyor instead of shuttle trains.
The testimony of Fredric J. Bold, Project Engineer on the project for the Applicant's consultant, and the Applicant's witness, testified on direct examination that two alternatives are being considered by the Applicant to move coal from Blount Island to the mainland. Those two alternatives, according to Mr. Bold, are a conveyor system and a rail connection. The conveyor system is described by Mr. Bold as follows:
The conveyor system will transport the coal directly from the ship to the power plant via an elevated 72" conveyor. The system would be totally enclosed and would be capable of handling 4,000 tons per hour. The proposed route is along the existing transmission line right-of-way. (Applicant's Exhibit E-1, p. 17)
Although Mr. Bold testified that the Applicant was still considering the alternatives of a conveyor system or shuttle trains, an agreement between the Applicant and the Jacksonville Port Authority, as set forth in Applicant's Exhibit H-3, in paragraph 5, states that "JEA shall provide an independent means, such as a belt conveyor, or aerial tramway system, for coal transport between the Blount Island coal unloading facility and the mainland SJRPP site and the St. Johns River Power Park, such that coal shall not be transported over the vehicular roads and bridges or over the existing railroads or bridges." (Emphasis added). Further contradicting the testimony of Mr. Bold that the two alternatives are being considered and conflicting with the proposal of the application that a shuttle train be used is the Condition of Certification proposed by the Applicant in its Proposed Recommended Order at page 32, which states:
JEA shall submit to DER information concerning location, design, construction and operation of any coal conveyor system from Blount Island to the main plant site at least 120 days prior to construction of the coal conveyor system.
The Secretary of DER shall indicate DER's approval or disapproval within 90 days of receipt. DER may impose reasonable conditions on the construction and operation of this conveyor system.
Thus, from the evidence presented at hearing and the argument of the Applicant set forth in its Proposed Recommended Order, it now appears that the Applicant does not intend to transport coal from the coal unloading facility on Blount Island to the mainland by rail. Rather, it now appears that the Applicant intends to use a conveyor delivery system for the transportation of coal from Blount Island to the mainland.
By the Applicant's own statement in paragraph 21 of the Proposed Recommended Order ". . . no detailed information has been submitted in these proceedings regarding design of the coal conveyance system." Therefore, it is found as a matter of fact that no evidence has been presented upon which any findings of fact can be based to determine whether that part of the site that encompasses a means to transport coal from Blount Island to the mainland will produce minimal adverse effects on human health, the environment, the ecology of
the land and its wildlife, and the ecology of state waters and their aquatic life. It is impossible to make any factual determination of the environmental or other impact of the system by which the Applicant proposed to transport coal from Blount Island to the mainland because the Applicant has provided no information other than the general statement of Mr. Bold with regard to the route or manner of construction or other design detail of the proposed conveyor system. It is clear that in transporting coal from Blount Island to the mainland, wetlands and waters of the state will have to be crossed. Such a crossing apparently would entail some construction in those wetlands and waters. The only suggestion in the record as to the extent and design of such construction is couched in the most general of terms and suggests that some sort of conveyor system will be used. By the Applicant's own admission no details of such a system have been provided. There is presently no system in place which the Applicant proposes to use for transporting coal from Blount Island to the mainland.
In order to construct the Blount Island coal unloading facility, the Applicant will have to dredge approximately 21 acres in the Fulton-Dame Point Cutoff of the St. Johns River to a depth of approximately 38 feet below mean sea level. Spoil material will be pumped via submerged pipeline to an engineered disposal area on Quarantine Island while dredged material suitable for fill will be placed landward of the wharf within the facility boundary. Approximately 531,000 cubic yards of dredge material will be excavated waterward of the mean high waterline and 20,000 cubic yards will be excavated landward of the mean high waterline.
The dredged spoil will be removed by suction dredge. Settling ponds will be used to reduce sediment loads before discharge into the St. Johns River. Dredging will be limited to a period not exceeding a cumulative total of twelve months to minimize the transient impacts on local aquatic communities.
It is anticipated that temporary localized water quality changes will occur as a result of the Blount Island dredging activities. Anticipated effects include resuspension of substances presently contained in bottom sediments into adjacent waters, thereby causing these waters to exceed specific water quality criteria established for Class III Waters by Chapters 17-3 and 17-4, F.A.C., and adopted by Section 50.101, Jacksonville City Ordinance Code. During these dredging activities it is possible that aluminum, cadmium, copper, cyanide, iron, lead, mercury and silver will be found in excess of their respective water quality criteria outside of a mixing zone having a maximum size allowed under Section 17-4.244, Florida Administrative Code. This is due in part to the ambient water concentrations of these substances and to the high level of these substances observed in bottom sediments in the area of the proposed dredging activities. For the foregoing reasons, the Applicant seeks a variance from the specific water quality criteria dealing with acute toxicity of wastewater discharge, lead, aluminum, cadmium, copper, cyanide, iron, mercury, silver and mixing zone concentrations exceeding 96 hr LC50.
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 application for 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 thereto, as well as to the general public.
The purpose of the site certification hearing was to receive testimony and evidence concerning whether the location and operation of the proposed facilities will produce minimal adverse effects on human health, the environment, the ecology of the land and its wildlife, and the ecology of state waters and their aquatic life and to fully balance the increasing demand for electric power plant location and operation with the above interests of the public. Chapter 403, Florida Statutes.
The record of this proceeding consists of all pleadings and papers filed herein, including the Site certification Application, as amended, the transcripts of all hearings, all orders entered by the Hearing Officer, and evidence and exhibits properly admitted into the record.
By ORDER dated June 26, 1981, amended August 25, 1981, the Florida Public Service Commission, pursuant to Chapter 403, found:
". . .that a need exists for the construction of St. Johns River Power Park Units 1 and 2 in the same time frame proposed by the applicants, in that construction of the units appears to
be the best available alternative to the continued use of expensive oil-fired generation, based upon the most reasonable projections of future fuel costs and our appraisal of possible alternatives."
The report of the St. Johns River Water Management District required by Section 403.507(1)(a), Florida Statutes, has been submitted and does not object to certification of the site with certain requirements to which the Applicant has acceded and which are reasonable. These requirements are set forth in the agreement between JEA and the St. Johns River Water Management District and part of Applicant's Exhibit H-3.
The report required of the Department of Veteran and Community Affairs by Section 403.507(1)(a), Florida Statutes, has been submitted and concludes that the proposed project is essentially compatible with the majority of policies in the State Comprehensive Plan.
Section 403.507(2), Florida Statutes, requires that the Department of Environmental Regulation conduct, or contract for, studies of the proposed electrical power plant and site, including, but not limited to (a) cooling system requirements, (b) construction and operational safeguards, (c) proximity to transportation systems, (d) soil and foundation conditions, (e) impact on suitable present and projected water supplies for this and other competing areas, (f) impact on surrounding land uses, (g) accessibility to transmission corridors, and (h) environmental impacts. Such a report and recommendations have been submitted and introduced into evidence. The Department of Environmental Regulation recommends certification of the proposed units subject to the proposed Conditions of Certification which are attached.
The mainland portion of the proposed site, excluding the Blount Island facility and the means of transporting coal from Blount Island to the mainland, will, when the variances, mixing zones and zones of discharge are granted as set forth in the Proposed Conditions of Certification, comply with the applicable statutes, rules, regulations and other criteria of the State of Florida, Department of Environmental Regulation, as set forth in Chapters 253 and 403, Florida Statutes, and Chapter 17, Florida Administrative Code. With regard to the mainland portion of the site as outlined above, the construction and operation of Units 1 and 2 are not expected to cause substantial environmental damage to air and water quality or to agriculture, fish or wildlife. The construction and operational safeguards for Units 1 and 2, disregarding the Blount Island site and the coal transport system from Blount Island, are technically sufficient for the welfare and protection of the citizens of Florida. If performed in accordance with the Proposed Conditions of Certification, the construction, operation and location of the proposed mainland site are expected to produce minimal adverse effects on human health, the environment, the ecology of the land and its wildlife, and the ecology of state waters and their aquatic life.
The variances requested by the Applicant with regard to the discharge of wastewater from Units 1 and 2 are necessary and should be granted in accordance with the Proposed Conditions of Certification.
In Section 403.502, Florida Statutes, it is stated that ". . . The state shall ensure through
available and reasonable methods that the location and operation of electrical power plants will produce minimal adverse effects on human health, the environment, the ecology of the land and its wildlife, and the ecology of State waters and their aquatic life. It is the intent to seek courses of action that will fully balance the increasing demands of electrical power plant location and operation with the broad interests of the public. Such action will be based on these premises:
To assure the citizens of Florida that operation safeguards are technically sufficient for their welfare and protection.
To effect a reasonable balance between the need for the facility and the environmental impact resulting from construction and
operation of the facility, including air and water quality, fish and wildlife, and the water resources and other natural resources of the State.
To provide abundant, low-cost electrical energy."
In order to determine whether the location and operation of an electrical power plant will produce minimal adverse effects and to effect a reasonable balance between the need for the facility and the environmental impact resulting from its construction and operation, it is patently necessary to know the details of the components of such a facility.
The system for transporting coal from Blount Island to the mainland is an important component of the proposed facility. Without such a system, it would be meaningless to construct the coal unloading facility since coal could not be transported to Units 1 and 2 for use as fuel. However, the Applicant, by its own admission, has provided no details of the system that will be used. Thus, without knowing how the Applicant intends to construct the coal delivery system, it is impossible as a matter of law to determine whether the system will produce minimal adverse effects and it is further impossible to properly balance the need for the facility against its environmental impact when the extent and type of those impacts is unknown. It is possible from the evidence presented to conclude that some environmental impact will occur from the construction of the coal conveyor system since it must necessarily cross waters of the state with the potential for environmental damage always attendant to such crossings. Therefore, with regard to that part of the site pertaining to the coal conveyor system by which the Applicant intends to transport coal from Blount Island to the mainland site, the Applicant has failed to meet the burden imposed by Chapter 403, Part II, for certification.
Failure to establish that the coal conveyor system can be certified relates directly to the issue of whether the coal unloading facility on Blount Island can be certified. The construction of the coal unloading facility on Blount Island as outlined in the Findings of Fact above, will have significant environmental impacts. These include the dredging of approximately 531,000 cubic yards of material from below the mean high waterline in the navigable waters of the state in order to dredge approximately 21 acres in the Fulton-Dame Point Cutoff of the St. Johns River to a depth of approximately 38 feet below sea level.
This dredging will have effects including the resuspension of substances presently contained in bottom sediments into adjacent waters causing those waters to exceed specific water quality criteria established for those waters by Chapters 17-3 and 17-4, Florida Administrative Code. A further environmental impact of the construction of the Blount Island coal unloading facility will be that aluminum, cadmium, copper, cyanide, iodine, lead, mercury and silver will be found in excess of their respective water quality criteria outside a mixing zone having a maximum size allowed under Section 17-4.244, Florida Administrative Code. These are significant and adverse environmental impacts.
The Applicant has found it necessary to seek a variance from the water quality standards because of the seriousness of these impacts from the construction of the Blount Island coal unloading facility. To grant the requested variances and to certify the Blount Island portion of the site, thus allowing the construction, before it is certain that such construction will be for a beneficial purpose, does not effectuate the intent of Chapter 403, Part II, Florida Statutes. Without a coal conveyor system to deliver the coal from the Blount Island coal unloading site to Units 1 and 2 on the mainland, all of the dredging and other construction with regard to the coal unloading facility with its attendant environmental impacts would be for no purpose.
The Electrical Power Plant Siting Act contains no presumption that a site shall be certified. To the contrary, the whole purpose of the Act is to determine whether certification should issue. Certification must necessarily depend on the facts and circumstances of a particular identified system and the impacts of that particular identified system. Therefore, there being no presumption by law that a coal conveyor delivery system shall be certified, and there being no facts upon which a decision on certification can be based with
regard to a coal conveyor system, on the record of this proceeding it is impossible to determine or predict whether such a coal conveyor system could ever be certified. Since the Applicant has apparently precluded by agreement (see Applicant's Exhibit H-3) the possibility of using existing highways and railroad tracks to deliver coal from Blount Island to the mainland, it would be sheer speculation based on no fact to conclude that any coal conveyor system could be certified in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 403, Part II, Florida Statutes.
Therefore, it is concluded as a matter of law that the Applicant has not demonstrated on the record of this proceeding its entitlement to certification of the coal unloading facility portion of the site on Blount Island nor its entitlement to the requested variances for that part of the site. Without a coal conveyor delivery system to transport coal from the Blount Island coal unloading facility to Units 1 and 2, such construction with its attendant environmental impact would be for no purpose.
The lack of sufficient facts upon which a determination of certification could be based with regard to the coal delivery system is recognized by the Applicant. The Applicant attempts to deal with this deficiency by proposing a Condition of Certification (see p. 32, Proposed Recommended Order, Applicant) by which the details of the coal conveyor system would be submitted to the Department of Environmental Regulation 120 days prior to its intended construction and the Secretary of the Department would approve or disapprove, imposing reasonable conditions. There is, however, a fallacy in such a mechanism with regard to a significant component of a site certification. A primary purpose of the Florida Electrical Power Plant Siting Act is to allow a broad overview of the entire project with the certification authority resting in a single body, the Governor and Cabinet sitting as the Board. The proposed Condition of Certification that would allow the Secretary of DER the authority to look at a single component of the overall project and to approve or disapprove that component would appear to defeat the purpose of the Florida Electrical Power Plant Siting Act. The proposed site should be looked at by the Board in its entirety in a contemporaneous fashion, combining all of the appropriate governmental regulatory interests and the broad interests of the public. Delegating by a Condition of Certification the actual determination of the certification of a major part of the site to a single regulatory agency with a narrow scope of regulatory responsibility is outside the purview of the Florida Electrical Power Plant Siting Act. It necessarily severely narrows the scope of investigation when one of the very purposes of the Act is to broaden that scope in order to ". . . fully balance the increasing demands for electrical power plant location and operation with the broad interests of the public." Section 403.502, Florida Statutes. Thus, the Condition of Certification proposed by the Applicant as a solution to the lack of information and detail is inadequate. It remains the responsibility of the Board, not the Secretary of DER, to determine whether certification should be granted.
Applicant's Exhibit H-3 is comprised of individual stipulations between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and the following entities:
Consolidated City of Jacksonville,
Department of Public Works
State of Florida, Department of Transportation
State of Florida, Department of Natural Resources/Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund Staff
St. Johns River Water Management District
Jacksonville Port Authority
In its Proposed Recommended Order the Applicant seeks as Conditions of Certification the matters set forth in the subject stipulations. None of the stipulations purport to be stipulations between all of the parties to this action. Therefore, they cannot be binding as a stipulation on the parties to this action. They are simply, each unto themselves, a private agreement reached between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and the particular entity which is a party to each individual stipulation. These agreements apparently constitute the arrangement between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and each of the entities listed as to their respective rights and responsibilities with regard to construction on the lands, regulatory interests, or properties of each individual entity. The matters set forth in those stipulations are not properly subjects of Conditions of Certification. To the extent that the matters contained in those stipulations reflect the manner in which the Applicant intends to construct the facilities pertinent to Units 1 and 2, the Applicant is bound by its thus stated intent in any certification that should issue. To the extent that the matters set forth in the stipulations contain agreements for the use of facilities, property or land, between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and the entity that is a party to the stipulation, such appears to be in the nature of a private agreement between those two entities and is not a proper matter for mandatory order by the Board as a Condition of Certification.
Two of the stipulations that are a part of Applicant's Exhibit H-3 must be dealt with individually. Those are the stipulation between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and Consolidated City of Jacksonville, Department of Public Works, and the stipulation between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and State of Florida, Department of Natural Resources/Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund Staff.
The stipulation between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and the "Consolidated City of Jacksonville, Department of Public Works" is signed by the Managing Director of the Jacksonville Electric Authority and by the Director of the Consolidated City of Jacksonville, Department of Public Works. The "Consolidated City of Jacksonville, Department of Public Works" is not a party to this proceeding. The "Consolidated City of Jacksonville" is a party to this proceeding. It appears from the stipulation between JEA and the Department of Public Works that the stipulation is intended to bind the Consolidated City of Jacksonville. However, since the Department of Public Works is not a party to this proceeding and it is unknown whether the Director of that Department has the authority to bind the Consolidated City of Jacksonville, that stipulation i not treated as a stipulation between parties to this proceeding. Rather it is treated, simply, as what it purports to be on its face; that is, an agreement between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and the Consolidated City of Jacksonville, Department of Public Works.
The stipulation purportedly between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and the State of Florida, Department of Natural Resources/Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund creates a more difficult problem. The Florida Department of Natural Resources is a party to this action. The Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund is also a party to this proceeding. The agency head of the Department of Natural Resources is the Governor and Cabinet. Section 20.25(1), Florida Statutes (1981). The Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund is also the Governor and Cabinet. Section 253.02(1), Florida Statutes (1981). Thus, for both the Department of Natural Resources and the Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund the agency head, as that phrase is defined by Section 120.52(3), Florida Statutes (1981), is the Governor and Cabinet. Those two agencies can only speak with the authority of the agency head, in each instance, the Governor and Cabinet. The stipulation which is purportedly between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and the Department of Natural Resources and Board of Trustees on its face purports to bind those two agencies to the issuance of certain easements in, upon, and across sovereignty lands of the State of Florida and to commit those agencies and JEA to certain other activities with regard to the construction of Units 1 and 2. These activities include the waiver of payment of fees by JEA to the Board of Trustees for the removal of dredge materials from state owned lands. The stipulation, however, is not in fact and law a stipulation between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and the Department of Natural Resources and Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. On page 2 of the stipulation it states:
"NOW, THEREFORE, it is agreed and stipulated by JEA and DNR/BTIITF staff that any Certification Order issued in connection with this proceeding shall contain the following provisions and conditions . (Emphasis added)
The stipulation is executed by counsel for the Jacksonville Electric Authority and by counsel for the State of Florida, Department of Natural Resources/Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund. It can be seen from the foregoing language that the stipulation is between the Jacksonville Electric authority and the staff of the two agencies. Such a stipulation cannot bind the Department of Natural Resources or the Board of Trustees. The staff of those agencies is not a party to this proceeding and has no standing to be a party to this proceeding. Those agencies may be bound in a stipulation in this proceeding only when the agency head, the Governor and Cabinet, authorizes such a stipulation and agreement. Any apparent agreement and stipulation between a party to this proceeding and the staff of an agency which is a party to this proceeding is of no force and effect unless the agency head has authorized the staff to act on its behalf. Since here the stipulation specifically states that it is the "DNR/BTIITF staff" who is entering into an agreement, any presumption that counsel for those agencies by his signature speaks with the authority of his client, the agency head, is negated.
Thus, the stipulation between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and DNR/BTIITF staff, which is part of Applicant's Exhibit H-3, is of no force and effect with regard to this proceeding. Further, since it purports to be an agreement between a party to this proceeding and a non-party to this proceeding, it has no relevance to this proceeding and is by this order therefore, not admitted into evidence and is hereby removed as a part of Applicant's Exhibit H-
3 as an exhibit in evidence in this proceeding. Finally, it is noted that paragraphs numbered 1, 2, and 3 of the stipulation between the Jacksonville Electric Authority and the DNR/BTIITF staff deal solely with the system for
transporting coal from Blount Island to the mainland and the construction of the Blount Island site. Since this Recommended Order concludes that the Applicant has not met the burden required for certification of the Blount Island site and the coal transport system, those three paragraphs have no present bearing on this proceeding.
All outstanding motions not otherwise ruled upon are hereby denied.
All findings of fact and conclusions of law proposed by the parties have been considered and incorporated where appropriate. To the extent such proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law have not been adopted in this Recommended Order they have been rejected as not based upon competent, substantial evidence, irrelevant or otherwise unnecessary to the conclusion of this cause.
RECOMMENDED ORDER
Based upon the entire record of this proceeding and the above Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law, it is RECOMMENDED that:
Jacksonville Electric Authority be granted certification pursuant to Chapter 403, Part II, Florida Statutes, for the location, construction and operation of St. Johns River Power Park Units 1 and 2, their associated facilities, and their directly associated transmission lines as proposed in the application as amended except that it is specifically RECOMMENDED that certification not be granted for that part of the associated facilities that include or are related to the Blount Island coal unloading facility and the coal delivery transport system from Blount Island to the mainland site.
Variances from surface water quality standards and mixing zones and zones of discharge as sought by the application with regard to the discharge from Units 1 and 2 should be GRANTED. Those variances sought from surface water quality standards and any mixing zones and zones of discharge sought with regard to the construction of the Blount Island coal unloading facility or the coal delivery transport system should not be granted.
The certification should be made subject to the Conditions of Certification heretofore agreed to by the Applicant and the Department of Environmental Regulation and supported by the record and marked as Applicant's Exhibit H-4. A copy of those conditions is attached.
DONE and ENTERED this 26th day of May, 1982, in Tallahassee, Florida.
CHRIS H. BENTLEY
Hearing Officer
Division of Administrative Hearings The Oakland Building
2009 Apalachee Parkway
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
(904) 488-9675
Filed with the Clerk of the Division of Administrative Hearings this 26th day of May, 1982.
COPIES FURNISHED:
Hamilton S. Oven, Administrator Power Plant Siting
Department of Environmental Regulation 2600 Blair Stone Road
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Mary Clark, Esquire General Counsel
Department of Environmental Regulation 2600 Blair Stone Road
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Arthur Shell, Esquire Public Service Commission
101 East Gaines Street Tallahassee, Florida 32301
C. Laurence Keesey, Esquire Department of Veteran and
Community Affairs
Room 204, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Lee Worsham, Esquire District Attorney
St. Johns River Water Management District
Post Office Box 1429 Palatka, Florida 32077
George W. Kent, Jr., Esquire Post Office Box 49
Orange Park, Florida 32073
(Sea Oats Garden Circle, Heckscher Drive Community Club and Clean Air Coalition, Inc.)
W. O. Birchfield, Esquire
Martin, Ade, Birchfield and Johnson 3000 Independent Square
Jacksonville, Florida 32202 (Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce)
Gary P. Sams, Esquire Post Office Box 6526
Tallahassee, Florida 32301 (Jacksonville Electric Authority)
Gerald A. Schneider, Esquire Assistant General Counsel City of Jacksonville
1300 City Hall
Jacksonville, Florida 32202 (Jacksonville Port Authority)
Dawson McQuaig, Esquire General Counsel
Consolidated City of Jacksonville
220 East Bay Street, 13th Floor Jacksonville, Florida 32202
| Issue Date | Proceedings |
|---|---|
| Nov. 01, 1991 | Final Order filed. |
| Jul. 08, 1981 | Recommended Order sent out. CASE CLOSED. |
| Issue Date | Document | Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Aug. 20, 1981 | Agency Final Order | |
| Jul. 08, 1981 | Recommended Order | Grant authority to construct power plant with surfact water variance. Water quality standards problems remain as does coal delivery system problem. |
