- ISSUES RELATED TO THE PROPOSED FPL COAL PLANT -

Coal is the most polluting form of generating electricity. Fossil-fueled Power plants previously used only coal, but due to its harmful effects on both the environment and the people and the availability of cheap natural gas - many of them switch to gas. Now that the price of natural gas has increased, they want to move back to coal without even thinking of its notorious history! FPL is proposing to build a supercritical pulverized coal-fired power plant, an existing old technology resurrected by foreign company such as Japan and Germany. They will be using technology introduced by Hitachi.

Coal is cheap but due to coal's highly detrimental effects, the EPA currently encourages the use of natural gas. This is going to be a lifetime impact on St. Lucie County.

What are the issues and impacts of Coal-Operated Plant: (a 7,000 acre FPL project)

• Health & Quality of life & - such as black lung disease, asthma, allergies, early death, hearth attack, cancer, sinus problems, headache, etc.
• Air Quality & Pollutants - such as acid rain, Hg, CO2 and NO2 emission, greenhouse effect, particulate matter
• Water Supply & Resource Use- source of plant coolant and water contamination, thermal pollution, coal cleaning, etc.
• Environment Destruction & Pollutants- Mercury contamination, water supply, plants, animals, fish, rivers, lakes, devastation caused by coal mining, etc.
• Land Resource Use& Solid Waste Generation - Coal Storage facility for the plant, ash disposal, gypsum pond, transmission lines (EMF)
• Noise and Transportation - transporting coal by train or trucks and Train Derailment
• Economic Issues - Taxes, do we need another power plant at St. Lucie County?
• Aesthetic View of the Area and Location -close to C23 canal & Environmentally significant lands and residential areas with people and their livestock, crops
• Coal Reserves VS. Other Alternative Energy Source