FPL power lines are too close to schools and drivers. My EMF meter is going off the charts and I’m on the other side of the street from the power lines! The safety zone needs to be extended at least another 50 feet. Three cities have also led a battle against FPL’s plans to string a new corridor of power lines, towering 150 feet over U.S. 1, saying it will hurt property values. They want the lines underground, arguing the towers don’t meet building standards for hurricane winds. But the cities would have to cover the cost, estimated at about $8 million a mile.
Miami is already challenging the power line approval in court and fighting a state plan — along with Miami-Dade County and environmental groups — to shift water oversight from local managers to the state’s environmental agency.
The mayors also argued that the latest climate change projections, which predict a sea rise two feet higher than previously thought over the next century, have not been factored into FPL’s plan. If the utility moves forward, ratepayers could be hit with billions in costs for a facility that might be reduced to an island before the end of the century.
“FPL is trying to save money for themselves, but push the cost on us,” Stoddard said, complaining that South Florida is bearing a heavier cost than statewide utility users.
Proposal to build transmission lines along the edge of Everglades National Park is a proposal for expansion of growth west and a threat to the health and future of the Everglades and the park.
Florida Cabinet approves FPL request
On Tuesday May 13, 2014 the Florida Cabinet approved Florida Power and Light’s (FPL) request to build Units 6&7 at Turkey Point and the transmission corridors within Everglades National Park and along US1.
This approval happened over the objections of many Miami Group members who called Governor Scott’s office to object to the proposal, or at least wait until FPL received a nuclear operating license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. This news is disappointing but the battle is not over.
http://www.sierraclub.org/florida/miami/nuclear-power