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'Nuclear' is no dirty word here

Citrus and Levy officials hope a decision as early as today draws a nuclear plant.

By BARBARA BEHRENDT and ELENA LESLEY
Published December 12, 2006

CRYSTAL RIVER - As area residents wait to hear where Progress Energy will build its new nuclear plant, officials in Levy and Citrus remain confident that their counties will be chosen.

An official announcement could come as soon as today.

Many officials in each county hope their area will be the victor. With a power plant comes property tax revenue, jobs and increased commercial traffic.

From what Progress Energy representatives have been saying, both counties have a shot. Citrus already houses a nuclear plant and has the water and regulatory land buffer necessary for a second.

In Levy, "you'd have cows and people and trailers right next to it," Citrus County Commission Chairman Dennis Damato said. He said houses cannot be built within 5 miles of nuclear plants.

Despite Citrus' infrastructure perks, top Progress Energy officials have been spending a lot of time north of the county line recently. Last week, they met individually with each Levy County commissioner and attended a public luncheon in Inglis.

At least one of those commissioners, Chairwoman Nancy Bell, walked away from her meeting fairly sure that the plant would be built in Levy County.

"They haven't told us an exact location," Bell said Monday. "They did say they do really love Levy County as a site."

In contrast to many local officials, the 27-year resident said she has mixed feelings about a nuclear plant in Levy County. Bell said she still has to do extensive research to answer constituent questions about placement of a plant in the rural community.

"I am a true '60s person," she said. "When I heard the word "nuclear," I picked up a sign and marched."

Fellow Levy Commissioner Tony Parker said he felt nowhere near as sure that Levy was the only site still in contention when he met with utility officials late last week.

"I felt like they were definitely interested in Levy County, or they wouldn't have met with us," Parker said. "But I felt like they were just trying to continue the open relationship with us."

Even if a site in Levy is chosen, Parker pointed out that there are still many permits and processes that the utility would have to go through to build a plant there.

All of those details make Damato just as sure that Citrus will get the new plant.

Though he did not get an invitation for a one-on-one talk with the utility's top brass, he thinks the fact that Citrus already has a nuclear plant at the Progress Energy site north of Crystal River is a big plus.

The Citrus community has already supported the construction of another plant. It has ample water for the cooling needed in the nuclear plant. In addition, the existing site has enough acreage already owned by the utility and access to the gulf and to a rail system.

"Personally, I think we're in good shape," Damato said. "Levy County doesn't have the infrastructure."

Damato said he heard talk of a Levy County property near Lake Rousseau as a possible site and that there had been discussion of a land swap. But he did not think enough property was available there, and he wondered how Lake Rousseau could be an adequate source of cooling water.

William Bachschmidt's "Queen B Ranch" in Levy is one of the sites rumored for a nearby nuclear plant, but he declined to comment Monday. He said he has not talked to Progress Energy officials.

Levy County coordinator Fred Moody said a 160-acre or possibly bigger site by that ranch has been talked about as a possible plant site. It is just north of Lake Rousseau.

Years ago, residents fought the development of a hydroelectric plant in that same area.

Inglis Town Commissioner Betty Berger, a crusader against that hydroelectric plant, said rumors of a Levy County site worry her.

There are too many residents in the area, she said, and local bodies of water can't accommodate that kind of demand.

"It would be a no-win situation," she said.

Damato said Citrus is much more prepared to house another large power-generating facility.

Citrus has already designated a whole corner of the county as a site for power plants buffered by a mine and other industrially zoned property.

"I just don't see it in Levy County. The county is just not ready for it," Damato said. "It's like Citrus County was 45 years ago."

Bell, the Levy chairwoman, said she understands that the addition of a nuclear plant would have a huge impact on the county, which has 38,000 people.

Good planning will be needed so the community doesn't lose its small-town flavor.

"Levy County in 10 years won't be the same county it is today," she said. "Hopefully, I pray, it will be a better one."

Barbara Behrendt can be reached at 564-3621 or behrendt@sptimes.com.

[Last modified December 12, 2006, 07:46:00]