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A judge will hear technical and legal arguments about the plant proposed for the Big Bend area.
By JEAN HELLER
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 28, 2001
TAMPA -- What could be the final legal battle over Tampa Bay's first seawater desalination plant opened Monday in a Tampa conference room, filled with nearly 100 boxes of evidence and almost two dozen lawyers.
Technical data and legal opinions will be on display the next three weeks as desalination supporters attempt to convince Administrative Law Judge J. Lawrence Johnston that the project will not cause environmental damage to Tampa Bay.
Opponents, led by the group Save Our Bays and Canals, will try to demonstrate that more monitoring is needed to ensure that the amount of salt residue pumped into the bay remains within safe levels.
Anxiety over the 25-million-gallon-a-day desal plant, planned for the TECO site in the Big Bend area of southern Hillsborough County, reflects the fact that it is something of an unknown.
With its planned opening in December 2002, it would be the largest facility of its kind in the hemisphere.
Ralf Brookes, the only attorney representing SOBAC, expressed concerns about being outnumbered as he surveyed a room filled with legal representatives for the contractor, Tampa Bay Desal, as well as Tampa Bay Water, the state Department of Environmental Protection, TECO, Pasco County, the Southwest Florida Water Management District, and the cities of Tampa and St. Petersburg, all of which favor the desal project.
"I'm scared," Brookes said. "I'm one person, and we have all these tables of suits and engineers and scientists, and it's intimidating."
Brookes promised to call witnesses who would testify that the safeguards offered by Tampa Bay Desal are not sufficient.
"The people who live in Apollo Beach should have some assurances that the environment is protected at all times," he said.
The first witness was Walter Howard, president and CEO of Poseidon Resources, the principal contractor on the project. Howard said $20-million had already been spent on the plant, which will cost $110-million.
Asked if he had any concerns about safety, Howard replied, "No. We'll be here and be neighbors for decades on this project. . . . I'm perfectly comfortable that we've done our homework."
The hearing is expected to last three weeks, with a decision from Johnston two to three months later.