Sierra Club, allies, file comments opposing air permit for fracked gas plant at TECO’s Big Bend Power Station

TALLAHASSEE, FLA—The Sierra Club and allies filed comments opposing the air permit for a fracked gas plant at TECO’s Big Bend Power Station, near Tampa, because the permit neglects critical public health safeguards and fails to evaluate, much less mitigate, the plant's contribution to climate damage over its proposed 30-year lifespan.

Sierra Club, along with Suncoast Climate Justice Coalition, Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, Democratic Environmental Caucus of Florida and Suncoast Waterkeeper, filed the comments Friday, noting that TECO and the Scott Administration failed to do the legally required analysis for this permit, even though they acknowledge the fracked gas plant is a “major” source of air pollution.

Based on their flawed analysis, the groups contend, TECO and Gov. Rick Scott’s Department of Environmental Protection failed to incorporate the legally required public health safeguards into the permit. The permit also ignores the harm to local communities during the first two phases of construction, although the company and the department admit these phases will take “several years.”

The permit also neglects to include a serious analysis of the fracked gas plant’s contribution to climate disruption, even though climate change poses the greatest risk to Florida among all 50 states.

Climate damages are expected to cost Florida more than $1 trillion dollars per year by the end of the century—and under the proposed permit, conservatively, the Big Bend project's total climate damages alone would cost Florida half a billion dollars.

In response, Susannah Randolph, senior representative for the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal campaign in Florida, issued the following statement:

“In the wake of the most devastating hurricane season in history, ending Florida’s dependence on climate-disrupting fossil fuels is critical and long overdue. We already live in constant fear of losing our homes and loved ones to stronger and more intense climate-fueled hurricanes like Harvey and Irma, and a new hurricane season has already begun.

“Floridians have suffered enough from utility companies putting their desire to make a buck over the safety of our communities. Adding fracked gas to Big Bend will continue to endanger our air, water and communities by locking us into at least another 30 years of destructive, polluting, climate-disrupting greenhouse gases.

“Instead, TECO can and should commit to robust energy efficiency programs that lower people’s bills and lessen demand, while moving toward 100 percent clean, renewable energy sources like solar, which is affordable and abundant in the Sunshine State. Fracked gas is not the solution to pollution.”