Why does Duke Energy now want to dispose of industrial wastewater from its Suwannee River power plant in Suwannee County? Why did Duke apply for a water permit for the same plant the same day that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asked for comments about Sabal Trail? Why does Sabal Trail want the same type of permit?
Profile Name: Suwannee Air
Permit: Water – Industrial Wastewater Facility Permit
Project Name: DUKE ENERGY – SUWANNEE RIVER
Location Id: FL0000183
Location Name: Duke Energy Florida – Suwannee River Generating Plant
County: Suwannee
Application Number: FL0000183-007For further information, please contact the Tallahassee Headquarters permitting office in Tallahassee at (850) 245-8589
Why is a wastewater permit labeled “Suwannee Air”? And more questions….
Debra Johnson got the above permit application information because she was subscribed to FDEP’s Permit Application Subscription Service. You can subscribe, too, and select from hundreds of options. If you happen to pick the right ones, you’ll get updates like this.
You can also try to find this permit through FDEP’s permit search function. If you happen to know the right region to check (Northeast), maybe you can find it. If you do let me know: I couldn’t.
FDEP also offers “users can search the Oculus database directly”, which leads to a link that gets “This webpage is not available”, perhaps because that URL’s domain isn’t valid. Scrounging around, the real link seems to be http://depedms.dep.state.fl.us/Oculus/, but still nothing is revealed about the above permit application.
However, a bit of searching through other DEP interfaces finds this:
Site Name: DUKE ENERGY FLORIDA, INC. / 4037 RIVER ROAD
FDEP Office: NORTHEAST DISTRICT
Florida County: SUWANNEE
Permit Type: Water – Individual With No Conceptual Approval Permit
Application Number: 326901-002
Applicant Name: WAYNE RICHARDSON
Applicant Company: DUKE ENGERGY FLORIDA
Application Received: SEP-11-2015
Current Processing Status FDEP is currently reviewing this permit request.
That application date is the same day the U.S. Army Corps of Engineeers announced its now-extended comment period about Sabal Trail.
Duke is applying for several other permits, including this one:
Permit Application Under Review
Site Name: DUKE ENERGY FLORIDA, INC. INVERNESS SUBSTATION 2811 FOREST D
FDEP Office: SOUTHWEST DISTRICT
Florida County: CITRUS
Permit Type: Water – ERP Modifications
Application Number: 325925-003
Applicant Name: MARK LEYTZE
Applicant Company: DUKE ENERGY FL, INC., DBA DUKE ENERGY
Application Received: NOV-13-2015
Current Processing Status FDEP is currently reviewing this permit request.
Hm, Citrus County, as in on the way to Crystal River?
And what about Sabal Trail’s application:
Permit Application Under Review
Site Name: SABAL TRAIL TRANSMISSION (SLERC)
FDEP Office: CENTRAL DISTRICT
Florida County: SUMTER
Permit Type: Water – Individual With No Conceptual Approval Permit
Application Number: 328333-001
Applicant Name: GEORGE MCLACHLAN
Applicant Company: SABAL TRAIL TRANSMISSION
Application Received: JUL-31-2014
Current Processing Status FDEP is currently reviewing this permit request.
Interesting; same application type as for Duke Energy’s Suwannee River Plant.
Related or not? Who can say? Maybe FDEP, if asked. Or maybe not.
There is room for improvement in the transparency of DEP’s permit application system.
-jsq
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