Pipeline firms may clean up 300,000 tires from failed artificial reef
By David Fleshler
Staff Writer
March 25, 2004
More than 300,000 discarded tires may be hauled from the ocean floor off Fort Lauderdale in the next year or two under proposals to begin cleaning up a failed artificial reef.
The massive disposal project would be undertaken by two energy companies as a condition of gaining permits to lay undersea natural gas pipelines from the Bahamas to South Florida.
In the past, companies that did any work around coral reefs were required to mitigate any damage by constructing artificial reefs of limestone or other hard materials. It's not yet certain whether the pipelines will get built, since they face opposition both in Florida and the Bahamas. But state and county officials see the projects as an opportunity to start getting rid of a disastrous experiment that transformed part of the ocean floor into a dumping ground for old tires.
"Some are on the second reef, some are on the third reef, and they adjust and move around when storm events come through," said Lesley Bertolotti, natural resource specialist for Broward County. "They've already impacted some reef and will wind up impacting more areas."
Tossed into the ocean in the 1970s with government approval, the tires were intended to form an artificial fishing reef -- a structure that would attract fish and other marine life by providing hiding places and hard surfaces. At the time, when tire recycling hadn't caught on, such reefs were considered an easy and productive way to dispose of used tires.
But the stacks of Firestones, Michelins and Goodyears soon turned into an environmental disaster. Bundles of tires broke apart, allowing tires to drift off. Many settled onto the face of the second reef from shore, killing corals and other organisms. Broward County, which originally issued a permit for the tire reef, wanted to clean up the mess. But at the highest estimates, it could cost up to $100 million to get rid of the 2 million or so tires.State and county officials see the pipelines as a way to help eliminate the tires. AES Corp., which plans a pipeline from Ocean Cay to Dania Beach, would be required to remove and dispose of 117,176 tires, under its permits from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Broward County Department of Planning and Environmental Protection. Tractebel North America Inc., which would run a pipeline from Grand Bahama to Port Everglades, would have to get rid of 229,126 tires.
The different numbers were arrived at because each pipeline would cause a different amount of impact on marine habitats. The AES pipeline would damage or alter 3.27 acres of coral reef or sand habitat. The Tractebel pipeline would affect 7.14 acres of coral reef, hard bottom or sand-reef complex habitat, according to Jayne Bergstrom, permitting program manager in the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
It would be up to the pipeline companies to figure out how to haul the tires off the ocean floor. But they would have to get government approval for their plans to make sure they wouldn't do additional harm to the reefs. And they would have to present documents showing that the tires went to a recycler or were otherwise disposed of legally.
Another project in the works could lead to the removal of more tires. Port Everglades plans to widen and deepen it entry channel, which could involve the destruction of a section of the third reef. If that happens, the port may be required to remove tires as partial mitigation, said Ken Banks, a reef specialist for Broward County.
The pipelines have generated considerable opposition among environmentalists who fear they'll damage the reefs. Even though they support the removal of the tires, they say that should be done as a separate project by the state or county and not used as mitigation to facilitate the construction of pipelines that could harm the reefs.
"We need to make mitigation less acceptable," said Dan Clark of Cry of the Water, a local environmental group. "We're already losing reef to pollution and sewage, and we can't continue to lose reef. There really is no mitigation for these natural reefs. These things are complex ecosystems. You can't just take pieces out of them and expect it to be the same."
Environmental regulators say they have taken many steps to make the companies minimize harm to the reefs and repair any damage. Kent Edwards, wetlands and uplands manager for Broward County, said the companies were required to change routes and construction methods to avoid harming the reefs.
As the most biologically diverse part of the ocean, coral reefs are considered a vital part of the environment and a crucial part of many economies.
The reefs off southeast Florida, the only barrier reef system in the continental United States, attract thousands of tourists for diving, snorkeling and fishing. A study commissioned by Broward County found that the reefs generate $547 million in annual income for the region.
Under the pipeline plans, tankers would bring natural gas in liquid form to the Bahamas, where it would be heated back to gas and sent through the pipelines to South Florida. The gas would serve primarily as fuel for power plants.
It's not yet certain whether the pipelines will be built. Gov. Bush and the Florida Cabinet postponed a decision last month because they wanted more information on their potential effects on the environment and the economy. And in the Bahamas, where opposition has been building, the government has also not yet made a decision.
But the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the main federal agency on pipelines, has approved both of them. The commission issued its final approval for Tractebel on Wednesday. William P. Utt, chief executive officer of Tractebel North America, said in a statement that the agency's decision "underscores Tractebel's commitment to complete this project in a sound and environmentally prudent manner. We're one step closer to bringing clean-burning natural gas to Florida to help meet its increased fuel need by 2007."
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Marc
