Hot water: of power plants and manatees.

• Author: Bailey, Ronald
• Position: Citings - Brief Article

ENVIRONMENTAL activists are usually happy when power companies close down coal-fired electric plants in favor of cleaner, more efficient ones. But that's not currently the case in Florida, where, in a textbook example of the law of unintended consequences, the closure of coal-fired plants threatens an already endangered species.

There are fewer than 2,000 manatees, the large sea mammals that resemble whiskered baked potatoes, in U.S. coastal waters. It turns out they thrive in water warmed by coal-fired electric power plants.

Walking along a Tampa Bay canal a few years ago, I was delighted to spy a small herd of manatees. They were there because the Tampa Electric Company's plant uses water from the canal to cool its steam pipes. After being used as a coolant, the water is returned to the canal about 10 degrees warmer. The manatees love it. Tampa Electric also pumps fresh water through two hoses into the discharge pool for the manatees to drink.

Manatees die from cold stress if water temperatures fail below 68 degrees Fahrenheit, so...