TECO Lines Could Endanger Eagles In Seffner

As far as a group of Seffner residents is concerned, Gov. Charlie Crist and the rest of the state Cabinet all but signed a death warrant for a family of bald eagles on Tuesday.

Until now, generations of eagles have been nesting in peace in an oak hammock north of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and west of Valrico Road in Seffner for more than 40 years.

On Tuesday, Crist and his Cabinet probably threw the switch on the eagles living there now and 25 other species of birds, said Susan Watson, whose home backs up to the eagles nest. She was reacting in frustration to the Cabinet's vote that will allow Tampa Electric Co. to stretch 30 miles of high-voltage power lines through a corridor that includes an environmentally sensitive area known as Eagles Forest.

"It is a significant forest, which houses the smallest bird, the ruby-throated hummingbird, and one of the largest birds, the most regal bird, the American bald eagle - as well as over 53 species of wildlife," Watson testified Tuesday before the Cabinet. The panel held a hearing and issued its ruling on the TECO proposal in its capacity as the state's Power Plant Siting Board.

"This area has protected wetlands and a forest composed of thousands of hardwood and coniferous trees," Watson said. "According to Hillsborough County, this forest is the last wildlife habitat in Seffner, Florida."

Watson and neighbor Joy Ingram asked Crist and the Cabinet to place restrictions on the corridor "to save this irreplaceable forest" while still approving the power lines.

The corridor is wider than the planned path of the lines, so the company could set a less invasive route within that corridor. The 80- to 125-foot-high power line will stretch from Polk County to Temple Terrace, carrying up to 230,000 volts of electricity to the Tampa Bay area's growing population. The lines are scheduled to be in service by March 2012.

Watson and Ingram approve, they said, of new power lines along McIntosh Road, one-half mile to the east of the route favored by TECO. That route falls within the corridor and already has power lines. Michael Sole, secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection, said erecting lines along McIntosh Road would adversely affect about 15 households.

That concerned Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who hails from the Seffner area. Hearing from Sole that TECO must respect a buffer zone of up to 660 feet around the eagle's nest, she and the other Cabinet members approved TECO's application without setting additional restrictions on use of the forest land.

TECO spokesman Rick Morera said the company considered several factors in targeting a route, including cost and the number of homes and schools affected. The company is committed to protecting the wildlife and other resources in the area, TECO attorney Larry Curtin told Sink during Tuesday's meeting.

"We hear Mrs. Watson and Mrs. Ingram," he said, noting that the utility must comply with 30 pages of conditions proposed by the state Department of Environmental Protection and approved by an administrative law judge for certification of the corridor.

Watson said after the hearing the buffer zone around the eagles' nest will be insufficient to protect the birds and does nothing to protect their feeding grounds.

Opponents of the power line said they will keep trying to steer TECO toward McIntosh Road. The company still needs approval from an array of state and possibly local government regulators to ensure the power lines comply with the conditions imposed.