Make TBO Your Home Page| Subscribe To The Paper| Advertise With Us| Contact Us| Login| Edit Profile| Register
Suncoast Pinellas News
Email
Print
Preserve Management Plan Draws Fire
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: June 11, 2008
EAST LAKE -- Pinellas County officials' plan to designate 900 acres of the Brooker Creek Preserve for a future water treatment facility has drawn fire from environmentalists and others.
At a Tuesday night town hall meeting at the Brooker Creek Preserve Education Center, county land management and utilities officials presented a revised management plan for the 8,000-plus-acre county-owned preserve.
Among other things the revision would permit above-ground water treatment facilities to be constructed anywhere within the 900 acres of the preserve north of Keystone Road that is not wetlands.
Pinellas County Utilities officials told those in attendance that they would only need to use 200 of the 900 acres to meet the county's future water treatment needs, but they need the flexibility a large parcel brings.
They do not know exactly what type of facilities would be needed or where on the property they would be constructed, the officials said.
Activists, however, told officials they do not believe them and question why 900 acres have to be given a land use designation that permits above-ground utilities.
The county already has a nearby plant, used to blend drinking water from different sources to improve its quality. Well fields are adjacent to the site.
Email
Print
ADVERTISEMENT
Advertisement
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online ©2009 Media General Communications Holdings, LLC. A Media General company. Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
