Sep 20 - The Palm Beach Post

A pinhole-sized leak may be why 900 gallons of fuel oil flowed into Tampa Bay from a Florida Power & Light Co. off-loading terminal near the utility's Manatee Energy Center, an FPL spokesman said Tuesday.

A preliminary inspection by FPL engineers revealed a leak in a 12-inch-diameter pipe that connects to a 30-inch-diameter delivery line. That line leads into storage tanks. FPL will repair the leak after additional inspection, spokesman Mayco Villafana said.

Workers at Port Manatee discovered the spill early Monday when they saw oil and an oily sheen on the surface of the water and on the shipping channel. FPL and the U.S. Coast Guard collected 500 gallons of oil Monday and 130 gallons more by Tuesday morning, Villafana said.

On Tuesday, the oily sheen was far smaller than it was Monday, extending only about one nautical mile from the terminal into the channel, he said.

Officials said they have not found any damage to wildlife.

"We will continue to be out there until the Coast Guard is satisfied that we have recovered as much of the spilled oil as we can and complete the work and clean the area," Villafana said.

FPL operates two oil-fired units and one natural gas-fired unit at its 9,500-acre Manatee plant. FPL, owned by FPL Group Inc. (NYSE: FPL, $44.23) of Juno Beach, serves 4.4 million households and businesses.

Besides the Coast Guard, the state's Department of Environmental Protection and Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, as well as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, were working at Port Manatee, said Dee Ann Miller, a Florida DEP spokeswoman.

It is too early to tell if FPL will be fined, officials say, because it's not clear exactly where the leak came from.

"There's a real big question as to who has regulatory authority, and we won't know until we find out what leaked," said Jon Reeder, an inspector with the Manatee County Environmental Management Department.

"If the valve leaked, it's the Coast Guard; if the piping leaked, it's us," he said.

The Coast Guard requires FPL to pressure-test the pipes annually. The last test was done in January of this year.

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