and seeps through the pile to the ground below. The gypsum contains various 

 acids, hazardous chemical wastes, and radioactive residues. The U.S. Geolog- 

 ical Survey (USGS), working with the Florida Department of Environmental 

 Regulation and the phosphate industry is now studying the effects of water 

 seepage from gypsum stacks on the ground water. The findings of this study 

 will be reported in late 1981 (Personal communication with Cynthia Cosper and 

 Geoffrey Watts, Florida Department of Environmental Regulation, Tallahassee, 

 FL; Fall 1980). 



Electrical Power Plants 



Coastal sites often are chosen for power plant sites because marshland 

 prices are low and water for cooling is abundant. Southwest Florida has only 

 one power plant which is near Ft. Myers. As Southwest Florida grows the 

 demand for electricity may require additional power plants. The potential for 

 environmental disturbance by power plants is usually greater than other large- 

 scale industrial developments. Construction of the plant may destroy some 

 important estuarine habitats and discharge thermal pollutants and sediments in 

 coastal waters. Thermal pollution can have adverse effects on aquatic life 

 and damage grass beds. 



Power plants are critical to economic growth for the whole of southern 

 Florida. Restriction and regulation of power plant location and/or operation 

 (e.g. closed-cycle cooling) for environmental purposes will increase the price 

 of energy from this source. 



SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 



The coastal environmental crisis in Southwest Florida is an example of an 

 entire coastal ecosystem that has been seriously altered by the industrial, 

 residential, and commercial developments and too little regard for the integ- 

 rity of the natural environment. The design of these developments has been 

 imposed by an economic system that largely invests in urban uses that promise 

 high profits rather than protection of the natural environment. 



The development of institutional procedures for responding to the fail- 

 ures of the private enterprise system to consider environmental planning is 

 indeed a difficult task. Enforcing regulations to control or reduce ecolog- 

 ical damage may appear to be prohibitively expensive, but protection of the 

 natural environment in the near future is imperative. 



The trade-offs between the economy and the environment will depend on 

 society's evaluation of the need for maintaining viable coastal ecosystems as 

 opposed to further residential and industrial development. Local government 

 zoning commissions may become instrumental in developing balances among needs. 



The topic of multiple-use conflicts is broad and does not lend itself to 

 clearly defined sets of data. Several issues addressed in this paper were 

 based upon a limited amount of information drawn from a variety of sources. 

 Most needed is accurate land use data that reflect the type and intensity of 

 development, value of land, and value of improvements. Assessments of the 



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