'Toxic Bus Tour' Highlights Energy Inequality
In late August, Tampa-based Sierra Club staff members Walter Smith and Gonzalo Valdes led a group of about 25 local residents on a "toxic bus tour" through Hillsborough County to highlight potential disaster zones, underserved areas, issues of energy inequality and possible solutions.
Smith, an organizing representative, and Valdes, an organizing manager, are part of Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, which seeks to close all coal-burning plants in the U.S. and replace them with clean energy sources.
The tour's first stop was in Apollo Beach, home to the Tampa Electric (TECO) Big Bend Station, which is located in a flood zone on the eastern edge of Tampa Bay. The site also contains coal ash ponds, protected by 30-foot walls. With 42 feet of storm surge projected in a Category 5 hurricane scenario, the ponds are a toxic spill waiting to happen, threatening the safety of several local communities.
Environmental justice advocates such as Sierra Club want TECO to get rid of the ponds and switch to solar energy, but give credit to the utility for a "microgrid" pilot project, which was the second stop on the tour. In the town of Wimauma, TECO has included some new houses in an experimental Block Energy System, which uses solar power and battery stor-age to make them energy independent.
Low-income families suffer disproportionately under the current energy landscape, and Sierra Club believes TECO should be providing new technology to underserved communities, such as Progress Village, the tour's last stop. Established in the 1960s for African Americans to purchase affordable suburban homes, the community is prone to flooding. It stands in contrast to the newer, microgrid homes nearby.
"I want you to imagine that Category 5 storm has rolled through but you know you're not in a flood zone. You know that your electricity is going to be on. You know that you're prepared. You know that your neighbors are prepared. How do you feel?" Valdes asked the group.
"Secure," said one person.
Reporting/photo courtesy of Jessica Meszaros, WUSF Public Media
