Enhancing our environment

EcoEléctrica has been very active in environmental matters from its development stages. Its environmental activism stems from its mission of producing clean energy. It has pursued innovation in the projects it has instituted to mitigate the impact of its construction, including the study of sea grasses and corals, and has had unprecedented success in transplanting sea grass and coral in the U.S. Caribbean.

Mitigation Pond

In order to mitigate the impact of the construction phase, EcoEléctrica was required to undertake mitigation projects involving the transplant and monitoring of sea grasses and corals. EcoEléctrica voluntarily designed and created its north retention pond to maximize habitat benefits to the wading birds and waterfowl that previously used pond portions of dikes that surrounded storage tanks under the previous land use and ownership. Periodic bird censuses are performed to identify and quantify the bird population. The Mitigation Pond, as it is known, is a breeding place for various species of wading birds, including the white-cheeked pintail. The presence of Rupia, a very valuable sea grass in the food chain of these wading birds, has been documented for the first time in G uayanilla Bay at the Mitigation Pond.

Experimental Mangrove Project

EcoEléctrica also agreed to voluntarily participate in a mangrove study recommended by the National Marine Fishery Services to provide the Corps of Engineers and the natural resources agencies with technical information on the efficacy of a new mangrove planting technique involving the use of PVC pipes to hold mangrove cuttings in place in high-wave-energy environments. The study was conducted for two years.

Sea grass Transplants

All sea grasses located in the area where the pier piles were to be installed were transplanted to a nearby area and closely monitored for five years. An innovative removal and transplant technology was developed for EcoEléctrica by Dr. Vance Vicente, a recognized expert on sea grass and other marine life. After five years, the sea grass transplanted surpassed the 80% survival requirement and sea grass beds had increased 643%, expanding to areas that were previously barren.

Coral Transplants

A total of 130 hard coral individual colonies were removed and transplanted in November 1999 from the area that would be affected by the pier construction. The corals were planted within the Russian oil tanker Kapitan Egorov grounding site in Guayanilla Bay . When the Kapitan Egorov grounded on top of the reef in 1995, it caused an estimated $3 million environmental damage. EcoEléctrica obtained authorization from the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources to voluntarily move the corals to this location, a farther and costlier alternative, in order to help restore the impacted coral reef. The survival rate of these transplanted corals is 89%.

The method of preparing and fixing a coral planting unit to the bedrock in Guayanilla Bay was an innovative hybrid technique similar to working a tooth cavity. It consisted of clearing the dead skeleton and placing a cement base in which the transplanted corals was placed and attached with marine epoxy.

In addition, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers required EcoEléctrica to conduct a pier effect study to measure changes in distribution and abundance of sea grasses and corals beneath the shadow pattern of the pier within a five year period. The condition had no mitigation requirement. Special design considerations were included in the pier. The implementation of this permit condition has contributed to the scientific understanding of the long term effect of piers on sensitive systems such as sea grass beds and is of great value for future pier permitting projects.

The results of these studies were presented annually for six years at the U.S. Corps of Engineers Interagency Committee, composed of both Federal and State agencies. The findings have been also presented in national and international forums. Annual detailed reports were also submitted to this Committee. These studies have provided PhD and Masters degree candidates the opportunity of working on their thesis while working under our marine consultant, Dr. Vance Vicente.

Convento Cave System

As part of the company ' s corporate social responsibility program, which is mainly geared towards the environmental and educational areas, we provided half of the funds required for the Conservation Trust of Puerto Rico, a non-profit organization dedicated to the acquisition and protection of areas of critical ecological value, to acquire the Convento Cave System. The Convento Cave is part of an 85 acre farm that houses the only arid ecosystem in Puerto Rico ' s south that has an underground river. This unique system of aboveground and underground caves and rivers serves as habitat for endangered species. The system will now be managed by the Conservation Trust, protected from development and safeguarded for the enjoyment of Puerto Rico ' s present and future generations. The area will also serve for research and educational purposes.

Manatee Surveys

EcoEléctrica periodically conducts aerial manatee surveys both offshore and inshore, to document the presence of manatees, cetaceans, and sea turtles in Guayanilla Bay and the surrounding coastline of southwest Puerto Rico, between Cabo Rojo and the western part of Ponce . Thirteen surveys were conducted between January 2001 and December 2005. Surveys covered all seasons, as well as the wet (June-November) and dry (December-May) seasons. A total of 205 manatees were observed overall. The average number of manatees per survey was 15.8 (range 6-29), higher than that found for the same area previously.

Of 205 manatees observed, 15.1% were calves. The percentage of calves was significantly higher than in previous studies. The high calf percentage finding indicates the importance of the area for manatee calf rearing, especially in the Municipality of Guánica (25.8%), followed by Cabo Rojo and Lajas (19.3% each). The distribution of manatees sightings per municipality was significantly higher for Guánica (29.0%), followed by Guayanilla (24.2%), and Lajas (16.9%).

For a period of three years, EcoEléctrica sponsored the Sirenia Project, a manatee capture, tagging and radio-tracking project by the U.S. Geological Survey of Florida. Captures were done initially in Guayanilla Bay , Guánica, and Cabo Rojo, and more recently in Ceiba. The purpose of the project is to closely track manatee movements and identify areas of special importance for manatee breeding and feeding. The Caribbean Stranding Network and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service also participate in these efforts.