Permit for FPL implosion shows city gave green light

A copy of the permit for the implosion at Cedar Bay Generating Plant was obtained by Action News Jax.

On Saturday morning, Florida Power & Light demolished part of the plant which included the implosion of the cooling tower.

Action News Jax received dozens of calls from concerned neighbors after hearing an explosion.

Gerald Odom lives less than two miles from the site. He said he was never notified about the planned implosion.

“Stuff on my wall rattled and stuff out on the deck started rattling. I didn’t know what it was,” Odom said.

The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department both told Action News Jax they were blindsided as well.

JSO’s spokesperson Melissa Bujeda said officers were dispatched in reference to "some sort of unknown explosion."

JFRD spokesperson Tom Francis said not all employees at JFRD knew.

However, the document revealed representatives for both JSO and JFRD signed off on the permit in July.

In section five of the permit, it said the implosion would take place the week of Aug. 1 and FPL would notify once the actual date was set.

“It would’ve been nice to know what was going on because it does make you wonder when you hear something that loud and that big,” Odom said.

Action News Jax is pushing for answers to see who dropped the ball.

We contacted the City of Jacksonville and FPL to see if an exact date and time was given for the planned implosion.

FPL told Action News Jax that a confirmation of the date and time of the implosion was communicated to the Fire Prevention office on Tuesday, July 31.

Cox Media Group