PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — More than one protected sea turtle a day, on average, has been sucked into a St. Lucie County nuclear power plant property in the nearly a decade it has taken for the federal government to approve pipe grate that could prevent the problem.



A Treasure Coast Newspapers investigation has found that amounts to more than 4,100 sea turtles that have been sucked into the three pipes that run a quarter of a mile from the ocean to a canal on State Road A1A.



The grate is the first attempt to block the endangered turtles from getting sucked in to the Florida Power and Light Co. facility. But that is going to take two years to test and install.



The majority of the endangered turtles only suffer minor injuries.



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