Fracking Bill Dies In Florida Senate

TALLAHASSEE, FL — A bill that might have opened the door for hydraulic fracturing in the state of Florida has officially died in the Senate.

The Florida Senate Appropriations Committee essentially blocked the bill from moving forward on Tuesday with 10 members coming out against the piece of proposed legislation and nine in favor of it, Senate records indicate.

Hydraulic fracturing, commonly called fracking, is a controversial drilling practice used to stimulate the flow of oil and natural gas for pumping operations.

“Hydraulic fracturing produces fractures in the rock formation that stimulate the flow of natural gas or oil, increasing the volumes that can be recovered,” the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency explains on its website. “Wells may be drilled vertically hundreds to thousands of feet below the land surface and may include horizontal or directional sections extending thousands of feet.”

The fractures used in the process are produced by pumping large amounts of fluid at high pressure down the wellbore and into the rock formation, the EPA, added.

Had the Senate bill passed, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection would have been tasked to create regulations for fracking. A similar measure did pass the Florida House.

Opponents of the bill have been very vocal about their concerns that fracking might have a negative impact on Florida’s environment.

Following the bill’s defeat in the Senate, Kim Ross, executive director of Rethink Energy Florida, issued the following statement on behalf of Floridians Against Fracking:

“We want to applaud the Senators in the Appropriations Committee for declining to hear SB318 and standing up to protect our public health and our environment. Clearly, proponents of the bill did not have enough votes to pass it, and we are pleased it died in Committee.

“From the get go, SB 318 was a deeply flawed bill that sought to pave the road for fracking in Florida while prohibiting local communities from passing measures to protect local residents. It waived public disclosure laws so that the oil and gas industry could keep the toxic chemical it used in fracking a secret from the general public and set up a bogus study that lacked scientific rigor.

“We know that fracking has been known to contaminate water resources, endanger public health, cause earthquakes, contribute to climate change, and keeps us addicted to fossil fuels. Fracking should be banned in Florida period since it is inherently dangerous.”

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