Bill Text: FL S0688 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Ban on Well Stimulation or Resource Extraction
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Failed) 2016-03-11 - Died in Environmental Preservation and Conservation [S0688 Detail]
Download: Florida-2016-S0688-Introduced.html
Florida Senate - 2016 (NP) SR 688
By Senator Sobel
33-00369-16 2016688__
1 Senate Resolution
2 A resolution supporting a statewide ban on extreme
3 hydraulic fracturing, acid fracturing, and any form of
4 well stimulation or resource extraction in Florida.
5
6 WHEREAS, well stimulation, such as hydraulic and acid
7 fracturing, frequently known as fracking and acidification,
8 involve the use of chemicals and hazardous materials during
9 construction, drilling, fracturing, gas production and delivery,
10 well maintenance, and workover operations, and
11 WHEREAS, fracturing of underground geologic formations is
12 accomplished by injecting a complex mix of fluids and chemicals
13 under very high pressure to create fractures in gas bearing
14 geologic formations, and the water used is contaminated forever,
15 and
16 WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency states that
17 each fracturing uses from 30,000 to 13 million gallons of water,
18 and each well can be fractured more than 13 times, and
19 WHEREAS, well stimulation permanently pollutes millions of
20 gallons of water with the chemicals used in fracking and
21 acidification and with the radioactive materials and heavy
22 metals in the flowback fluid that returns to the surface, and
23 WHEREAS, many of the chemical constituents injected during
24 fracturing have documented adverse health effects or adverse
25 environmental impacts; for example, 60 percent of those
26 chemicals can harm the brain and nervous system, 30 percent are
27 suspected carcinogens, and 30 percent are developmental
28 toxicants, and
29 WHEREAS, there have been more than 1,000 documented cases
30 of water contamination near fracking sites, and
31 WHEREAS, wastewater from fracking can contain radioactive
32 elements, and this wastewater has been discharged into rivers
33 that supply drinking water for millions, and
34 WHEREAS, use of these well stimulation chemical mixtures
35 exposes adjacent land and surface waters to the risk of
36 contamination through open pit storage, truck transport on
37 roadways, and activities during well development, and
38 WHEREAS, polluted water caused by well stimulation and
39 fracking threatens the long-term economic well-being of
40 communities because businesses and consumers depend on clean
41 drinking water, and
42 WHEREAS, oil and gas industries are not required by federal
43 law to publicly disclose chemical formulas of well stimulation
44 and fracturing fluids, so this information is publicly
45 unavailable for health and safety purposes, and
46 WHEREAS, wise stewardship of our natural resources involves
47 protection of Florida’s water supplies and water resources for
48 generations to come, and
49 WHEREAS, protection of Florida’s water supplies and
50 resources is better accomplished by prevention of contamination
51 and environmental degradation, rather than attempting to clean
52 up contamination and restore degraded environments after the
53 fact, NOW, THEREFORE,
54
55 Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
56
57 That the Florida Senate supports a statewide ban on
58 hydraulic fracturing, acid fracturing, and any form of extreme
59 well stimulation and resource extraction, including prohibiting
60 the disposal of related materials and byproducts, anywhere
61 within the State of Florida or in the waters adjacent thereto.
