Welcome news on proposed fracking ban

People who support fracking for oil and gas in Florida will tell you the process doesn’t threaten our water supply because the concrete-encased wells go so deep — about two miles — that they bypass the aquifer from which Florida draws its water. Three things they don’t tell you: Fracking causes earthquakes. Oklahoma has seen an explosion of earthquakes since oil companies began hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas. Eight years ago, the state had just two earthquakes of 3.0 or greater, according to USA Today. Last year, it had 889. With much of Florida built on a porous limestone foundation, earthquakes here could create significant sinkhole activity and threaten our quality of life.

Fracking creates hazardous wastewater — a lot of it, at surface level. And two years ago, a company using a fracking-like process to drill in Collier County improperly disposed of a large volume of contaminated water. Given our state’s sponge-like bedrock, improper handling of fracking’s byproducts threatens our water supply.

Energy companies want to keep secret what chemicals they use in fracking — the process of shooting water and chemicals into the ground at high pressure to fracture rocks and capture energy deposits. And it’s hard to have confidence in state oversight since Gov. Rick Scott and state lawmakers gutted the Department of Environmental Protection.

Look at what happened in Polk County in September after a giant sinkhole opened at the Mosaic fertilizer company, dumping 215 million gallons of contaminated water into the aquifer. The public — and nearby residents who rely on drinking water wells — weren’t told of the threat for weeks.

So it is welcome news that freshman Sens. Gary Farmer, D-Fort Lauderdale, and Dana Young, R-Tampa, plan to push legislation this year to ban fracking in Florida. Young, who served as the Republican majority leader in the Florida House last year, has considerable sway. Farmer is a strong new voice from South Florida.

Farmer told us late Wednesday that he had just filed his first two bills. The first would ban fracking through state law. The second would place a constitutional amendment that bans fracking on the ballot for voters to approve.

“The latter is my preference, to get something on the ballot,” Farmer said. He expects bipartisan support for the push because fracking became a contentious issue in several legislative races this year.

Young is one of the lawmakers who faced a tough race, in part because of fracking. She maintains she’s always been against fracking. But she also wants the Legislature to fund a $1 million study that would offer scientific grounding for a Florida ban.

“We have plenty of evidence from other states all over the country that fracking is detrimental to the environment,” she told us. “There is some evidence that it is dangerous to human health. It is important for us to do a study that is Florida-specific. Our environment is frankly much more fragile than other areas in the country.”

Perhaps you’re surprised to learn companies want to frack in Florida, given that ours isn’t an oil-rich state. But a fair amount of drilling is already underway here, mostly near Naples and in a part of the Panhandle. In truth, large energy companies don’t see a huge potential for fracking here.

One measure of voter sentiment is that 80 Florida cities and counties have passed local bans on fracking. Last session, oil company lobbyists tried to get a statewide prohibition against such bans, but failed.

A ban would address the drip, drip, drip of easing water quality standards.

In July, Florida’s Environmental Regulation Commission ignored the objections of environmentalists and increased allowed limits of 23 chemicals in our drinking water, while decreasing limits on 17.

Benzene limits, found in higher concentration in areas with fracking, were tripled. This could make it easier for lawmakers who oppose a fracking ban to argue that fracking pollutants fall within state guidelines.

But higher limits are risky business. Recent research conducted by several universities — including Duke and the University of Missouri — suggests the chemicals used in fracking increase the risk of prostate cancer, birth defects, miscarriages and reduced male fertility.

The potential dangers from fracking in Florida far outweigh the benefits.

A statewide ban on fracking won’t address all the energy issues facing our state, including increased talk of offshore drilling.

But a statewide ban on fracking is a good positive start.

The first bill would ban fracking through state law. The second would place a constitutional amendment that bans fracking on the ballot for voters to approve.