No Fracked Gas Florida –Harriet Heywood

Wouldn’t it be convenient for fossil fuel profits if the Sabal Trail pipeline was already in place and they started fracking? Received today as a comment on Strom LNG Processing & Export In The Public Interest? What About Solar & Other Clean Energy Alternatives?; the content is the opinion of the author undersigned below. -jsq

The health of the people and the water of the state of Florida are being auctioned off by a block of elected politicians backed by big oil company lobbyists. And our House representative is one of them.

September 17, the Florida League of Women voters called a town hall in the Orlando area to address public concerns over industry plans to practice hydraulic acid fracturing on our fragile limestone aquifers. Not coincidentally, HB 191, and SB 318, bills that call for preempting Home Rule laws, for the express purpose of greasing the skids for fracking in Florida, were quietly introduced that same day by Rep Ray Wesley Rodrigues, Ft. Myers and Senator Garrett Richter, Naples.

The bill is backed by the Florida Petroleum Council who tout energy independence and jobs. But the few long-term jobs will be morphed by the realities that are all too common in states where fracking is allowed: poisoned drinking water and sick people.

Jimmie T Smith is on record saying “It’s been proven already that fracking is a safe process,” he said. And he voted for HB 191 in the Ag and natural resources committee last month. Score one for dirty water in Florida.

There have been over 1000 cases of contaminated water, as well as sensory, neurological and respiratory damage due to ingested contaminated water. I recommend Representative Smith watch the movie, Gasland to get more information on whether we want fracked gas companies from Texas coming into Florida to ruin our state after having destroyed their own. I have a friend from Susquehanna County PA, whose family got sick and had to abandon their farm because of documented fracking chemicals in their well water and blood.

Some known facts about fracking are:

It takes up to 8 million gallons of water and 40,000 gallons of chemicals to frack one well, including 600 chemicals and known carcinogens such as: lead, uranium, mercury, ethylene glycol, radium, methanol, hydrochloric acid, benzene, and formaldehyde.

The fracking slurry is pressure-injected into the ground, and each well can be fracked 18 times. Once the limestone would be fracked, toxic chemicals and methane gas leak out and contaminate nearby groundwater. These are known facts and far more common than the industry admits.

Methane gas in wells near fracked sites is 17 times higher than sites where there are no fracking activities, which is how people’s water catches on fire straight out of their taps.

Contaminated water is then used for drinking water for nearby cities and towns. There have been over 1000 cases of contaminated water, as well as sensory, neurological and respiratory damage due to ingested contaminated water.

Waste fluid is left in open air pits where it is released as volatile organic compounds into the air. Or fracking fluids are stored underground where they leak into water supplies and poison aquifers. There are no leak-proof wells. Pipes, cement casings, and tanks leak.

In 2014, 75% of Florida voters passed Amendment 1 because we believe water is our most precious resource. We must preserve our water; contact Senator Dean’s office to tell him to vote NO on the bill to preempt home rule. He’ll listen to science. We should ban fracking in Florida.

-Harriet Heywood

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