Monday, October 8, 2012

Is Fracking on the horizon in Florida?

FRACKING CONFRONTS FLORIDA: Profitable but controversial technique of drilling for oil and gas proposed here.


By Mary Wozniak

mwozniak@news-press.com
South Florida may be ripe for fracking.

The controversial process of drilling for oil and natural gas is pumping billions into government coffers, residents' pockets and energy company bank accounts across the country, creating thousands of jobs, reducing reliance on foreign energy - and causing environmental concerns.

Fracking, formally called hydraulic fracturing, involves injecting a well with a cocktail of water, chemicals and sand at high pressure to fracture rock and access previously untapped reserves.

A fracking frenzy has swept through North Dakota, Pennsylvania, New York, Wyoming, Colorado, West Virginia, Louisiana, Arkansas, Ohio, Montana, Texas and elsewhere. In Williston, N.D., Mayor Ward Koeser said fracking brought the state $1.5 to $2 billion in the last year alone. 'It's been intense,' he said.

Fracking is inevitable in South Florida, maybe within a year, said Ed Pollister, owner/operator of a small company called Century Oil, with offices in Immokalee and Michigan.

Pollister said he's discussed his desire to frack with officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

'At some point if I don't do it, somebody else will,' he said.

Alico Inc. also could have a future in fracking. The company discovered as much as 94 tons of possible fracking sand in Hendry County.

Fracking fever is fueled by new technologies developed over the last 10 years that make it economically feasible and profitable to drill for previously untouchable sources of oil and gas.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Updates on Scripps, Briger and the Ongoing Biotech Menace of Palm Beach County

Two new article were posted this week at ScrapScripps.info

They are essential reading for anyone looking to keep up with the latest news from the fight to protect what's left of the last remaining forests in the eastern corridor of South Floirda. 

 

The Battle Brewing in Limestone Creek

Environmental Racism, Endangered Species and the Biotech Nightmare

The threat of Scripps Florida reveals a new tentacle, as the Hawkeye biotech development plans unfold before us. The Palm Beach County Commission is scheduled to make a final vote on the road expansion, which is needed for the development to move forward, on Tuesday, Oct. 16, 9:30am, at 301 North Olive Ave (6th Floor).
[Help mobilize for this hearing, and educate yourself by reading the information at ScrapScripps.info.]
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Land cleared on the south end of Briger, along Hood Road.

By now, many have noticed that there is land clearing and development going on at the south edge of the Briger Forest. As it stands, the southwest corner of the Briger is the future home of a Jewish Community Center (JCC).
The legality and ecological impacts of this work is yet to be determined, as research is currently under way to investigate whether appropriate permits and approvals exist for this project. 
Nonetheless, we are getting organized to defend the forest from further incursion, in what the Palm Beach Post has called “The Building Boom on Hood Road.”

This Summer, the City of Palm Beach Gardens approved building plans for Franklin Charter School on the west side of the forest (also on Hood Road, west of I-95). This side of the forest was found by local volunteer research and the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council to be even wilder and less impacted than east of I-95.