Feds want input on seismic testing in Big Cypress
The federal government is seeking input on a proposed seismic oil and gas exploration project that’s being proposed on 70,000 acres in or near Big Cypress National Preserve.
Burnett Oil Co., along with the Collier family, filed down-scaled plans last year to test lands from just east of Highway 29 in Collier County to the Broward County border in four phases over four years during the dry season.
The Colliers own gas and mineral rights to about 800,000 acres in South Florida.
The company plans to use small, portable seismic receivers and recording devices to map out subsurface geological features, according to the Department of Interior.
“No explosives will be used to create the vibrations or seismic acoustical signals, and there will be no ground disturbances from detonations,” a Department of Interior report reads. “Instead, vibrations will be created using mobile plates attached to special off-road vehicles which are placed against the ground, vibrated, and then moved on to the next location.”
The plan was finalized in December, and the National Park Service has opened public comment through July 17.
Environmental groups have fought for years to keep oil and gas exploration out of South Florida, but oil companies have increasingly targeted this region. Many of Florida’s most endangered and threatened species — including the Florida panther — live in Big Cypress, and there are fears that using heavy equipment on the area’s soft limestone could damage drinking water sources as well.
The testing area is referred to as the Sunniland Oil Trend, and different companies have for decades drilled testing sites in this area. The larger property (all four phases) stretches from north of Interstate 75 south to within about a mile of the Tamiami Trail.
Comments can be made online at https://federalregister.gov/a/2015-14425, or by calling the park service at (239) 695-1150. Written comments can be sent to the Office of the Superintendent, Big Cypress National Preserve, 33100 Tamiami Trail East Ochopee, FL 34141.
Aquifer pumps still possible for Everglades
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a report this week that says a technique called aquifer storage and recovery could be a feasible solution to storing water in some parts of the historic Everglades.
The technology involves pumping large volumes of water beneath the surface, storing that water over time and then pumping the water out during dry periods. The idea was considered years ago for the Caloosashatchee reservoir but has since been abandoned for that site.
The state and federal government had considered 333 of these wells for the Everglades restoration but is now recommending that number be scaled back to 131 wells to avoid adverse impacts to drinking water and irrigation stores.
Holding water on the landscape — instead of pushing it out to the ocean as fast as possible — is one of the major goals of the restoration.
“Testing of recovered water from the ASR pilot projects did not reveal geochemical reactions that would degrade surface water quality on recovery,” the report reads. “Arsenic mobilization was observed during early cycle testing; however, it attenuated over time as the storage zone was conditioned.”
-- Compiled by Chad Gillis