Senate panel OKs fracking bills despite vocal opposition

Bills that would create a regulatory framework for fracking in Florida and allow chemicals used in the process to be kept secret from the public easily cleared their first committee stops Tuesday.

Members of the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee voted 6-2 along party lines in favor of Senate Bill 1468, which would require the state to adopt rules regulating high-pressure well stimulation, a form of fracking, and Senate Bill 1582, which would create an exemption in public-records laws for chemicals used in fracking. Both bills are sponsored by Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, who was out of town at the time of the hearing.

Concerned citizens packed into the hearing room to express concerns that hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, would cause environmental harm to the state's drinking-water supply by injecting dangerous chemicals into the ground and pose risks to human and animal health.

Jim Tatum, a member of Our Santa Fe River, warned lawmakers that regulations will not stop problems resulting from fracking.

"They will only serve as a guideline to determine how poisoned we want to be," he said. "We can argue over how contaminated we want our water, and we can sit around in meetings and hearings and negotiate how dead we want our bodies to be. Regulations can be broken with little fear of punishment."

Supporters say SB 1468 would provide regulations for fracking, which is already allowed in Florida, including requirements for permits, monitoring and inspection and fines for any violations. The bill is backed by the oil and gas industry and other powerful groups including the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Associated Industries of Florida.

"I'm going to support it because I think you can have both — you can protect the environment and you can also keep America on track in the utilization of its energy and natural resources," said Sen. Thad Altman, R-Rockledge.

But opponents argued that there is no safe form of fracking.

"There is no regulatory or permitting scheme that guarantees that the aquifers of the people of Florida will not be compromised and contaminated," said David Cullen, lobbyist for the Sierra Club Florida. "While we may stipulate that the probability of that happening might be low, the consequences could be catastrophic."

Hydraulic fracturing is a process by which water, chemicals and sand are injected under high pressure to release natural gas trapped in rock formations. Critics say it has led to major problems in other states where it has occurred, including contamination of the water supply with chemicals such as benzene, a known carcinogen.

John Dickert, a retired engineer from Madison, said California found the wastewater resulting from fracking to be poisonous.

"Florida does not need to experiment with this," he said. "It's already been proven in other states."

Sen. Darren Soto, D-Orlando and a member of the committee, offered amendments that would have increased fines and placed a moratorium on fracking. But he failed to get support for them. He said Richter's legislation is intended to "pave the way for fracking here in the state of Florida," something he called "short-sighted."

"I don't think the answer here is to regulate — it's to eliminate any chance of this happening," Soto said. "Chemicals will be thrust deep into the ground, and to say that anybody here is going to know exactly how that's going to affect our water supply with any certainty is kidding themselves."

Only one instance of fracking is known to have occurred in Florida, in late 2013 in rural Collier County not far from the Everglades. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection fined the Dan A. Hughes Co. $25,000 for violating its permit and ordered it to conduct groundwater testing after it used a procedure that critics called fracking.

Paula Cobb, DEP deputy secretary for regulatory programs, told lawmakers that a subsequent report from an outside firm found "no adverse effects" from the fracking incident.

"This legislation is in part a response to what occurred in 2013, because we did not have something like what we have in this bill today, which specifically prohibits this activity without a DEP-issued permit," she said, adding that the legislation would put in place a "robust regulatory framework."

Earlier in the day, Soto and other Democratic lawmakers joined in a news conference with the Democratic Women's Club of Florida to call for a ban on fracking. Soto and other Democrats have offered bills that would enact such a ban.

"My biggest concern about fracking is the water system," said Harriett Myers of Lynn Haven. "I feel sure it will contaminate the water — it has happened in other states. And they're using very dangerous chemicals, a lot of chemicals of which they won't even tell us about so that we can treat ourselves if we become ill."

3:25 p.m. update

Members of the Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee voted along party lines in favor of bills that would establish a regulatory framework for hydraulic fracturing or fracking in Florida and allow chemicals used in the process to be kept secret.

Both bills, sponsored by Sen. Garrett Richter, R-Naples, passed 6-2, with opposition coming from Democratic members of the panel.

Environmental groups oppose the bills; industry and business groups are supporting them.

Check back with Tallahassee.com for more on this story.

Morning update

Democratic lawmakers and members of the Democratic Women's Club of Florida are holding a news conference this morning at the Capitol to push for legislation that would ban hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the state.

The news conference will be 10 a.m. in the House media room on the third floor of the Capitol.

Taking part are Rep. Evan Jenne, D-Dania Beach, Sen. Darren Soto, D-Orlando, and Maureen McKenna, president of the Democratic Women's Club of Florida.

Jenne is sponsoring HB 169, and Soto is sponsoring the companion bill, SB 166, which would ban fracking in Florida. Supporters of the ban say fracking would cause environmental harm and pose health dangers to residents and tourists.

The Senate Environmental Preservation and Conservation Committee is set to hear a pair of bills today that critics say would lay the regulatory groundwork for fracking to continue in Florida and keep chemicals used in the process hidden from public scrutiny. The bills are SB 1468 and SB 1582. The Senate panel meets at 1:30 p.m.

Hydraulic fracturing is a process in which water, sand and chemicals are injected under high pressure into rock formations to extract natural gas. Supporters of the process say it is boosting domestic energy supplies and reducing the country's dependance on foreign oil.

Check back with Tallahassee.com for more on this story.