A proposal to explore for oil reserves in Big Cypress National Preserve calls for the use of "thumper trucks" to vibrate the ground/NPS

"Thumper trucks," which pound the ground in a fashion designed to detect oil, and even explosives detonated for the same purpose, could be allowed on 110 square miles of Big Cypress National Preserve under a plan being considered by the National Park Service.

While the agency is seeking public comment on the plan through December 20, opponents are demanding that the Park Service conduct a full-blown environmental impact study on the energy survey promposed by Burnett Oil Company. 

Three alternatives the Park Service currently is seeking comment on as part of an environmental assessment of the project are:

* No Action – Continue Current Management

* Alternative 2 – Proposed Action – Seismic Survey Using Vibroseis Buggies

Under alternative 2, a 110-square-mile area would be surveyed using special off-road vehicles with attached mobile plates that would be placed against the ground, vibrated, and then moved on to the next location. The vibrations, or seismic acoustical signals, would be detected by an array of receivers to allow mapping of the subsurface geology.

* Alternative 3 – Seismic Survey Using Explosive Charges

Under alternative 3 the same 110-square-mile area would be surveyed as in Alternative 2, but the acoustic signals would be produced by underground explosive charges instead of Vibroseis buggies.

Environmentalists immediately criticized the plan, saying the EA conducted isn't sufficient to examine all the consequences and that this preliminary work could lead to "a major industrial operation" in the preseve.

The EA can be found at this site. You can provide comments online at that site or by mail to - Superintendent, Big Cypress National Preserve, 33100 Tamiami Trail East, Ochopee, Florida 34141-1000.

There will be a public meeting on December 8, from 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. at the Big Cypress Swamp Welcome Center, 33000 Tamiami Trail East, Ochopee, Florida, 34141. At that meeting NPS staff will be available to answer questions, and you will be allowed to submit written comments. 

While submitting comments, before including an address, phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment, including your personal identifying information, may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

Oil production within Big Cypress is not unusual. "Specifically, oil production within the Preserve includes Exxon’s Bear Island field (discovered in 1972) with 23 wells on 9 pads and Exxon’s Raccoon Point field (discovered in 1978), which included 17 wells on 5 pads (NPS 1992 GMP)," the Park Service notes in the EA.

In the 210-page EA, Big Cypress officials acknowledge that the proposed alternative to use thumper trucks "could potentially have some impact on protected wildlife, major game species, and other wildlife in the Preserve. Wildlife could display avoidance behaviors as a result of the seismic survey activities. Some species could be subjected to short-term stress during their breeding season. Although not anticipated, mortality/injury to wildlife could also occur."

But they add there could be benefits from additional "data acquisition, collection, and sharing with agency personnel."

There also could be adverse water quality and hydrology impacts, but those are envisioned to be short-term, the EA said.