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Traveler's View: Biden Administration Should Block Big Cypress Oil Drilling

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Big Cypress National Preserve should be off-limits to oil and gas production/NPS file

Whoever is confirmed as Interior secretary for the Biden administration should shut down Burnett Oil Co.'s plans to drill for oil in Big Cypress National Preserve and bring an end to any new prospecting or drilling in the biologically diverse and ecologically vital park in South Florida.

There is nothing to gain by allowing Burnett's pending drilling proposals to go forward and a lot to gain by better protecting a landscape rife with threatened and endangered species and which is a conduit for roughly 40 percent of the water that flows through neighboring Everglades National Park and into Florida Bay.

Why open the door to possibly seeing an area larger than Shenandoah National Park in Virginia or Zion National Park in Utah explored and drilled for oil at a time when the country is trying to slow climate change, when places such as Big Cypress can play a vital role in slowing the sixth mass extinction, and when the Biden administration has endorsed the "30 by 30" initiative to protect 30 percent of U.S. lands and waters by 2030?

Would oil production be allowed in Yellowstone if the mineral rights were privately owned?/Kurt Repanshek file

Does anyone believe for a minute that if there were privately owned mineral resources below Yellowstone National Park that they would be allowed to be developed? Why should Big Cypress be viewed any less deserving of such protection?

Burnett already has applied for the requisite state and federal permits to drill for oil. How long it might take for those applications to be processed remains to be seen, though it could be as soon as this summer, which could open the door for drilling work to begin in the fall. 

Though Big Cypress Superintendent Thomas Forsyth has said the park staff is preparing an environmental assessment on the drilling proposal, which includes two well pads with horizontal drilling techniques used to tap multiple wells, the project deserves a more intensive environmental impact statement. 

The Traveler was told last week by Park Service regional officials in Atlanta that an EA was deemed appropriate by "an interdisciplinary team (that) analyzed previous nonfederal oil and gas rights regulatory actions that have occurred in the Big Cypress National Preserve and determined the operations proposed would be similar in anticipated impacts."

That statement raises questions of what documents the interdisciplinary team was looking at, for some of the ones available point to the risk of substantial impacts. Big Cypress has been managed under a general management plan adopted in 1991 -- 30 years ago. Part of that plan included a review of how oil and gas development, which is allowed under the preserve's enabling legislation, could impact Big Cypress.

Here are some key takeaways from the GMP's Appendix B: Area of Influence for Oil and Gas Development:

  • Exploration and drilling activities may last for only a few months, but a single production activity may last as long as 40 to 80 years. Reclamation activities, regardless of how well they are performed, may still not provide a total return to a natural condition.
  • The vast expanses of prairie in the central and southern portions of the preserve would allow oil and gas developments to be seen at great distances ( possibly 2-3 miles ), particularly during drilling operations.
  • Visually, reclaimed roads and pads may require many decades to return to a somewhat natural condition.
  • Surface spills of production fluids would affect surface water quality near producing wells. Spills of crude oil or brines would be possible at the wellhead, at the tank battery, or along the pipelines. While crude oil can have severe effects on the environment, brine spills may be more damaging in both the short - and long - term.
  • The amount of freshwater used for drilling operations in the preserve can be enormous. Freshwater wells for oil and gas drilling operations are generally drilled on the pad. The average volume of freshwater extracted during a typical 45-day drilling operation in the preserve is 1,323,000 gallons. Wastewater is then pumped into the " boulder zone, " a deeper brackish water zone and unconsolidated formation found between 1,800 and 4, 000 feet.
  • The National Park Service has calculated the distance that an oil spill could travel, based on maximum surface water flow rate and probable detection and containment time. Although surface water flow rates have not been determined in the preserve, Leach et .al ( 1972 ) reported that flow rates in the Everglades ranged from 0 to 1,550 feet/day. The maximum of 1,550 feet/day was used in the calculation because the preserve probably has a slightly higher gradient than the Everglades.
  • If oil or brine was spilled or leaked onto dry ground, it could percolate downward to the groundwater table. Upon reaching groundwater, most of the constituents would spread along the groundwater surface and assume the direction of lateral groundwater flow, making cleanup extremely difficult and costly. A loss of produced water brines from an earthen storage pit from 1984 to 1986 degraded groundwater quality and resulted in damage to vegetation downgradient from the impoundment. A 3-acre "dead zone" of pond cypress was reported, and abnormal pond cypress growth was reported in a 7-acre area, extending approximately 700 feet from the source (NPS, Roy et .al 1987).

There are more concerns raised in the Final Environmental Impact Statement attached to the GMP, and they're equally worrisome. The fact alone that those conclusions were raised 30 years ago should be enough to justify an EIS on Burnett's current plans to see 1) if technology has mitigated some of them or, 2) how Burnett would respond to a worse-case situation.

Cardinal airplant, Big Cypress National Preserve/Kurt Repanshek

The Cardinal airplant is listed by the state of Florida as an endangered species/Kurt Repanshek

What also can't be overlooked are the floral and faunal wonders that reside at Big Cypress, and which need Big Cypress to survive. The state of Florida lists nearly 70 plant species within Big Cypress as endangered, and if you include threatened species, the state’s tally reaches 100 for the preserve. More than 30 species of orchids grow in Big Cypress, perhaps most notable among them the ghost orchid that snakes its roots around the trunk of its host tree, anchoring its beautiful flowers.

Then there's the resident charismatic megafauna, the Florida panther, which some view as the most endangered mammal on the continent. The 1991 EIS noted the panther, and how it was coping (or not coping) with oil development in the preserve's Bear Island and Raccoon Point oil fields:

Habitat loss and fragmentation, and disruption of normal travel routes, are concerns in the preserve, especially as they relate to the Florida panther. Large predators may be severely affected by development activities due to their secretive nature and tendency to avoid humans ( BLM 1979 ). Panthers are believed to be relatively sensitive to human intrusion into their habitat ( USFWS 1987a ). While the best documented panther populations in the preserve coincide with the Bear Island and Raccoon Point oil fields, which could indicate a fairly high tolerance level, the current population is a remnant of a once larger, more vigorous population in the region. The demise has been attributed to loss of habitat quality due to many things, including petroleum operations and road construction ( FGFWFC 1985c ; USFWS 1986).

At day's end, there is no need to risk Big Cypress's incredible natural and cultural resources for oil, or that of Everglades next door, and the preserve's enabling legislation gives the Interior secretary the authority to step in and block it.

"No improved property, as defined by this Act, nor oil and gas rights, shall be acquired without the consent of the owner unless the Secretary, in his judgment, determines that such property is subject to, or threatened with, uses which are, or would be, detrimental to the purposes of the preserve."

Instead of spending more time and money on an EIS, which clearly is the prudent approach to reviewing Burnett's drilling plans, the Biden administration should step in where other administrations have failed and either purchase the mineral rights or, if the parties can't agree on a reasonable value, simply block the project from going any further.

Past Traveler stories pertaining to this project include:

Mixing Oil And Water At Big Cypress National Preserve

Army Corps Finds Big Cypress National Preserve Oil Exploration Caused Adverse Impacts

Army Corps Reverses Position On Oil Company's Impacts On Big Cypress National Preserve

Groups Want Florida To Purchase Big Cypress National Preserve Mineral Rights

Burnett Oil Inching Towards Drilling At Big Cypress National Preserve

Oil Drilling At Big Cypress National Preserve Might Not Require EIS

Geologists Share Their Concerns With Drilling For Oil In Big Cypress

Review Of Oil Drilling Plans At Big Cypress Could Lead To EIS

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Comments

Use LWCF Funds to buy out Burnett Oil stake to this area.   Why is this so hard???


I support NPT's efforts.


Thank you for the article. Sadly, the majority of Floridians seem to be unaware, or feel powerless to the situation. But, the reality is, we have all the power to stop this. Their are countless wealthy entertainers and media people that have residences in Florida. Why don't they help????


This land will not stand this abuse much longer. If big oil gets its way then exticion is inevitable, kiss your grandbabies goodbye, because the future is nonexistant if you kill the planet where we all live.


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