Traveler's View: Big Cypress National Preserve Drilling Plan Needs EIS

Once the Biden administration has a Senate-confirmed Interior secretary, that person needs to see that the National Park Service conducts an environmental impact statement, not a less rigorous environmental assessment, on the current plans to drill for oil in Big Cypress National Preserve.

Nothing less should be expected to protect the integrity not only of the nation's first national preserve, but also that of Everglades National Park next door. What is potentially at risk from drilling activities -- not just from the actual drilling itself, but also the supporting roads and other infrastructure needed to enable it -- is a landscape rife with threatened and endangered species and which is a conduit for roughly 40 percent of the water that flows through Everglades.

Though Big Cypress Superintendent Thomas Forsyth has said the park staff will prepare an environmental assessment on the drilling proposal put forth by Burnett Oil Co., a proposal that includes two well pads supporting a horizontal drilling project that can tap multiple wells, the project deserves a more intensive environmental impact statement. And not just because of the natural resources at risk.

Think not? Track down a copy of the preserve's 1991 general management plan -- that's right, the preserve is being managed under a 30-year-old plan that doesn't take into consideration current drilling technology or practices -- and dig into Appendix B: Area of Influence for Oil and Gas Development. Here are some key takeaways:

• 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 ( personal communication, Palmer, Exxon 1987 ). 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 1991 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.

What also can't be overlooked are the floral and faunal wonders that reside at Big Cypress, and which need a healthy 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 with oil development in the preserve's Bear Island and Raccoon Point 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).

Something else shouldn’t be overlooked. The state of Florida and the federal government are investing billions of dollars — that’s billions with a b — to restore the river of grass and improve the health of the Everglades.  

Why stop short of doing the most intensive and rigorous assessment of proposals to drill for oil in one of the most biodiverse and vital ecosystems not only in the National Park System, but also on the continent?