Destructive plan to search for oil in SWFL retreats
By Environmental Policy Manager Amber Crooks
The Conservancy’s long-term persistence has paid off, as the extremely destructive oil project proposed by Tocala, LLC has been withdrawn. Once in our sights, the Conservancy will fight against a bad project every step of the way.
For the past six years, the environmentally sensitive lands of Collier and Hendry counties have been at direct risk of a damaging seismic survey that would have used thousands of explosive-laden shot holes to search for oil reserves. And for the past six years, the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and others in the environmental community have fought this plan.
The ebb and flow of gas prices during that period map play a role in the project’s feasibility, but what’s clear is that the Conservancy’s long-term commitment to fight Tocala’s ill-conceived proposal has delayed the project for years. Thankfully, it now appears that Tocala’s thousands and thousands of proposed shot holes are no longer being pursued. These shot holes — up to 8,800 proposed at one point — would have been packed with explosives and placed up to 100 feet deep to create the seismic waves used to record the oil reserve data.
The Conservancy identified that these shot holes would not only pock-mark the landscape, but also pose a threat to our aquifers. Shot holes can act as conduits for pollutants to enter our drinking water supply.
Further, this large project, originally proposed on over 100,000 acres, also threatened endangered species. The project would have been located on a mix of public and private lands, but all of it is important habitat to the Florida panther and other imperiled species.
Perhaps the most disturbing part of Tocala’s proposal was that its survey was going to include public lands like the Dinner Island Ranch Wildlife Management Area. As a member of the Ranch’s Management Advisory Group, the Conservancy has long expressed concern about how privately owned mineral rights under the Ranch could result in threats to surface resources on this 21,000+ acre preserve. Dinner Island Ranch was acquired specifically to protect Florida panther habitat and the habitats of other vulnerable species. Tocala’s project would have not only threatened wildlife, but also critical restoration projects.
Tocala threatened to damage the Big Cypress Area of Critical State Concern, a designation that signifies this area as containing natural resources of major statewide significance. Tocala was just a few miles north of where the Burnett seismic survey, using massive vibroseis trucks, was conducting similar activities within the Big Cypress National Preserve. Whether taken individually or cumulatively, these projects pose major threats to our natural resources: our water, our land, our wildlife and our future.
The Conservancy will continue its fight to ban the use of advanced well stimulation treatments, such as fracking and matrix acidizing, and against oil projects in our region that threaten environmentally sensitive lands.
For more information, visit the Conservancy’s website at Conservancy.org/our-work/policy/oil.
