Florida Senate - 2016                             (NP)    SR 688
       
       
        
       By Senator Sobel
       
       
       
       
       
       33-00369-16                                            2016688__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution supporting a statewide ban on extreme
    3         hydraulic fracturing, acid fracturing, and any form of
    4         well stimulation or resource extraction in Florida.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, well stimulation, such as hydraulic and acid
    7  fracturing, frequently known as fracking and acidification,
    8  involve the use of chemicals and hazardous materials during
    9  construction, drilling, fracturing, gas production and delivery,
   10  well maintenance, and workover operations, and
   11         WHEREAS, fracturing of underground geologic formations is
   12  accomplished by injecting a complex mix of fluids and chemicals
   13  under very high pressure to create fractures in gas bearing
   14  geologic formations, and the water used is contaminated forever,
   15  and
   16         WHEREAS, the Environmental Protection Agency states that
   17  each fracturing uses from 30,000 to 13 million gallons of water,
   18  and each well can be fractured more than 13 times, and
   19         WHEREAS, well stimulation permanently pollutes millions of
   20  gallons of water with the chemicals used in fracking and
   21  acidification and with the radioactive materials and heavy
   22  metals in the flowback fluid that returns to the surface, and
   23         WHEREAS, many of the chemical constituents injected during
   24  fracturing have documented adverse health effects or adverse
   25  environmental impacts; for example, 60 percent of those
   26  chemicals can harm the brain and nervous system, 30 percent are
   27  suspected carcinogens, and 30 percent are developmental
   28  toxicants, and
   29         WHEREAS, there have been more than 1,000 documented cases
   30  of water contamination near fracking sites, and
   31         WHEREAS, wastewater from fracking can contain radioactive
   32  elements, and this wastewater has been discharged into rivers
   33  that supply drinking water for millions, and
   34         WHEREAS, use of these well stimulation chemical mixtures
   35  exposes adjacent land and surface waters to the risk of
   36  contamination through open pit storage, truck transport on
   37  roadways, and activities during well development, and
   38         WHEREAS, polluted water caused by well stimulation and
   39  fracking threatens the long-term economic well-being of
   40  communities because businesses and consumers depend on clean
   41  drinking water, and
   42         WHEREAS, oil and gas industries are not required by federal
   43  law to publicly disclose chemical formulas of well stimulation
   44  and fracturing fluids, so this information is publicly
   45  unavailable for health and safety purposes, and
   46         WHEREAS, wise stewardship of our natural resources involves
   47  protection of Florida’s water supplies and water resources for
   48  generations to come, and
   49         WHEREAS, protection of Florida’s water supplies and
   50  resources is better accomplished by prevention of contamination
   51  and environmental degradation, rather than attempting to clean
   52  up contamination and restore degraded environments after the
   53  fact, NOW, THEREFORE,
   54  
   55  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   56  
   57         That the Florida Senate supports a statewide ban on
   58  hydraulic fracturing, acid fracturing, and any form of extreme
   59  well stimulation and resource extraction, including prohibiting
   60  the disposal of related materials and byproducts, anywhere
   61  within the State of Florida or in the waters adjacent thereto.