IS FRACKING IN FLORIDA'S FUTURE?

Fracking fears hit fever pitch as seismic tests begin
Jeff Burlew, Democrat senior writer 4:59 p.m. EDT August 4, 2016
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(Photo: Ashley White/Democrat)
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A Texas company has begun seismic testing for oil and gas in Calhoun and Gulf counties, heightening fears among anti-fracking activists that the controversial drilling technique will come to North Florida.

Cholla Petroleum, a Dallas-based company, hasn’t said whether it would frack if it finds oil and gas in the rural counties just west of Tallahassee. But consultants for Cholla have maintained for months that fracking wouldn’t be necessary in North Florida given its porous, limestone geology.

Anti-fracking forces, however, remain skeptical.

“I’m not buying it,” said Deborah Brown, an agronomy student at Florida A&M University who lives around the swath of land where the testing is happening.

Concerns over fracking hit a fever pitch this week because of the seismic testing and other recent developments, including the arrival in Blountstown of a company with links to the oil and gas industry.

The business, BKW, Inc., of Pensacola, specializes in land clearing and site work, something it did several years ago for a general contractor ahead of a fracking operation in North Dakota.

But Karen Webb, president of BKW, said the company opened its office in Blountstown about a month ago after landing contracts to repair dirt roads damaged by flooding. She was surprised to learn the opening had set off alarm bells among environmentalists.

“Fracking is just not something that we do or are involved in,” she said.

BKW, which helped clean up after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, touted on its website its experience hauling materials in and out of the fracking operation in North Dakota’s Bakken Formation. However, the company removed online references to fracking after it was contacted Wednesday by the Tallahassee Democrat.

“Anything is possible, I guess,” said Bill Webb, the company’s vice president. “But we don’t have any direct connections to any oil companies or anybody who would be doing that.”

Fracking opponents say they have plenty of reasons to be on heightened alert. Lawmakers two years running have tried unsuccessfully to pass bills setting up a legal framework around hydraulic fracturing. And Calhoun County commissioners have opted not to approve measures opposing or banning fracking.

Last week, the Florida Environmental Regulation Commission approved new limits on toxic compounds that can be discharged into rivers, lakes and estuaries. The limits include a relaxed potable water standard for benzene, a cancer-causing ingredient in fracking. State officials have denied any link between fracking and the new limits.

“It seems suspicious to me that all of these things are happening at the same time,” said William Wallace, a retired microbiologist and founder of Calhoun County Citizens Against Fracking.

Cholla is conducting seismic testing on private land stretching from about 17 miles south of Blountstown in Calhoun County to just north of Wewahitchka in coastal Gulf County. The project is located north of the fragile Apalachicola Bay and around the picturesque Dead Lakes.

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The testing involves the detonation of small explosive charges at the bottom of hundreds of shot holes located along about 60 miles of crisscrossing lines.

Acoustic waves from the explosions go deep underground into rock layers and bounce back to the surface, where they’re recorded by thousands of listening devices. Resulting data is analyzed to find potential oil and gas prospects.

Linda Lampl, president and CEO of Lampl Herbert Consultants, a Tallahassee firm working with Cholla, doesn’t expect the company to frack if oil and gas is found. She said fracking wouldn’t be required because of Florida’s karst geology.

“Fracking is done in tight shale where it’s more difficult or impossible to extract through conventional drilling,” she said. “That’s what I would expect to see — a conventional method. That’s if they think there’s something possibly there.”

The state earlier this year issued permits for Cholla to conduct testing only. The company would have to go through new rounds of permitting if it wanted to take part in exploratory or production drilling.

Cholla has plans in place to avoid harm to the environment, cultural resources and wildlife during testing, and independent observers are monitoring the operation. The testing and cleanup is expected to wrap by Labor Day.

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or follow @JeffBurlew on Twitter.