Enviro groups sue feds to stop oil exploration in Florida’s Big Cypress

Share
Center for Biological Diversity
Jaclyn Lopez, Center for Biological Diversity. By Seán Kinane / WMNF News (28 July 2016).

Several environmental groups are suing the National Park Service to stop oil and gas exploration in Florida’s Big Cypress National Preserve.

Jaclyn Lopez is Florida director of the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the groups. She says permitted oil exploration in Big Cypress by Texas-Based Burnett Oil Company could harm drinking water and affect many different species of wildlife, including the Florida Panther.

Listen to the full interview here:

Other groups in the lawsuit against the National Park Service are the Natural Resources Defense Council, National Parks Conservation Association, Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Earthworks and South Florida Wildlands Association.

In an email statement, Associated Industries of Florida senior vice president of state and federal affairs Brewster Bevis writes:

“This lawsuit threatens the right of companies to do business in the State of Florida. Oil and gas exploration is one of the most heavily regulated industries, and Burnett has met all of the strict requirements set forth by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and the National Park Service. This lawsuit is an attempt to win in the court of law what they could not win through the open and transparent public review process.”

 

Leave a Reply

  • (will not be published)

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

You may also like

Ahead of the fifth anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, Tampa protestors prepare to rally again

Listen: This weekend will mark the fifth anniversary of the...

2025 Hurricane Season Outlook FPREN
The National Hurricane Center predicts above-average activity this 2025 hurricane season

National Hurricane Center: 2025 expected above-average activity; 13-19 named tropical...

The Scoop: Thur. May 22, 2025, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

WMNF headlines including bear hunting, book removal from schools, children's...

education
Ron DeSantis signs a bill addressing training for school security guards and other measures

The bill requires that school security guard training be conducted...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Emo Night Tampa Radio
Emo Night Tampa Radio