Bush’s drilling deal shields Glades, gulf
WASHINGTON — Defusing two longstanding environmental disputes, President Bush and Gov. Jeb Bush announced deals Wednesday that could prevent drilling for natural gas off Florida’s gulf coast and block the expansion of oil wells in a federal preserve beside the Everglades.
The federal government will pay Chevron and two other companies $115-million for oil and gas leases in an area of the Gulf of Mexico known as Destin Dome, about 25 miles off the beaches of Pensacola.
Separately, the government plans to pay $120-million in cash or credits to the Collier family, one of South Florida’s largest land developers, to stop drilling for oil in the Big Cypress National Preserve and other areas of South Florida.
The deals won’t end the threat of drilling near Florida’s coast, nor will they stop production in Big Cypress, where pumping could continue for 10 years.
President Bush said the agreements show the federal government is “a strong partner” in protecting the environment. And Gov. Bush, boasting that Florida has some of the world’s best beaches, said: “It just did not seem right that 25 miles off the coast there might be drilling. Today, that possibility doesn’t exist.”
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ChevronTexaco spokesman Fred Gorell said his company was “very disappointed,” and Conoco spokesman Carlton Adams said, “’When you spend the number of years that we have, and the effort that went into this, and you know there are considerable natural gas reserves there, then there’s a sense of, ‘Gee, I wish we could have.’ “
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/05/30/State/Bush_s_drilling_deal_.shtml
That Saint Pete article was accurate at the time it was written. But, Area 181 South was added to Area 181 in 2006.
thanks for info, I should amend my prior comment that Bush was always for offshore drilling ... as for the press bias: “The deals wont end the threat of drilling near Floridas coast”
What threat? Natural gas drilling is no threat. Has anyone ever seen a natural gas spill? Nothing can be more inconsequential for a beach than a natural gas drilling platform 50 miles offshore. We could have 1,000 of them offshore and nobody would have a hint of a difference.