Mitch Perry
(updated)People opposed to legislation that would permit hydraulic fracking in Florida are gearing up for protest rallies during the next few days.
Events were scheduled this past Saturday in Miami, Orlando, Tallahassee, Inverness, and Gainesville.
There will be a rally in Hillsborough County later on Monday – it will take place at 5:30 p.m. at Clayton Lake Park, 619 Vondenburg Drive in Brandon.
Last week the state House approved a bill to allow fracking throughout the state as early as 2017, following an inquiry into its environmental and health effects. The bill, though, doesn’t require fracking companies to disclose the chemicals or potential carcinogens used in the process and mandates that local communities cannot ban it. The bill also calls for the state Department of Environmental Protection to conduct a $1 million study looking at the potential effect of fracking on the state’s geology and water supply.
“Yesterday, over 27 counties said they wanted to ban fracking yet you are up here representing your county and you’re just going to push that green button just because your leadership says ‘do it,’” said Rep. Larry Lee, a Port St. Lucie Democrat during debate on the House floor. “It’s wrong.”
The bill does allow local governments to adopt and enforce zoning and land-use regulations as long as those rules don’t “impose a moratorium on, effectively prohibit, or inordinately burden” fracking activities.
More information regarding the rallies is available via this Facebook page.
Staff writer Jenna Buzzacco-Foerster contributed to this report.
