A Southwest Florida lawmaker wants to put some rules in place for potential fracking in Florida, even though there currently is no fracking in the state just yet.
Freshman state Rep. Ray Rodrigues, R-Estero, said he wants to make sure Florida doesn’t have the same problems other states have faced when hosting fracking operations
Rodrigues said the state needs to have some regulations in place before an energy company starts fracking in Florida. Fracking is a way to mine for natural gas by pushing high pressured water and chemicals into rock formations in order to release the gas from below.
Rodrigues said the state should have regulations in place that require a company to disclose which chemicals they are using when they frack.
“The time to do that in Florida is now—before fracking begins,” he said. "That way we have the framework in place before any fracking is occurring. You'll always know what chemicals were injected into the ground throughout the fracking process.”
Some states have had to deal with contaminated groundwater near fracking sites. There have been reports that some energy companies have shown interest in fracking in Southwest Florida—however, scientists say this area is an unlikely place for that.
