It was a full house during the Madison County Commission meeting on Wednesday, April 27 as the commissioners held the final public hearing for the possible enactment of the ordinance prohibiting fracking in Madison County.
First at the podium was Mack Primm, who declared he was offering a rebuttal for all of the reasons supporters of fracking presented at the last public hearing on April 13. “In my own opinion, it's too risky for us to look at this and say 'alright, let's go for this,'” said Primm. “We can't take a chance with our water [supply]. We can come up with [an alternative] for oil, but not for water.”
John Dickert, who made an appearance at the first public hearing, stated that allowing fracking is too big of a risk to take due to Florida's fragile karst topography. “Florida's topography makes water contamination a real possibility,” said Dickert. He presented the commissioners with a poster that displayed all of the sinkholes in Florida.
Next up at the podium, encouraging the commissioners to ban fracking, was Garden Club President, Susan Mohnen. Alongside of Mohnen was Laura Coleman, past President of the Madison Garden Club. “This issue is about our health and preserving our clean water supply,” said Mohnen. “By no means is it a partisan issue and it should never be a partisan issue.” Mohnen went on to say that fracking by the gas and oil industry is exempt from those acts that protect our air and water, such as: the National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, Safe Drinking Water Act, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Superfund Act and Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act. “Every other industry except hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas must follow those rules. That is why there is no safe way to frack,” said Mohnen.
Jeanne Bass of the Planning and Zoning Board for Madison County informed the commissioners that during the April 7 Planning and Zoning Board meeting that the board voted to enact the ordinance against fracking, not to take away the property rights of others, but to protect them if something risky occurs with the water supply. “[Gas and oil] companies target poor, rural communities,” said Bass. “I feel like we could be targeted if we don't put something in place.”
There were several others who urged the commissioners to pass the ordinance, including Ray Bellamy, a Tallahassee physician; Dr. Marc Freeman, a retired neurophysiology professor at Florida State University; Courtney Wilder, a James Madison Preparatory High School student who spoke for her generation; Howard Kessler, MD, Wakulla County Commissioner, who urged the commissioners to follow the lead of the Wakulla County Commission, who banned fracking unanimously; Gale Dickert, of Madison; Bryce Burgeron, a first-year medical student at FSU and several others. Each echoed each others' reasoning for taking a stand against fracking, all listing reasons why it's important to protect the health of the community, as well as the water supply and environment.
However, not everyone was in support of the ordinance. JP Maultsby asked the commissioners to reject the ordinance. “I do disagree with a lot of the things said this evening,” said Maultsby. “You cannot overlook the benefits of fracking.”
Maultsby stated that from a business perspective, fracking is beneficial. “It's made a tremendous difference in Madison,” said Maultsby. “The risks have been blown out of proportion. You can't take everything you read or hear as the truth, especially [from] impassioned people.” He went on to say that he does not believe there is anyone trying to do fracking in Madison, so banning the ordinance is not necessary. “I do not believe that passing this ordinance encourages jobs or the economy,” said Maultsby. “If you're not prepared to reject the ordinance, seek an alternative method.”
Bob Bezick took to the podium and encouraged the commissioners to do more research on fracking before deciding whether to ban it or not.
“Sometimes just passing a law becomes encumbering to the citizens,” said Bezick. “You can't just pass a law banning something most people don't have a good angle on. Let's put it on the back burner and find out what [fracking] is all about. We need a little more to decipher what is risky and not.”
After hearing all of the sides of the issue, the county commissioners thanked the public for providing their opinions. Commissioner Alfred Martin motioned to enact the ordinance banning fracking, seconded by Commissioner Wayne Vickers. The enactment of the ordinance was approved, 5-0.
With that, those in support of the ordinance gave a standing ovation, their satisfaction with the commissioners' decision clear through their loud applause, tearful eyes and wide smiles.