The Miami Herald
www.miami.com

Timetable set to sell oil-rich Florida seabed
U.S. auction prompts new appeal from governor to halt Gulf Coast plan

BY MIMI WHITEFIELD
Thursday, April 19, 2001

Despite objections from Gov. Jeb Bush, the federal government has set a schedule to auction six million acres of oil-and-gas-rich seabed off Florida's Gulf Coast.

If the leases are successfully auctioned off in December as planned, oil companies will begin the lengthy process of getting state and federal approvals to dot the eastern Gulf with rigs and start pumping.

The timetable, outlined in a letter from Interior Secretary Gale Norton, sparked a new appeal from the governor on Wednesday to cancel the sale, rather than put the state's beaches at risk.

``The vast majority of Floridians recognize that not just their lifestyle, but indeed for many their very livelihoods, are rooted in the knowledge that our coast will be forever free of this risk,'' Bush said in a letter dispatched to Norton.

The dispute over the leases places Bush in the uncomfortable position of disagreeing with the administration of his brother, President George W. Bush, a former Texas oilman who also has advocated opening wilderness areas in Alaska for exploration.

Gov. Bush had sent a sharply worded letter to the Interior Department in January asking for cancellation of so-called Sale 181, which covers an Idaho-shaped area in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. It could produce 396 million barrels of oil and 2.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas.

But Norton responded last week that the administration planned to issue a proposed notice of sale of the leases off the coasts of Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana in July and contemplated making a final decision in October.

Currently, auction of the leases is scheduled in December. They would be the first leases sold in the eastern Gulf of Mexico since 1988.

Florida, fearing pollution from spills during drilling or transportation, has long taken the position that no oil or gas drilling should occur within 100 miles of its coast, and Gov. Bush is opposed to any drilling in the entire Eastern Gulf.

The bulk of the Sale 181 area is more than 100 miles off Florida's coasts, but a narrow arm juts northward to within 30 miles of Perdido Key.

Once pipeline infrastructure is installed and offshore production begins, Bush said in his most recent letter to Norton, ``further encroachment towards our beaches will become inevitable.''

Lease Sale 181, said the governor, contemplates putting drilling platforms well within 100 miles of some Florida beaches. ``These beaches are considered by many to be among the best in the world,'' he wrote. ``With the recent photographs of the collapsed drilling platform off of Brazil on the front pages of many of our newspapers, there is probably now more unanimity among Floridians on this issue than ever before.

``I trust you will take Florida's longstanding and strongly held position into account as you move forward with your critically important challenge.''

But at this point the Interior Department appears unswayed by the governor's pleas.

In Norton's letter to Bush, released Tuesday, she said that Sale 181 can play ``an important role in our national energy strategy'' and that it was selected for leasing from several alternatives.

Norton did pledge to work closely with Florida leading up to a final decision, and to balance the potential for harm to the environment against the potential contribution of oil and gas resources for the nation's energy supply.

A final environmental impact statement for the area is scheduled to be issued in June.

``We by no means regard this as a fait accompli. We're hopeful as they complete testing they'll find, as we do, that drilling off the Eastern Gulf is not in the best interest of Florida,'' said Katie Baur, the governor's communications director.

Leases to drill for oil or natural gas off Florida's coast have been granted previously, but that doesn't guarantee that drilling will actually occur. State and federal environmental and commerce agencies -- including the Interior Department, Environmental Protection Agency and National Marine Fisheries Service -- can and do weigh in with objections that can delay or derail any drilling.

For the past few years, Chevron has been seeking federal permission to exercise its lease of the so-called Destin Dome, an enormous natural gas deposit 25 miles south of Pensacola. The company failed to get permission from the Clinton administration, in large part because of Florida's opposition.

House Democratic Leader Lois Frankel said she planned to introduce a resolution in the Florida House supporting efforts to protect the coast from oil and gas drilling.

``While some may look at our state's Gulf Coast and see the potential for making billions of dollars in the oil game, those who love Florida see our pristine coastline as a natural treasure we must protect,'' Frankel said.

``It's critical that Florida speaks with one clear voice and reject big oil's threatened trespass into our Gulf waters.''