A search for oil on the Everglades’ western shore is raising both hopes and fears of an oil boom that could be a threat to the underground water supply, according to the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
While energy companies are planning to seek approval and/or drill near the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge and National Wildlife Refuge, a plan that could expand Florida’s oil production and boost jobs, environmental activists fear that drilling could adversely affect South Florida’s delicate ecosystem, threatening wildlife and posing a hazard to the aquifer.