HomeMy WebLinkAbout1310-16 ANTI-FRACKING FIIIIII 11111 11111111111111111111111111111111111 i II IIII IIII
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ORDINANCE NO. 1310-16 11/18/2016 K. R. M. , Dpty lerk
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ZEPHYRHILLS, FLORIDA,
RELATING TO ZONING; CREATING CHAPTER 157 PROHIBITING
USE OF LAND FOR WELL STIMULATION FOR OIL AND GAS IN THE
FORM OF HYDRAULIC FRACTURING("FRACKING")FOR PURPOSES
OF RESOURCE EXTRACTION AND OTHER SIMILAR
METHODOLOGIES FOR OIL AND GAS RESOURCE EXTRACTION IN
THE CITY LIMITS; PROVIDING LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS;
CREATING DEFINITIONS RELATING TO WELL STIMULATION;
PROHIBITING THE STORAGE AND/OR DISPOSAL OF WASTE FROM
WELL STIMULATION OPERATIONS; PROVIDING FOR
ENFORCEMENT AND PENALTIES; PROVIDING FOR, REPEALER,
SEVERABILITY,AND AN EFFECTIVE DATE. PAULA S.0'NEIL,Ph.D.PASCO CLERK & CO -TROLLER
11 ORB 019459 PG
WHEREAS, Florida Statutes §377.24(5) requires that prior to approval of an applicatio
for a permit to drill a gas or oil well, the governing authority of the municipality shall have firs
duly approved the application for such permit by resolution if the well is located within the
corporate limits of any municipality; and
WHEREAS, hydraulic and acid fracturing is accomplished by injecting a complex mix o
water, sand, and hazardous chemicals under very high pressure to create fractures in underground
gas-bearing geologic formations. The gas and oil are pumped back to the surface, along with
millions of gallons of"flow back", a mix of recovered fracking fluid, and water released from the
underground rock formations along with gas and oil. Flow back contains harmful contaminants J
such a naturally occurring radioactivity,heavy metals,hydrocarbons,brine, and other toxins. Thin
wastewater is. stored on the fracking site in pits, injected in deep underground disposal wells o
trucked off-site for treatment prior to discharge to surface waters; and
WHEREAS,these new methodologies clearly involve the use of chemicals and hazardous
materials during construction, drilling, fracturing, gas productions and delivery, and storage
operations; and
WHEREAS, fracturing uses anywhere from 30,000 gallons up to 13 million gallons o
water for each drilling operation, and each well site can be fractured over 13 times; and
WHEREAS, much of Florida's water supply comes from aquifers in highly permeable
limestone formations which are vulnerable to contamination from hydraulic fracturing activities
and
WHEREAS, clean water and clear air is fundamental to the health of Zephyrhills
environment and its economy; and
WHEREAS, the topographic, geological, and hydrological properties of the City and
surrounding area are extremely unique and sensitive, particularly with regard to the many karsi
features and wetlands found throughout this area of the County; and
WHEREAS,the Zephyrhills Council is cognizant of the Court's opinions in both Gem all
Asphalt-Products,--Inc. v. Town--of Sardinia,-87-IV-Y.---2d 668-(-i9-96,-and-Wallach---v--Town of-
Dryden, 23 N.Y. 3d 728 (2014) holding that nothing obligated a town that "contains extractable
minerals ... to permit them to be mined somewhere within the municipality" or "to permit the
exploitation of any and all natural resources within the town as a permitted use of limiting that us
is a reasonable exercise of its police powers to prevent damage to the rights of others and t
promote the interests of the community as a whole"; and
WHEREAS, in the Wallach case, the Court found that the Town of Dryden engaged in a
reasonable exercise of their zoning authority when they adopted local laws clarifying that hydro-
fracking was not a permissible use in any of the Town's zoning districts; and
Record and Return to: 1
City Clerk's Office
5335 8th Street
Zephyrhills, FL 33542
OR BK 9459 PG 2997
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z
WHEREAS, well stimulation using fracking chemicals is an industrial activity with
impacts typically associated with heavy industrial uses including storage of fracking chemicals
(including carcinogens and trade secret formulations); and
WHEREAS, well stimulation using fracking chemicals includes industrial water usage
generating waste, and flow back chemicals, and requires storage, transportation, processing, and
disposal of chemical wastes; and
WHEREAS, well simulation using fracking chemicals utilizes large tanker-trucks, heavy
industrial equipment and machinery, and requires transportation of fuel to power the heavy
industrial machinery at the well site; and
WHEREAS, heavy industrial activities and operations such as these often occur twenty-
four(24)hours per day, seven(7) days per week and includes lighting and noise and can"res'ult in
fugitive gas emission, including release of un-flared hazardous gases to the ambient air, and
WHEREAS,these heavy industrial activities also involve the storage, use and disposal of
additional chemicals, some of which are listed as Immediately Dangers to Life of Health(DLH's)
by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) including numerous chemicals contained in complex
chemical formulations including trade secrets; and
WHEREAS,: special equipment and training_is needed to _respond ,locally to oil well
emergencies, spills and releases at oil and gas wells using fracking chemicals;and
WHEREAS, specialized emergency equipment and training is required to adequately
respond to onsite emergency incidents and offsite collisions and vehicle accidents involving tanker
trucks transporting dangerous chemicals, fuel, oil, and waste to and from well site, including the
potential releases of toxic and dangerous gases; and
WHEREAS, there is limited local emergency response training and equipment and
response time capabilities; and
WHEREAS, oil well simulation using fracking chemicals is not a compatible use of land
with surrounding residential, commercial, office/institutional, and agricultural designated land, or
wildlife habitat and existing urban, suburban, and agricultural landscapes in the City of
Zephyrhills; and
WHEREAS,the City finds and determines that the exploration for oil and natural gas and
extraction_of natural gas through means of well simulation constitutes a nuisance and poses a
significant environmental threat to the residents;and
WHEREAS, the City desires to exercise its home rule powers and zoning authority under
Chapter 163 and 166, Florida Statutes, to prohibit well stimulation at oil and gas and production
wells to prevent any damage to the community and protect health, safety, and welfare.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED by the City Council of the City of
Zephyrhills, Florida, as follows:
Section 1. Authority.
This Ordinance is enacted pursuant to Chapter 163, Florida Statutes, and under the home
rule.powers of the City.
Section 2. Legislative Findings of Fact.
The foregoing WHEREAS clauses are hereby adopted as legislative findings of the City
Council of the City of Zephyrhills and are ratified and confirmed as being true and correct and are
hereby made a specific part of this Ordinance upon adoption hereof.
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OR BK 9459 PG 2998
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Section 3. City of Zephyrhills Anti-Fracking Ordinance.
A new ordinance to be known as the "City of Zephyrhills Anti-Fracking Ordinance" is
hereby created as part of TITLE XV: LAND USAGE, of the Zephyrhills, FL Code of Ordinances
as follows:
Chapter 157—Fracking Prohibited
Section 157.01. Purpose
The purpose of this Chapter is to provide additional protections against
incompatible land uses in the City of Zephyrhills by prohibiting the use of lands in the
City of Zephyrhills for oil and gas exploration or production through Hydraulic
Fracturing ("Fracking") for purposes of resource extraction and other -similar
methodologies for oil and gas resource extraction.
Section 157.02. Definitions.
"Flow Back" shall mean the fluids that return to the surface after a well
stimulation technique has been performed at a well.
"Well Stimulation" shall mean a well intervention, exploration, operation, or
maintenance procedure performed by injecting any fluid into a rock formation in order to
increase production at an oil or gas well by improving the flow of hydrocarbons from the
formation into the wellbore. Well stimulation includes, but is not limited to hydraulic
fracturing, acid fracturing, and acid-matrix stimulation, commonly known as "fracking".
Well stimulation does not include routine well cleaning that does not affect the integrity
of the well or the formation.
"Well Stimulation Waste Product"means water, hydraulic fracturing fluid, acid,
natural gas, stream, air carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and other chemical substances
(including all solutions and mixtures of the same in an concentration) which have been
used for High Intensity Petroleum Operation or some part thereof.
Section 157.03. Well Stimulation Prohibited.
No person shall cause, suffer, permit, or allow the use of any form of extreme
well stimulation, including, but not limited to, hydraulic fracturing, acid fracturing, and
cyclic stream injection for oil, gas, or similar resource extraction within the Zephyrhills
limits. This prohibition shall apply regardless of whether the surface access point"for any
such storage or disposal operations is located on land governed by „the- City of
Zephyrhills.
Section 157.04. Nuisance.
The use of such well stimulation methods is expressly declared to be-a nuisance
and to cause pollution within the meaning of said term as defined above, and to be an
illicit discharge pursuant to this Ordinance.
Section 157:05.-Applicability-of-L-and-Development Code.— -
Notwithstanding anything else in the Land Development Code to the contrary and
regardless of whether any special exception, conditional use, site plan, subdivision plan,
or other development approval is requested from the City or other regulatory agency or
body, the storage and/or disposal of Well-Stimulation Waste Products shall not be an
allowable use in any land use district and shall be otherwise prohibited over, under, on,
within, and through all of the land governed by the Land Development Code. This
prohibition shall apply regardless of whether the surface access point for any such storage
or disposal operations is located on land governed by the Land Development Code.
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OR BK 9459 PG 2999
Section 157.06. Discharge of Waste Prohibited.
No person may discharge or cause to be discharged into any sanitary or storm
sewer any flow back or other wastewater resulting from a well stimulation.
Section 157.07. Penalties.
Any and all violation of the Ordinance shall constitute a separate Class VI offense
as set forth in the Uniform Fine and Citation Schedule as adopted by the Sixth Judicial
Circuit, and shall be prosecuted as provided in Section 162.21, Florida Statutes. Each
violation and each day constituting a violation shall be fined and prosecuted as a separate
offense.
Section 4. Repealer
Any and all ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby repealed to the extent of any conflict.
Section 5. Severability.
It is declared to be the intent of the City Council of the City of Zephyrhills, Florida, that if
any section, subsection, sentence, clause, or provision of this ordinance is held invalid, the
remainder of the ordinance shall be construed as not having continued the said section, subsection,
sentence, clause, or provision and shall not be affected by such holding.
Section 6. Inclusion into the Code.
It is the intent of the City Council that the provisions of this Ordinance shall become and
be made a part of the City of Zephyrhills code, and that the sections of this Ordinance may be
renumbered or re-lettered and the word "ordinance" may be changed to "section," "article,"
"regulation," or such other appropriate word or phrase in order to accomplish such intentions.
Section 7. Effective Date.
This Ordinance shall become effective upon passage on the second reading and signing by
the
?� • 'T� r� oirt�, dinance No. 1310-16 was read and passed on the first reading in an open
e rag o the City Council of the City of Zephyrhills, Florida, on this 24th day of
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At�S� ( ,.J_-_
1..a ,City Clerk Kenneth V. Compton, Council President
The foregoing-Ordinance No. 1310-16 was read and passed on the second reading, following a
public.,,he r "}}p an open and regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Zephyrhills,
Flo�ri 1igg•1' Yiay of November, 2016.tmar `Cy Clerk Kenneth V. Compton, Council President_ _
No. 1310-16 was approved by me this 14th day of November, 2016.
k>1&49 I
Gen itfield, Ma
Approved as to legal form and legal content Matthew E. Maggard2,€Ic Attorney
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