BOARD EXPANDS SPRINGS PROTECTION

‘There’s no good place for an oil spill in Wakulla,’ so protections made county-wide

By WILLIAM SNOWDEN Editor

County Commission Chairman Ralph Thomas proposed expanding the ordinance on springs protection to the whole county.
“We all agree there’s no good place for an oil spill in Wakulla County,” Thomas said at the meeting, recommending the ordinance be expanded from the Wakulla Springs Protection Area to make it county-wide.
A number of citizens continued to express concerns about the proposed ordinance – most insisting that it does not go far enough in protecting groundwater.
The proposed ordinance would require more stringent soil testing before any sort of underground tank with a regulated substance could be permitted. The regulations basically focus on gasoline – all hazardous substances would be required to be in above-ground tanks, but the Environmental Protection Agency regards gasoline as a regulated substance, not a hazardous one. Several citizens have questioned why gasoline is not considered a hazardous substance; several have also spoken on putting all tanks above ground.
It was noted at a past meeting and repeated by County Attorney Heather Encinosa that gasoline in above-ground tanks are potentially explosive and would face factors such as hurricanes.
The county has gotten no feedback from the state Department of Environmental Protection on the proposed ordinance.
The main objection to the ordinance is that there should be some sort of setback from where known cave systems are located. The problem is, as Thomas pointed out, the underground cave system in Wakulla is not easily surveyed above ground. Where would a surveyor put red flags to mark the cave to know where to setback from?
The issue continues to be framed over the proposed gas station at U.S. Highway 319 and Bloxham Cutoff, withdrawn last year, that would be located on property with a known cavern. It was, in fact, that proposed development that led commissioners to direct staff to come up a new springs protection ordinance that would give them the rationale to reject such development.