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Nelson: Map shows drilling moving closer

The senator says it shows the Interior Department is looking at moving closer to Florida shores.

By WES ALLISON
Published June 9, 2005

WASHINGTON - The Interior Department is considering whether to allow oil and gas drilling in a vast swath of the eastern Gulf of Mexico, coming within 160 miles of Tampa Bay, according to U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson.

If approved, the drilling could begin as early as 2007. Most of it would be more than 200 miles offshore, a map shows, but it would reach into waters covered by a Clinton-era moratorium aimed at blocking drilling in the eastern gulf until 2012.

The area runs from St. Petersburg to just south of Naples.

It also would overlap with the Eglin Gulf Test and Training Area, where the U.S. Air Force and Navy train pilots and sailors and conduct live-fire operations.

Nelson, a Democrat who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, recently obtained a copy of the map from the Air Force, and on Wednesday he met with the undersecretary of the Navy to tell him of the potential encroachment.

Nelson staffers said officials at Eglin Air Force Base, in the Panhandle, created the map using information provided by the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service, which oversees offshore oil and gas drilling.

The agency is working on its next five-year plan, covering 2007-2012, and it frequently consults with the military about offshore projects. A draft of the plan is expected to be released this summer or fall, and an agency spokeswoman said it was premature to discuss what might be in it.

Agency officials said they knew nothing about the Air Force map.

But Nelson and other opponents of drilling off Florida's coast say the Interior Department's inquiries about how the military might react to drilling in the area offer more proof the Bush administration wants to open more of the eastern gulf to oil and gas exploration.

"It's the proverbial camel's nose under the tent," Nelson said in an interview. "You let them cross the line toward Florida, and what they want is more."

Drilling advocates are eager to open more of the eastern gulf, where exploration is currently sparse, and Florida lawmakers in Congress have found themselves battling many new proposals to loosen restrictions. Nelson and Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton also have sparred recently over how much of the eastern gulf should be protected.

In 2001, Norton agreed to block exploration in an large region of the gulf 213 miles off Tampa Bay, called lease-sale area 181. But in a March letter to Sen. Mel Martinez, R-Fla., she commited only to keeping oil rigs 100 miles off Florida's coast, and in a recent meeting with Nelson she refused to commit to protecting area 181 beyond 2007.

In response, Nelson has blocked the confirmation of her new deputy, Patricia Lynn Scarlett.

Meanwhile, the area covered by the Air Force map starts just south of 181 and includes waters more than 9,000 feet deep. The Minerals Management Service has been pushing deep-water drilling as the next frontier, with many shallow-water gulf wells being tapped out.

"All indications coming out of the Department of Interior is they plan to open up large areas farther east, closer to Florida, for drilling in the next five-year plan," said Mark Ferrulo, who follows offshore drilling for the Florida Public Interest Research Group.

The military does not necessarily have the power to stop drilling, but its clout has proven an ally to Florida politicians seeking to keep oil rigs off the Gulf Coast. Pilots from several bases train over the eastern gulf, while the Navy uses those waters for surface maneuvers. The military historically has been wary of anything, such as oil platforms, that might get in the way.

Wednesday afternoon, Nelson met with Navy Undersecretary Dionel Aviles to inform him of the agency's interest in the new area. Aviles declined to comment as he left the senator's office, but Nelson said Aviles had been unaware of the map.

"This is where they train," Nelson said. "It's one of our greatest national assets. One hand of the government doesn't know what the other hand is going to do."

--Staff writer Anita Kumar contributed to this report.

[Last modified June 9, 2005, 01:16:07]