From WLRN:
Florida Agrees to Buy Broward Wetlands To End Everglades Oil Drilling Efforts
Governor DeSantis says Florida will pay between $16.5 and $18 million dollars to purchase 20,000 acres of wetlands from Kanter Real Estate.
Courtesy:
WLRN, Jenny Staletovich
Kanter applied for a drilling permit in 2015.
The deal came together quickly in the last couple of weeks, officials said, after the state concluded its legal attempts to block the drilling would fail.
“Legally, they had the right to do this on the land,” DeSantis said Wednesday after announcing the deal at Everglades Holiday Park, a wildlife refuge about 10 miles from the property in a sprawling water conservation area.
Under the deal, the state has until June 30 to purchase the land for $16.5 million, said South Florida Water Management District chairman Chauncey Goss. After that, the price jumps to $18 million, and the deal expires at the end of the year.
Goss said it’s not yet clear whether the water management district will purchase the land using money budgeted for Everglades restoration, or whether the Florida Department of Environmental Protection will tap into its Florida Forever program.
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From WLRN