"Lawsuit Filed To Stop Oil Exploration In Big Cypress"

"A coalition of environmental groups went to federal court Wednesday to stop a Texas company's plan to explore for oil and gas in the Big Cypress National Preserve.

The lawsuit accuses the National Park Service of breaking the National Environmental Policy Act, the Administrative Procedures Act and its own rules by not adequately considering the environment when it approved a plan by Burnett Oil Co. to explore for oil and gas across more than 110 square miles of the swampy preserve in eastern Collier County.

The groups also have filed a notice of intent with the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to sue the agencies over the plan's impact to endangered species, such as the iconic Florida panther."

Eric Staats reports for the Naples Daily News July 27, 2016.