The push for a Florida law that would overthrow local authority to limit the controversial method of drilling for oil and natural gas after injecting chemicals underground to fracture rock formations has failed despite backing by Northwest Florida legislators.

When Weeks Marine Inc. postponed its scheduled restoration of Pensacola Beach last week it seemed to signal that the company could start dredging and filling on Navarre Beach as planned on or about April 1.

Seconds after his Black Hawk helicopter took off for a March 10 training mission — filled with seven Marine special operators and three fellow Louisiana Army National Guardsmen — the pilot remarked: “Gee, it’s dark as [expletive].”