DEP denies a requested exploratory drilling permit near the Apalachicola River
Florida environmental officials have denied a Louisiana company's request to look for oil near the Apalachicola River after a judge recently found that issuing a permit would violate state law.
Florida’s environmental officials have shut down a Louisiana company’s plans to drill near the Apalachicola River, delivering a major win to residents and business owners along the state’s “Forgotten Coast.”
“This is a win for the river, the bay, and the floodplain that buffers the Apalachicola River,” explained Apalachicola Riverkeeper Cameron Baxley in a press release. “It’s also a win for the people whose livelihoods are connected to the water.”
On Monday evening, the state Department of Environmental Protection [DEP] issued a final order denying Clearwater Land & Minerals’ application for an exploratory drilling permit about a mile from the riverbank in Calhoun County.
The move comes after Administrative Law Judge Lawrence Stevenson found that the environmental risks outweighed Clearwater’s right to look for oil at that location and recommended against granting the company a drilling permit.
In the recommendation, Stevenson explained that the evidence against the likelihood of finding commercially-viable oil at the site was “persuasive.”
“A spill would have catastrophic consequences due to the proximity of the well to nearby streams, wetlands and ponds,” he wrote.
Clearwater can still appeal the DEP’s final order to the state’s First District Court of Appeal within 30 days.
Over the last year, residents in Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla Counties have expressed concerns about the harms that drilling could cause to the local economy and their livelihoods.
A bipartisan ban all oil and gas drilling within 10 miles of the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve has passed the legislature, but hasn’t yet been sent to Gov. Ron DeSantis. If enacted, the measure would stop future attempts to drill near the river and bay.