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Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘This bill protects our precious waters': how a Florida environmental group scored a win against big oil
The giant and catastrophic Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also known as the BP oil spill, didn't reach Apalachicola Bay in 2010, but the threat of oil reaching this beautiful and environmentally valuable stretch of northern Florida's Gulf coast was still enough to devastate the region's economy. The Florida state congressman Jason Shoaf remembers how the threat affected the bay. 'It harmed our commercial fishing, aquaculture operations, and just the threat of oil kept tourists away for months,' Shoaf recalls. 'Businesses were forced to close, jobs were lost, and the disaster reshaped our region forever.' Related: How Trump is targeting wind and solar energy – and delighting big oil Those memories were freshly triggered in April 2024, when the Florida department of environmental protection (DEP) granted a permit to Louisiana-based Clearwater Land and Minerals for exploratory oil drilling on the Apalachicola River basin. So area residents, along with environmental and business groups, formed a Kill the Drill coalition to oppose the permit. A year later, the coalition's efforts and an administrative challenge to the DEP's permit by the non-profit Apalachicola Riverkeepers prevailed when Judge Lawrence P Stevenson recommended the department deny the permit. In May, the DEP reversed course and denied the permit. But that was not enough to convince those seeking to preserve the region's environment. Shoaf, who represents Florida's north-eastern Gulf coast region, applauded the DEP's decision but says the threat of oil exploration and drilling near north Florida's inland waterways would only be ended by a permanent ban. So to prevent future threats and the DEP from issuing other oil exploratory drilling permits, Shoaf and state representative Allison Tant co-authored House Bill 1143. 'While the permit to Clearwater Land and Minerals was denied, we can't assume the next one will be,' Shoaf says. 'HB 1143 protects our precious water resources and the ecosystems that depend on them by prohibiting drilling, exploration and production of oil, gas and other petroleum products within 10 miles of a national estuarine research reserve in counties designated as rural areas of opportunity. It also requires the Florida department of environmental protection to ensure natural resources are adequately protected in the event of an accident.' This region has a deep collective memory of how the gulf oil spill devastated the regional economy Adrianne Johnson In April, the legislature overwhelmingly passed HB 1143 with only one dissenting vote in the Senate. It was presented to Florida's governor, Ron DeSantis, on 18 June. And, despite a poor recent record on protecting the environment, DeSantis signed the bill last week – handing the coalition that lobbied for it a cheering victory. The area now saved from the oil industry is invaluable both to nature and the people who live there. The Apalachicola River, formed by the meeting of the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers, flows 160 miles (258km) to the Apalachicola Bay and the Gulf. Both the river and bay are critical to the region's tourism and seafood production industries. For environmental campaigners, the success of their efforts might help lay to rest the ghosts of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, which released nearly 3.19m barrels of oil into the gulf. 'Oil from the BP spill didn't reach our coasts, but the damage caused by the threat was enough,' Tant says. 'We've seen what can happen. We've lived it. This is not theoretical. It was a perilous time for small businesses and for those who lived in the area. It stopped tourism and shuttered small businesses. So it defies logic to think it's a good idea to drill for oil along the Apalachicola River.' Adrianne Johnson is executive director of the Florida Shellfish Aquaculture Association which represents more than 350 shellfish farmers in Florida. Johnson, an Apalachicola native, became involved in the Kill the Drill movement for personal and business reasons. 'This region has a deep collective memory of how the Gulf oil spill devastated the regional economy and collapsed the oyster industry in Apalachicola Bay,' Johnson explains. 'And that was just the threat of oil. The majority of the state's oyster farms operate across Wakulla, Franklin and Gulf counties, and these areas downriver would be most impacted by oil drilling upriver (at the proposed site in Calhoun county). If there were to be a spill upriver because of drilling in the basin, it would have catastrophic environmental and economic impacts on the area that would be felt for generations.' Johnson also points to the region's frequent weather-related natural disasters, such as hurricanes, as another reason why drilling had to be banned in the region. 'Our shellfish farmers are still recovering from the multiple hurricanes of 2024,' she explains. 'But the reality of being a Florida farmer is having to contend with these weather-related events. Hurricanes and natural disasters are outside of our control. Permitting oil drilling in ecologically sensitive areas is very much within our control and is an unnecessary threat to our industry.' Tant agrees. 'We are a hurricane-prone state,' she says. 'We can't get away from that. It's not a question of will we get hit by a hurricane because we know it's going to happen. But an oil spill caused by a hurricane would make the disaster 100 times worse.' According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa), the Deep Horizon oil spill caused the loss of 8.3 billion oysters, the deaths of nearly 105,400 sea birds, 7,600 adult and 160,000 juvenile sea turtles, and a 51% decrease in dolphins in Louisiana's Barataria Bay. Related: Ron DeSantis's fall from grace: 'He's completely crashed to the ground' Craig Diamond, current board member and past president of Apalachicola Riverkeeper, says another factor behind the ban was the river system itself. 'A spill would be highly impactful given the existing stresses in the system,' says Diamond, who has worked with the Northwest Florida Water Management District and taught graduate courses on water resources at Florida State University. 'Apalachicola Bay Riverkeeper and its allies believe the long-term risks of fossil fuel exploitation in the floodplain or bay (or nearshore) far outweigh the short-term benefits.' Shoaf says he was inspired to write HB 1143 by the community's grassroots efforts to defend the region's natural resources. 'This bill is essential to prevent unnecessary and irreparable harm to Apalachicola Bay, as well as the economies and ecosystems that depend on it,' he says. After DeSantis signed the bill into law, the threat of drilling has now receded into the distance for the foreseeable future.
E&E News
13-06-2025
- Politics
- E&E News
Oil drilling critics urge DeSantis to block state permit
TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Critics of a proposed oil drilling operation along the Apalachicola River say they urgently want Gov. Ron DeSantis to sign a bill that should block a state permit for the operation. Environmentalists, local elected officials and shellfish farmers are among those backing a bill that passed the Legislature and would ban drilling in four counties along the river. But some opponents say there are loopholes in the bill and timing elements that still could allow a permit to be issued. Bill supporters say the governor needs to take action now to help ensure the state Department of Environmental Protection doesn't issue a permit to Clearwater Land and Minerals for the Calhoun County drilling site as it proposed last year. Advertisement The Florida Shellfish Aquaculture Association this week invited DeSantis (R) to Apalachicola to sign the bill, FL HB1143 (25R). The governor has seven days to sign the bill once he receives it from the Legislature.
Yahoo
08-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Legislation aims to protect Florida's sensitive waterways from oil drilling
A bill that blocks a proposed oil well along the Apalachicola River and prohibits oil and gas drilling near sensitive waterways in north, east and south Florida is headed for the House floor. The bill (HB 1143) by Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, and Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee, cleared the State Affairs Committee Tuesday on a unanimous vote after a parade of Franklin County craft brewers, boat operators and tour guides, along with oyster farmers, told lawmakers their livelihood depends on clean water. They all said a north Florida coastal economy devastated by fear of contamination after the 2010 BP oil spill that contributed to a fishery collapse should not again be put at risk by a wildcat oil rig Clearwater Land and Minerals wants to construct 60 miles upriver from the Apalachicola Bay. 'We don't have options to work in big business. We work on the water. We work with our hands. So it's not a matter if an oil spill happens. It's a matter of when industrial contaminants hit our waterways, pollute our local water resources and ruin our estuary,' said Thomas Saunders of LuckyFly Charters of Apalachicola. What began as a local effort to protect the Apalachicola River has morphed into legislation that would also place a buffer around the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR), where the state's tallest dunes can be found south of St. Augustine, and the Rookery Bay NERR near Naples, home to the Florida panther. Those two and Apalachicola Bay are ecologically diverse estuaries, bodies of water where rivers meet the sea, managed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the state for research and conservation. There are 30 NERRs nationwide and the designation provided Shoaf the legislative hook needed to block oil drilling in the north Florida wilderness. Last summer, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced it would permit a Clearwater Land and Minerals exploratory well in Calhoun County at Dead Lakes, in the middle of the Apalachicola NERR, which runs east and west of the river as it flows towards the Apalachicola Bay. Shoaf wrote a proposal to prohibit exploration, drilling, or production of oil and gas within 10 miles of a NERR – effectively blocking the Clearwater project. Eric Hamilton of the American Petroleum Institute said he would like to continue to talk to lawmakers about the 10-mile buffer zone. 'We feel it is a bit too far. It's arbitrary. There is no scientific or historic precedent that 10 miles is the right distance,' Hamilton said. No one objected, however, when Rep. Lindsey Cross, D-St. Petersburg, an environmental scientist, said in debate that 10 miles should be the minimal buffer for an oil project. The measure also requires DEP to conduct a test before issuing any permit to drill within one mile of a water body. Hamilton didn't object to a one-mile buffer zone. The test would balance the potential harm of a drilling well accident or blowout with the environmental and economic health of a region. Florida is not a major player in the oil industry, contributing fewer than 2,000 of the 13 million barrels a day the U.S. produces, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Adrian Johnson of the state's aquaculture association said most of the state's oyster farms are offshore of Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla counties. Johnson said in the past five years the three counties have grown oyster farming into a $50 million industry and produce one-third of the state's oysters. 'We have little control over what Mother Nature throws at us, but we do have the power to avert a potential disaster that drilling in our area could cause,' added Gayle Johnson of the Indian Lagoon Oyster Co. The House bill will be scheduled for floor debate and a final vote. A Senate companion (SB 1300) has two more committees to clear. The legislative session is currently scheduled to end May 2. James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@ and is on X as @CallTallahassee. This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida oyster farmers fear impact of oil drilling on Gulf waters
