The Florida Department of Environmental Protection issued a notice of intent to approve the application by Clearwater Land & Minerals LLC to drill for oil.
The drilling site is between the Apalachicola and Chipola Rivers and Dead Lakes. Cholla Petroleum, another oil company, was granted permission to drill there in 2019, but never did. Now Clearwater Land & Minerals plans to drill in the same spot.
Apalachicola Riverkeeper Cameron Baxley says the move will cause irreparable harm to the local environment.
“This area that they’re trying to do the drilling at is really just a bad location and a huge risk," Baxley says. "You know, oil and rivers just don’t mix.”
DEP received nearly 800 comments from citizens about the project, most against drilling.
Previous attempts at finding oil in the area have come up dry.
