A renewed effort to explore for oil drilling in an environmentally sensitive area in North Florida is now under legal threat. The Apalachicola Riverkeeper is suing to prevent the state from allowing an oil exploration project in Calhoun County.
In a statement, Apalachicola Riverkeeper Cameron Baxley described the area as “One of North America’s last near-pristine ecosystems that retains much of its incredible biological diversity. With 1,300 species of plants, 131 species of fish, and over 120 species of amphibians and reptiles.” She says it is “vital” to protect the habitat.
The site is located in Calhoun County. It sits between the Apalachicola and Chipola Rivers, upstream from the Apalachicola Bay, and within the Apalachicola River floodplain. During the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s comment period, the proposal to explore for oil received more than 800 statements in opposition to the project.
Clearwater Land & Minerals FLA is seeking to explore for oil in the same place that Cholla Petroleum in 2019 received a permit to drill. Cholla dropped its efforts in 2021 without drilling and that permit is now expired.
The current exploratory plan has garnered opposition from local and state leaders including North Florida Senator Corey Simon who
told WFSU in an interview last month that he shares the Riverkeeper’s concerns regarding potential environmental impacts.
“I think the folks that are that are looking to do this, the folks over at Clearwater Land & Mineral, they need to understand the impact,” Simon says. “They need to understand that families are struggling in these areas. Both counties are fiscally constrained counties. And so, we can't have anything at this point that is going to hurt their ability to come back and feed their families.”
DEP announced in April that it intended to grant the permit to Clearwater Land & Minerals, LLC to move forward with exploratory drilling. Following the announcement any potential challengers to the project had 21 days to file for an administrative hearing. The Apalachicola Riverkeeper received an additional 15 days to file its legal challenge.
"Petroleum drilling and the associated industrial activities pose significant threats to the exceptional environmental quality, economic, recreational, and scenic values that this world-class river and bay provide to our region,” said the Riverkeeper’s Baxley.
The DEP notes that any sort of industrial drilling would require a separate permitting process.
