Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is launching an investigation into the foul-smelling water coming from the city of Apalachicola’s water system.
Uthmeier announced his plans to investigate Thursday with a video posted on social media. He says he’ll ask Florida’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, to look into it.
“The city of Apalachicola has received millions of dollars to make this right, but leaders have not delivered for the people," he said. "We’ll be referring this to Florida’s DOGE to see if there’s been financial mismanagement. And we will use every tool we have to bring any civil or criminal remedy necessary to deliver for Floridians.”
Also Thursday, the city posted a notice on its website that it’s working with federal and state officials, including the Florida Department of Emergency Management and the water management district.
“There’s a real failure of leadership at the city level," Uthmeier said. "Not only has the city received millions of dollars to fix their compromised water filtration system, but months and months have gone by with little to no activity whatsoever to fix this compromised system.”
The Franklin County Commission has extended the local state of emergency through Friday, July 4th. Officials say they’re working on a short-term solution now, but a long-term fix won’t be available until specialized equipment arrives later this month.
