Florida Approves Invoice Banning Oil & Fuel Operations Close to Apalachicola

Final Up to date on: seventh July 2025, 11:49 am

Apalachicola is a small metropolis within the Florida Panhandle that’s residence to a thriving seafood trade — primarily oysters — that depends on the waters of the Gulf of Mexico for its residing. The Apalachicola River is fashioned by the Chattahoochee and Flint rivers, which start in northeast Georgia, then circulate south although Georgia into Alabama earlier than crossing into Florida — a complete distance of 385 miles.

At one time, Apalachicola was the third busiest port on the Gulf, after New Orleans and Cell. Previous to the arrival of the railroad, it was served by steamships that carried cargo up and down the river.

Though oil from the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe didn’t attain all the best way to Apalachicola itself, it devastated the native economic system. In accordance with the Nationwide Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, that spill killed 8.3 billion oysters, 105,00 sea birds, 7,600 grownup and 160,000 juvenile sea turtles, and lower the variety of dolphins in Louisiana’s Barataria Bay in half.

So when phrase obtained out a number of years in the past that oil and gasoline corporations have been concerned with drilling exploratory wells close to Apalachicola, the locals determined it was time to get organized. Adrianne Johnson, the manager director of the Florida Shellfish Aquaculture Affiliation, which represents greater than 350 shellfish farmers in Florida, tells The Guardian her group grew to become concerned in an environmental marketing campaign referred to as Kill the Drill.

“This area has a deep collective reminiscence of how the Gulf oil spill devastated the regional economic system and collapsed the oyster trade in Apalachicola Bay,” Johnson stated. “And that was simply the specter of oil. Nearly all of the state’s oyster farms function throughout Wakulla, Franklin and Gulf counties, and these areas downriver could be most impacted by oil drilling upriver at a proposed website in Calhoun county. If there have been to be a spill upriver due to drilling within the basin, it might have catastrophic environmental and financial impacts on the realm that might be felt for generations.”

“Our shellfish farmers are nonetheless recovering from the a number of hurricanes of 2024,” Johnson added. “However the actuality of being a Florida farmer is having to take care of these weather-related occasions. Hurricanes and pure disasters are outdoors of our management. Allowing oil drilling in ecologically delicate areas could be very a lot inside our management and is an pointless risk to our trade.”

State consultant Allison Tant agreed. “We’re a hurricane-prone state,” she stated. “We will’t get away from that. It’s not a query of will we get hit by a hurricane as a result of we all know it’s going to occur. However an oil spill attributable to a hurricane would make the catastrophe 100 instances worse.”

Opposing Oil & Fuel In Apalachicola

In April, 2024, the Florida division of environmental safety granted a allow to Louisiana-based Clearwater Land and Minerals for exploratory oil drilling within the Apalachicola River basin. That promoted space residents, environmental teams, and the enterprise neighborhood to create Kill the Drill. Florida consultant Jason Shoaf instructed The Guardian the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe “harmed our industrial fishing, aquaculture operations, and simply the specter of oil stored vacationers away for months. Companies have been pressured to shut, jobs have been misplaced, and the catastrophe reshaped our area perpetually.”

A yr later, a decide dominated the DEP was in error when it issued the allow to Clearwater and really helpful the division deny the allow. Following the decide’s ruling, it did precisely that. However Shoaf and Tant felt the realm wanted stronger safety.

“Whereas the allow to Clearwater Land and Minerals was denied, we are able to’t assume the subsequent one shall be,” Shoaf instructed The Guardian. “HB 1143 protects our valuable water sources and the ecosystems that rely upon them by prohibiting drilling, exploration and manufacturing of oil, gasoline and different petroleum merchandise inside 10 miles of a nationwide estuarine analysis reserve in counties designated as rural areas of alternative. It additionally requires the Florida division of environmental safety to make sure pure sources are adequately protected within the occasion of an accident.”

The measure sailed by means of the Florida legislature and was signed by Florida’s governor final week. “Oil from the BP spill didn’t attain our coasts, however the harm attributable to the risk was sufficient,” Tant says. “We’ve seen what can occur. We’ve lived it. This isn’t theoretical. It was a dangerous time for small companies and for many who lived within the space. It stopped tourism and shuttered small companies. So it defies logic to suppose it’s a good suggestion to drill for oil alongside the Apalachicola River.”

A Balancing Check

In accordance with Florida Politics, HB 1143 requires the DEP to conduct a “balancing check” earlier than granting a allow for oil and gasoline actions in areas inside one mile of the coast or different our bodies of water. It wants to think about the urgency of defending pure sources and weigh that towards the potential industrial advantages. It additionally should take into account whether or not the pure useful resource could be adequately protected within the occasion of “an accident or a blowout from oil or gasoline drilling or exploration actions,” based on the invoice evaluation.

It might prohibit the “drilling, exploration, or manufacturing of oil, gasoline, or different petroleum merchandise inside 10 miles of a Nationwide Estuarine Analysis Reserve,” which suggests such drilling or useful resource exploration could be banned close to locations reminiscent of Apalachicola Bay.

Craig Diamond, a previous president of Apalachicola Riverkeeper, one of many environmental teams related to the Kill The Drill initiative, stated one other issue behind the ban was defending the Appalachia River itself. “A spill could be extremely impactful given the present stresses within the system. Apalachicola Bay Riverkeeper and its allies imagine the long run dangers of fossil gas exploitation within the flood plain or bay far outweigh the brief time period advantages.”

He’s little doubt right, however there could also be extra to the story. Ron DeSantis has a poor monitor file on environmental points and the Florida Panhandle is deeply pink territory and residential to such rabid political actors as Matt Gaetz. One might virtually guess Clearwater Land & Minerals was simply not that invested in creating oil and gasoline property within the space.

It wouldn’t be a complete shock if it has its eye on another challenge within the Gulf, one which gained’t create fairly a lot neighborhood opposition. Florida politics is a mine discipline. We might by no means know the complete story, however we do know that one little nook of the Gulf is now protected against oil and gasoline exploration.

Web page Two — The Relaxation Of The Story

There’s a coda to this story. Few individuals know that in 1849, Apalachicola doctor John Gorrie found the chilly air strategy of refrigeration as a part of his experiments in how decrease the physique temperature of fever sufferers. He patented his ice machine in 1850 and that patent led to the event of recent refrigeration and air con, The John Gorrie Memorial Bridge on US Route 98 is called for him.

Proper close to the bridge on the east aspect of the river stands the Gibson Inn, a stately construction that resembles the superstructure of one of many steamboats that when plied the Apalachicola River. Each room is appointed in another way and in case you arrive when they aren’t too busy, the workers will invite you to discover all of them at your leisure and choose the one which appeals to you probably the most.

After dinner in the principle eating room, you’ll be able to stroll the huge verandas of the constructing and fake you might be cruising the river. It’s possible you’ll even think about you’ll be able to hear the sound of the paddle wheel as you go  upstream. All that’s lacking is the steam whistle positioned up there within the pilot home positioned on high of the construction. Pay attention rigorously and it’s possible you’ll hear the leadsman within the bow shout “Mark twain!” Now, because of a little bit of native activism, the character of this waterfront neighborhood shall be preserved somewhat longer