APALACHICOLA, Fla. (WMBB) — People in Franklin County are voicing their opposition to an exploratory oil well drilling request in the Apalachicola River Basin.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection will decide Monday whether or not Clearwater Land & Minerals Oil Company can do exploratory, or “wildcat,” drilling in the river basin. It’s not the first time companies have drilled in that area. None of them found any oil.
“It has been drilled before in these same areas, they’re using the same sites, but they’ve come up dry before. Their whole thing is if they’ve been dry before, why would they have oil now?” Franklin County Commissioner Ricky Jones said.
That’s not the only reason commissioners and residents are giving the state for rejecting the drilling permit request.
“If something does go wrong, it’s going to be in the water. That’s going to affect everything. It’s to be in the water. Period,” Jones said.
Jones said he thinks the project is an attempt to create more jobs in the area.
“If we do something here that creates 15 or 20 jobs, that’s the same as 200 jobs in Tallahassee. I mean, it’s the same impact because we’re so small,” Jones said.
But Jones fears the potentially negative environmental and economic impacts outweigh any positive impacts that come with job creation.
“Oysters not only are part of the economy and heritage of Franklin County, but they’re also, the job that the oysters have is they help keep the water clean. They are a water filter. It’s hard to know for sure that nothing bad is going to happen,” Jones said.
The state closed oystering in Apalachicola Bay for 5 years to give experts time to restore the oyster beds. That oystering moratorium runs through 2025.
To learn more about the Apalachicola River Basin drilling proposal, click here.
