Tallahassee State Senator Corey Simon Releases Statement on Potential Oil Drilling in Apalachicola Bay

On April 30th, Senator Corey Simon (R-Tallahassee) released a statement regarding potential drilling in Apalachicola Bay.

In the statement, Simon said, “It is unconscionable that efforts to drill for oil are happening at the same time that we are fighting for the revitalization of the Apalachicola Bay. The $25 million we’re trying to fund would allow DEP to enter into financial assistance agreements with the City of Apalachicola to implement projects that improve surface water and groundwater quality within the Apalachicola Bay Area of Critical State Concern, important legislation that I FOUGHT FOR AND PASSED. We cannot allow the actions of one irresponsible body to impact the limited precious natural resources that belong to the entire region.”

The statement was in response to a decision by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). On Friday, April 26th, the FDEP issued a notice of intent to grant a permit to a Louisiana company to explore for oil by drilling in the Apalachicola River floodplain.

The drilling site is located 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.

Ahead of the FDEP decision, some people in Franklin County were voicing their opposition to an exploratory oil well drilling request.

“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.

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.