In the News
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Xochitl Bervera’s commute takes about 15 minutes, and she’ll argue it’s the prettiest drive on earth.
Each morning, Bervera boats into the middle of Apalachicola Bay, where she has raised oysters full-time for two years.
The ride, surrounded by the salt marshes and seagrass beds, reminds Bervera of why she loves her job in Northwest Florida — and it underscores what she could soon stand to lose.
A few months ago, Bervera learned of a company that wants to drill an exploratory oil well just up the river from her farm. She worried for the more than 125,000 baby oysters she tends to each day.
“It could make or break what grows in our very delicate bay,” said Bervera, founder of the Apalachicola farm Water is Life Oysters. “So I thought to myself: ‘I need to do whatever I can to stop this.’”
Bervera was one of a handful of speakers flanked by about 200 protesters on the front steps of the Tallahassee headquarters of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection on Monday afternoon. She joined the crowd in sending a message to Gov. Ron DeSantis and the environmental agency he oversees: ‘Kill the drill’ and tell regulators to rescind their support for approving the exploratory oil drilling permit.
Nearby, Grayson Hall shucked and served oysters from Apalachicola Bay. His brother’s business, Southern Oyster Farms, is one of the few full-time oyster operations left in the area, he said. Drilling there would be devastating.
“It would kill him,” Hall said. “It would kill his farm.”
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Environmentalists staged a demonstration Monday calling on Governor Ron DeSantis to end a permit for exploratory oil drilling in the Apalachicola River area.
The coalition of environmentalists took to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s front steps to make their voices heard as they believe the governor can end the permit on his own, regardless of the litigation.
An entire class joined the very ‘grown up’ demonstration on Monday.
“What about us? We want to enjoy the whole river too!” an impassioned fifth grader yelled into the mic.
“Our coastal economy cannot afford a repeat of the 2010 oil spill,” David Damon, owner of the JP Roberts Company, said.
Damon and many others referring to the Deepwater Horizon spill. Popularized by a movie, many said Monday that the area won’t survive a second similar hit.
“Today is a chance to show that we care about our waters and we’ve learned from the mistakes of the past,” Hunter Levine, host of the Captains Collective Podcast, said.
Levine said he’s interviewed more than 150 guides who believe the water is Florida’s best natural resource.
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In the epic TV drama “The West Wing,” White House staffers used Friday afternoons as a time to “take out the trash” — that is, release information they didn’t want anybody to see, because the weekend loomed and the stories would get buried.
It’s a thing in the real world, too. We call it the “Friday news dump.” There’s an extra special “take out the trash” day for when you really want to sneak something through unnoticed — right before Christmas.
So it should come as little shock that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) chose Dec. 19 and 20 — the last real workdays before the holidays — to hand over even more permits to an obscure Louisiana oil company that seems intent on wreaking havoc on the precious Apalachicola River basin.
As a result of these permit transfers, the company — which is called, no joke, Clearwater — is closer to building oil pads and industrial roads affiliated with three additional oil wells near the Apalachicola River and Dead Lakes.
This marks a significant expansion of the company’s drilling ambitions, which for months have alarmed a region that still bears the scars of the 2010 BP oil spill.
DEP has good reason to be wary of public awareness. Hundreds of Forgotten Coast oyster farmers and other locals protested at DEP headquarters on Dec. 9, many of them integral to the Governor’s base. But clearly, DEP isn’t able to prevent Clearwater Land and Minerals or its polo-loving owner from trying to poke toxic holes next to the river.
Thankfully, we have strong leaders who have worked hard on impactful programs to help the Apalachicola Bay. As we approach the 2025 Regular Session, plus a bonus Special Session, Florida lawmakers will have the opportunity to defend these investments, along with the tourism, seafood, retail and lodging industries that count on clean water in the Panhandle.
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A coalition of about 70 environmental groups commandeered the front entrance of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Monday to protest the department’s decision to permit an exploratory oil well along the Apalachicola River.
The "Kill the Drill" coalition, led by the non-profit Apalachicola Riverkeeper group and including the Florida Wildlife Federation, Sierra Club and the Wakulla Springs Alliance, wants Gov. Ron DeSantis to stop plans by Clearwater Land & Minerals to drill through a lime rock pad north of Dead Lakes in Calhoun County, about 60 miles west of the state capital.
DEP's announcement in May to green-light the project immediately drew protests and an administrative challenge from the Apalachicola Riverkeeper. It also sparked strong opposition from a bipartisan coalition of local lawmakers.
Led by a fifth-grade glass from the Cornerstone Learning Community, more than 500 people waved signs and started to chant “Stop the Drill” at 1 p.m. Their cars filled the parking lot at the environmental agency and anyone wanting to enter or exit the building had to navigate a crowd of people waving signs and Florida flags.
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Broadcast Transcript:
The future of the Apalachicola River basin is being decided in court this week.
I'm Alberto Camargo, here at the Apalachicola River, a body of water that is crucial for several of our neighborhoods.
I'm breaking down what's at stake, and how neighbors are responding to the situation.
Clearwater Land & Minerals is the company that wants to drill for oil here.
An area just west of the river in Calhoun County, about 14,000 feet deep.
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The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in April said it intended to approve a permit application from Clearwater Land & Minerals to drill a 14,000-foot exploratory well about 35 miles north of Apalachicola Bay.
The Bay has long been tied to shellfishing and oysters. But in 2013, the oyster population in the area began to collapse. For several years before that, an average of 2.6 million pounds were harvested annually. By 2019, the harvest resulted in less than 21,000 pounds of oysters, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The collapse was the result of drought and a reduced flow from the Apalachicola River that sparked a water war between farmers upriver in Georgia and the Florida state government. The state has spent tens of millions of dollars fighting for water flow to be restored to the river and millions more on oyster restoration efforts.
After the state environmental department announced it intended to approve the permit, state Sen. Corey Simon, a Republican from Tallahassee, voiced his displeasure with the DEP’s support of the project in a post on X.
“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,” he wrote. “We cannot allow the actions of one irresponsible body to impact the limited precious natural resources that belong to the entire region.”
Hundreds of protesters showed up to a hearing in Tallahassee over the permit, where the Florida DEP and Clearwater Land & Minerals defended the permit in an administrative court hearing against concerns raised by the Apalachicola Riverkeeper environmental group.
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The state on Friday took an initial step toward buying a vast swath of land along the Apalachicola River that appears to include a proposed oil drilling site in Calhoun County.
The state Acquisition and Restoration Council voted Friday to study a proposal to add to the state land-buying list 18,854 acres in four counties, including apparently the Clearwater Land and Mineral's drilling site 1.5 miles northwest of the river.
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Apalachicola Riverkeeper is challenging a draft permit that the Florida Department of Environmental Protection approved in April for the Louisiana-based Clearwater Land & Minerals Fla. to drill in an unincorporated part of Calhoun County, which is between Tallahassee and Panama City.
The case was sent to the state Division of Administrative Hearings in June, with Judge Lawrence Stevenson on Monday beginning what is expected to be a multi-day hearing.
While the attorneys for the company and Apalachicola Riverkeeper offered opening statements, reporters and other observers were barred from hearing most of the testimony Monday morning because it involved confidential company information. An attorney for the Department of Environmental Protection declined to make an opening statement.
A key issue in the case is potential effects of drilling on the Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay. The state and federal governments have long taken steps to protect the river and bay. They are part of the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint river system, which starts in northern Georgia, crosses into Alabama and ends in Apalachicola Bay on the Gulf Coast.
Apalachicola Riverkeeper contends that the project threatens the river and would be in the river’s floodplain.
“The drilling site is not consistent with the relevant Department (of Environmental Protection) rules and statutes, which require applicants to locate projects to minimize impacts to sensitive areas and environments,” Apalachicola Riverkeeper’s petition for an administrative hearing said. “Instead, the drilling site selected by the applicant (Clearwater Land & Minerals Fla.) is in a sensitive area and environment.”
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Hearings are underway over the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s plan to okay an oil drilling permit in the fragile Apalachicola River Basin. Protesters gathered Monday on the agency’s steps to argue that the plan is dangerous -- not only to Northwest Florida’s ecosystem but to its economy.
Speakers at the protest ranged from naturalist Jack Rudloe of the Gulf Specimen Marine Lab, who carried an oversized stuffed fish under one arm, to a class of fifth graders from Cornerstone Learning Community, who took turns at the microphone.
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David Damon, the owner of JP Roberts Hurricane Shutters, reminded the crowd of the 2010 BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Many businesses went under. Many businesses had to take out loans that they’re still paying back today, these many years later," Damon said. "We survived it because we’ve been around a long time and we were able to, but many couldn’t. Hundreds and hundreds of jobs depend on these businesses along the coast.”
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The Apalachicola Riverkeeper is mounting a legal challenge to try to stop the latest effort to drill for oil in environmentally sensitive North Florida.
The nonprofit Riverkeeper filed a petition Thursday seeking to block the Florida Department of Environmental Protection from permitting an exploratory oil well in rural Calhoun County. The "wildcat well," operated by a Louisiana oil company, is located between the Apalachicola and Chipola rivers and upstream from the Apalachicola Bay, where restoration efforts continue following the collapse of its fisheries a decade ago.
The Riverkeeper's petition, which lists DEP and the applicant, Clearwater Land & Minerals FLA, as respondents, seeks a formal administrative hearing over the controversial drilling proposal. In a news release, the riverkeeper said the permit should be denied because of the potential damage it could cause to the river, its ecosystem and local economies.
"Our organization works tirelessly on behalf of our members and the surrounding communities to protect, restore, and advocate for the Apalachicola River and its ecosystem," said Cameron Baxley, Apalachicola Riverkeeper. "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."
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State Senator Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, has come out against a controversial drilling project in the Apalachicola River floodplain.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has issued a notice of intent to approve an application by Clearwater Land & Minerals LLC to drill for oil in the area. Simon is concerned it would reverse state environmental efforts to restore the area.
Simon championed 25 million dollars in funding during the 2023 session to improve the basin, which has held the critical state concern label for nearly 40 years. Since 2020, the state has placed a moratorium on oyster harvesting in the area after the animal’s population plummeted.
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In an interview with WFSU, State Republican Senator Corey Simon blasted the drilling company for “not understanding the impact.” Simon, who serves Florida’s northern counties, said tampering with Apalachicola Bay and its river systems, could directly impact rural counties like Franklin and Calhoun County.
“They need to understand that families are struggling in these areas," Simon explained. "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.”
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The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced that it intends to allow a Louisiana company to conduct exploratory drilling for oil in the environmentally fragile Apalachicola River floodplain.
DEP on Friday issued a notice of intent to grant a permit for Clearwater Land & Minerals FLA to drill at the site, which is located in rural Calhoun County in between the Apalachicola and Chipola rivers and near the Dead Lakes.
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A plan to look and drill for oil in the Apalachicola River basin has drawn angry protests from Leon County’s delegation to the Florida Legislature and a pledge to seek stronger protection for North Florida's water.
"I have been in contact with regulators at DEP and am reviewing their analysis to ensure that our laws, rules, and processes in place are strictly adhered to for the protection of our environment and safety of Florida families," said Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe.
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A nonprofit organization that works to protect the Apalachicola River will ask a judge to prevent a state agency from allowing exploratory oil drilling in the river basin.
“We are filing this challenge because the Apalachicola River provides so much to so many,” Apalachicola Riverkeeper Cameron Baxley wrote in a press release. “It deserves to be protected.”
The Apalachicola Riverkeeper announced on Thursday that it’s challenging the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s notice of intent to issue an exploratory oil and gas drilling permit to Clearwater Land & Minerals LLC. In April, the department signaled its intent to allow the company to look for oil in an area of the river’s floodplain in Calhoun County. The proposed drilling site is located about a mile from the river.
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After a series of abandoned attempts by others, another company is hoping to strike oil in the fragile Apalachicola River basin — setting off a new round of opposition from environmentalists and other concerned citizens.
Clearwater Land & Minerals Fla, whose principals hail from Shreveport, Louisiana, applied for a state permit in December to conduct exploratory drilling in Calhoun County at a well located between the Apalachicola River, Florida’s largest river by volume, and the Chipola River just north of the Dead Lakes.
The exploratory well was built by Cholla Petroleum, a Dallas, Texas, company that abruptly walked away from long-drawn plans to explore for oil at the site in 2021. Cholla, which conducted seismic testing several years earlier, packed up its equipment and left on the eve of drilling after one of its key investors died.
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