- July 12, 2025
Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday, June 26, signed a measure aimed at preventing oil drilling near Northwest Florida’s Apalachicola River and Apalachicola Bay.
The bill (HB 1143), which the Legislature passed in April, would effectively prevent drilling within 10 miles of the Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve.
Cameron Baxley of the environmental group Apalachicola Riverkeeper thanked DeSantis and the bill sponsors, Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee, and Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, “for doing right by the river and bay and the many people who depend on this valuable resource for their livelihoods.”
The bill was filed during an uproar about a decision last year by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to issue a draft permit for Louisiana-based Clearwater Land & Minerals Fla. to drill an exploratory well in Calhoun County near the Apalachicola River.
Apalachicola Riverkeeper challenged the draft permit at the state Division of Administrative Hearings. An administrative law judge recommended rejection of the project, prompting the Department of Environmental Protection this month to deny a permit.
Earlier versions of the bill also would have prevented drilling near the Guana Tolomato Matanzas reserve north of St. Augustine and the Rookery Bay reserve south of Naples. But the Senate narrowed the bill to address only the Apalachicola region.
