10-03-2025
Lawmakers push to ban oil drilling near Apalachicola Bay
Two Big Bend lawmakers want to ban oil drilling within 10 miles of Apalachicola Bay.
Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, filed a bill (HB 1143) to prohibit drilling and exploration within 10 miles of a National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR). And Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee, is the proposal's prime co-sponsor.
Here's why: Plans to drill an exploratory oil well in Calhoun County in the Apalachicola River floodplains provoked outrage among North Florida lawmakers and residents.
Protestors held a rally in front of the Department of Environmental Protection earlier this year after DEP okayed the project. The entire four-member Leon legislative delegation condemned the decision.
Apalachicola Bay is one of three Florida reserves managed by the state and federal governments to study and conserve estuaries. An estuary is a body of water where a river meets the sea.
Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, has filed a companion bill (SB 1300) but it does not specifically set the 10-mile ban within the bay's estuary, as the House bill does.
Shoaf said his proposal won't stop the Clearwater project because it is already permitted, though it's currently under court challenge. But, he added, he wants to prohibit any further drilling along the North Florida coast.
'I'm not against oil drilling, I'm just against oil drilling in the Apalachicola basin,' Shoaf said. 'I've got fishermen that have been locked out of being able to make a living and we can't do anything at this point that jeopardizes reopening that bay.'
The Apalachicola fisheries collapsed in 2013 and have been closed since 2020. The state is working on a schedule to partially reopen the bay this year.
According to the state, the collapse was catastrophic. While 2,500 oystermen once worked at the bay, today there are fewer than 120. At one time they would haul more than 3 million pounds of oysters from the bay. Last year they harvested just 300,000 pounds.
The House bill says, 'Notwithstanding any law or rule to the contrary, the drilling, exploration, or production of oil, gas, or other petroleum products is prohibited within 10 miles of a national estuarine research reserve.'
Shoaf, vice president of St. Joseph Natural Gas Co., said he is uniquely qualified to advocate for the bay. Though he makes his living in the gas industry, he said he grew up on the bay, using a small boat to 'fish, scallop, or whatever' almost every day after high school and as a young man.
'We've seen what's happened out there," he said. "The sea grasses disappearing, the fish numbers going down. I'm in the gas business but at the same time I represent Apalachicola and Franklin, Wakulla and Gulf counties. We should not have any drilling near our critical waterways.'
James Call is a member of the USA TODAY NETWORK-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be reached at jcall@ and is on X as @CallTallahassee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Proposed law would block oil drilling near Apalachicola Bay
