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.
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.”
Counties on the coast are divided. In Calhoun County, where the well is located, commissioners have supported drilling for oil--especially in the wake of losing the local timber industry to Hurricane Michael. But the Franklin County Commission, whose economy depends largely on tourism, does not. David Damon says he agrees with the Franklin County Commission. He’s seen first-hand the damage an oil spill can have.
“It’s a tremendous, tremendous amount of tourism dollars that come in to places like St. George Island -- and all it takes is the threat," he said. "You don’t even have to have tar balls washing up on the beach. Just the threat that that oil is there, and people cancel. People go home. They don’t want to come to a place like that. We saw that in 2010. We saw it for three years!”
Among the protesters was a group of fifth-grade students from Cornerstone Learning Community. Nathan Hagaman, their teacher, says his job is to tell his students how to think, not what to think.
“So I created a presentation, presented them with the facts of this scenario, this permit, and what DEP could do, what the governor could do, and they all decided to either come out as an impartial observer or to come out in support of the Apalachicola Riverkeeper," he said. "Many of the students wrote their own speeches and delivered those speeches today quite well.”
Administrative Law Judge Lawrence P. Stevenson has scheduled five days of hearings this week on whether the permit should remain in place, although it’s possible he could rule sooner.
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