Apalachicola drilling project foolishly expands as DEP ‘takes out the trash’

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.

And there can always be executive branch intervention. As Gov. Ron DeSantis finishes his term and decides what’s next for his political future, he could solidify his already strong environmental legacy by ending this drilling foolishness.

And foolish it is.

The Apalachicola is Florida’s largest river by volume. It feeds into the already struggling Apalachicola Bay, which has seen its once-robust wild oyster industry shut down. Meanwhile, the nearby Chipola River, which could easily be impacted, supplies drinking water to the town of Port St. Joe.

As it happens, the award-winning film “Unfiltered: The Truth About Oysters” will be broadcast on PBS stations across Florida starting Wednesday, Jan. 15. The documentary by Chucha Barber and Josh McLawhorn tells the story of the virtual disappearance of the oyster fishery in Apalachicola Bay and its devastating impact on the local economy.

At least with oysters, Florida can partially blame Georgia and its withdrawal of waters that would normally flow into the Gulf of Mexico. But if drilling is allowed in the Apalachicola River basin, Florida would have nobody to blame but … Florida.

And nobody needs to remind Floridians about what can go wrong when it comes to oil and water.

That’s why this is such a no-brainer for Florida’s leadership. It’s time to take this out of DEP’s incapable hands and make it right, either via the Legislature or the Governor’s Office.

In other words, to steal another famous “West Wing” line, our question for state leaders is: “What’s next?”