TALLAHASSEE, Florida — The Florida state House on Wednesday voted unanimously to pass and send to the governor a bill that bans oil drilling near Apalachicola River and Bay.
Details: The House voted 108-0 to pass the bill as amended by the state Senate limiting the areas to which the ban would apply.
State Rep. Jason Shoaf (R-Port St. Joe) said he introduced the bill after the state proposed a permit to allow drilling near the river in Calhoun County raised concerns 15 years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
“When this new threat emerged, the local residents really, really got upset,” Shoaf told the House. “And it became what I would say is a real grassroots effort to prohibit this activity this close to an area of critical state concern.”
