Again? For the third time, another company wants to drill in FL's Apalachicola River floodplain • Florida Phoenix
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Every year in the spring, there’s an event called Hands Across the Sand, where people gather on Florida’s beaches to show their opposition to offshore oil drilling. This year, the folks in the Panhandle may want to face north instead of south. That’s because the biggest threat from drilling isn’t coming from offshore. It’s coming from inland. […]

The target for this treasure hunt is in Calhoun County, in a forested spot between the Apalachicola, the Chipola River, and the Dead Lakes. I don’t know if you could pick a worse spot in Florida to plop down such a toxic industry.

The Apalachicola is the largest river in volume in Florida and has the largest and most environmentally sensitive undisturbed floodplain ecosystem in the state.

The Chipola is the source of drinking water for the town of Port St. Joe, population 3,600. Its “Look and Tremble” whitewater rapids make it popular with paddlers, too.

As for the Dead Lakes: Despite the eerie name, that’s a popular fishing spot. My dad, who grew up in nearby Jackson County, loved to fish there.

If someone spilled oil in that area, the way BP spread yucky globs across the beaches of eight Florida counties in 2010, I think those lakes would be dead for real.