In April, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection filed its formal intent to issue the oil and gas drilling permit to the Louisiana-based Clearwater Land & Minerals FLA, LLC.

The company wants to drill an exploratory well roughly 14,000 feet into the earth, according to filings, and the state agency indicated it aims to let them. Less than two months later, the nonprofit Apalachicola Riverkeeper launched a legal challenge against the environmental agency and urged a judge to deny the permit over potential harm to the Apalachicola river basin and the surrounding economies that depend on the healthy river for jobs, like shellfish farming and angling.