Feds relent, will hold offshore drilling hearing in Florida

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – A federal agency developing a plan for oil and natural gas drilling off Florida’s shores will hold a public hearing in Tallahassee next month after initially snubbing the state.

The Minerals Management Service, part of the Interior Department, is holding a series of meetings on its next five-year Outer Continental Shelf leasing program. It would include a huge area in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida Panhandle.

The added Florida meeting is scheduled for April sixth.

Some Florida lawmakers have gone on the record against an M-M-S plan to open about two (m) million acres called Area 181 that’s about 100 miles south of the Panhandle and 200 miles west of Tampa Bay.

AP