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Water Quality Leads Concerns Of North Florida Residents

Wakulla County resident John Taylor address State Sen. Bill Montford and State Rep. Halsey Beshears.
Sarah Mueller
/
WFSU
Wakulla County resident John Taylor address State Sen. Bill Montford and State Rep. Halsey Beshears.

Two North Florida lawmakers met with Wakulla County residents Thursday to hear their concerns ahead of the upcoming legislative session.

Wakulla County resident John Taylor address State Sen. Bill Montford and State Rep. Halsey Beshears.
Credit Sarah Mueller / WFSU
/
WFSU
Wakulla County resident John Taylor address State Sen. Bill Montford and State Rep. Halsey Beshears.

Many of the residents told state Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee and State Rep. Hasley Beshears, R-Monticello, they’re concerned about water quality. Resident Gail Dickert said her grandmother used to live on the Fenholloway River.

“The river has 150 feet behind her house," she said. "They can’t restore that river because that river doesn’t exist anymore. It ends up as a little canal somewhere up there by Buckeye. And it was totally destroyed all those years ago, along with the panthers that screamed in the bay at night when I was a child.”

Several residents asked the legislators to oppose hydraulic gas and oil drilling, known as fracking, because of concerns it could contaminate drinking water.

Other issues included funding for K-through-12 education.​

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Sarah Mueller is the first recipient of the WFSU Media Capitol Reporting Fellowship. She’ll be covering the 2017 Florida legislative session and recently earned her master’s degree in Public Affairs Reporting at the University of Illinois Springfield. Sarah was part of the Illinois Statehouse press corps as an intern for NPR Illinois in 2016. When not working, she enjoys playing her yellow lab, watching documentaries and reading memoirs.