“Residents deserve better, there has been a clear failure of leadership,” the attorney general said.

Florida’s attorney general is investigating the City of Apalachicola, alleging local leaders have misused funds appropriated to fix its failing water purification system.

“Not only has the city received millions of dollars to fix their compromised water filtration system, but months and months have gone by with little to no response or activity whatsoever to fix this compromised system,” said Attorney General James Uthmeier in a video posted to X.

“Residents deserve better, there has been a clear failure of leadership,” he added.

The attorney general’s office will be working with state prosecutors, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Department of Health, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and other federal and state agencies, Uthmeier said.

The state will also enlist the help of its DOGE Task Force to investigate financial mismanagement.

The town has been in a state of emergency since Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on the Gulf Coast last September. The Category 4 storm damaged the water system and knocked out what’s known as a scrubber, making it unable to completely filter the water that flows to Apalachicola homes and businesses. The device isn’t easily fixable or replaceable, and the city is under a boil water notice.

“Residents there are suffering,” Uthmeier said. “The water is dirty and unusable. There is a putrid, foul odor and it must be boiled before people can drink it, cook with it or even brush their teeth. Businesses are struggling. They can’t serve water to their patrons.”

As chronicled in a Tallahassee Democrat front page story, residents have resorted to bathing in the Apalachicola River or sending their kids outside with soap and a washcloth when it rains.

The water, a brown and gray color, has a high level of hydrogen sulfide, which is a result of the breakdown of organic matter. In small amounts, it’s not usually harmful, but it can make water taste or smell sour or metallic.

That smell can get worse in the heat, and on June 13, a day when the lowest temperature was 80 degrees, the city declared a water emergency.

Even though it’s tourism season, instead of the smell of seafood boils and grilling hamburgers, the water’s odor became the dominant smell in homes, and the water stank up local restaurants and taverns. 

On June 25, state Rep. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, and state Rep. Jason Shoaf, R-Port St. Joe, held a town hall meeting to hear what residents had to say about the ongoing water crisis.

Business owners said sales have plummeted and cancellations have skyrocketed, prompting some to lay off workers or shut their doors altogether.

“We will use every tool we have to bring any civil or criminal remedy necessary to deliver for our Floridians,” Uthmeier said.

Sheriff A.J. Smith requested investigation into water crisis

Franklin County Sheriff A.J. “Tony” Smith told the Tallahassee Democrat that he called the attorney general and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass earlier in the week asking for an investigation “into where all the money’s being spent in the city.”

“Because people have come up to me and said hey, what’s going on, something doesn’t seem right,” Smith said. “And so I don’t have the expertise in my organization to do that. They have the people, the forensic examiners … can come in and look where all the money, all the grants, the money for fees, where’s all this stuff going.”

Smith, who attended the June 25 town hall meeting on the water crisis in Apalachicola, said the city’s water problems have been going on for years.

“But I think it’s just finally reached a point where people are getting sick and enough people have become aware of just the way the water smells, the way it looks,” the sheriff said. “Something’s not right and so people started asking questions and here we are.”

Ana Goñi-Lessan, state watchdog reporter for the USA TODAY Network – Florida, can be reached at agonilessan@gannett.com.