A group of Georgia lawmakers is seeking to ban future mining near the edge of the Okefenokee swamp and its vast wildlife refuge, though their proposal would not stop a company’s mining application currently before state regulators. .
Rep. Darlene Taylor of Thomasville and five fellow state House Republicans introduced a bill Tuesday that would prohibit the state from issuing mining permits along Trail Ridge on the swamp’s eastern edge. But it would only block permit applications submitted after June 30.
The state environmental agency last week released a draft mining plan for Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals to mine titanium dioxide at the ridge, bringing the project one step closer to gaining approval.
Since 2019, Twin Pines of Birmingham, Alabama, has been seeking government permits to mine within 3 miles of the southeastern boundary of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, the largest refuge in the US east of the Mississippi River.
GEORGIA’S OKEFENOKEE MINING PROJECT TO PROGRESS WITHOUT PERMITS, US AGENCY SUES
Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge crew member Walker Huling, left, and maintenance crew leader Pete Chesser, pile their clipped vegetation along a wilderness water trail on April 5, 2022, in Folkston, Ga.
(AP Photo/Stephen B. Morton, File)
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Federal scientists warned that mining near the bowl-shaped rim of the Okefenokee could harm the swamp’s ability to hold water. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland recently stated that the proposed mine poses an “unacceptable risk” to the fragile ecosystem on the Georgia-Florida line.
However, the federal government relinquished any permitting authority over the Twin Pines project following a rollback of environmental regulations under President Donald Trump. That means only Georgia state regulators will decide whether to approve the mine.
Twin Pines has insisted that it can mine without damaging the swamp. In a summary of the draft mining plan, Georgia regulators said their own analysis “concluded that the water level in the marsh will be minimally affected.”
While Taylor’s bill would not stop Twin Pines’ already pending permit applications to develop 773 acres, the measure could prevent the company’s operation from expanding if it becomes law.
Taylor introduced a similar bill last year, but it languished in a House committee without a vote.
