December 16, 2020 (PDF)

To: David Perdue
Jon Ossof
Kelly Loeffler
Raphael Warnock
Lauren “Bubba” McDonald
Daniel Blackman

Re: What will runoff candidates do to stop the proposed strip mine next to the Okefenokee Swamp?

Letter, Suwannee Riverkeeper, mine site, Okefenokee Swamp, fish kill

Dear candidates in the Georgia runoff elections for U.S. Senate and Public Service Commission,

A company from Alabama, Twin Pines Minerals LLC, proposes to strip-mine for titanium dioxide for paint within a few miles of the Okefenokee Swamp.

Mine site, Okefenokee Swamp, TIAA land, TPM land

Twin Pines is under a Florida Consent Order for titanium mines in north Florida.

Sampling & Records and Reports

Its president was a proponent of the Franklin County, Georgia, biomass plant that caused a massive fish kill. The state had to pass a law to stop it from burning railroad ties. https://wwals.net/?p=53931

Photo: Franklin County Citizen Leader, 2020-10-09, Dead fish in Indian Creek, Franklin County, Georgia.

The miners have promised jobs, from 150 to 300, with no specifics. And at what cost?

A sign at I-75 Exit 16 for Valdosta says: “Okefenokee Swamp… 62 Miles.”

Okefenokee Swamp sign at I-75 exit 16.

The Swamp is an internationally-known treasure that contributes 700 jobs and some $60 million through boating, fishing, and birding in the National Wildlife Refuge, and hunting on nearby private land. The Swamp is the headwaters of the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers. It exchanges water with the Floridan Aquifer, from which we all drink in south Georgia and north Florida.

Aerial context, Valdosta, GA to Jacksonville, FL

In November 2019 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service replied to Senator Purdue, saying the mine progressing northwards would end up within 400 feet of the Swamp, and “It is the responsibility of the permit applicant to demonstrate what the extent of impacts of the project will be to surrounding natural resources.” https://wwals.net/?p=52533

Trail Ridge Land LLC: TPM mine lands ever-closer to the Okefenokee on the northwest, with the TIAA tract between it and the Swamp; Charlton County Tax Assessors.
https://wwals.net/?p=52533

The miners have not shouldered that responsibility, as each of you saw in my letter to Governor Brian

Kemp, asking the state to stop the mine. https://wwals.net/?p=54187

According to the Washington Post and the Brunswick News, Sen. Perdue accepted campaign contributions from the miners’ lobbyists, and his staffers met with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers shortly before the Corps abdicated oversight. https://tinyurl.com/y6yypbft https://tinyurl.com/ydb2vee3

I ask all the runoff candidates:

What will you do to stop this proposed strip mine far too near the Okefenokee Swamp?

124733866 10157868616486045 3900254515887275640 Photo: Gretchen Quarterman, of Suwannee Riverkeeper on the Suwannee River in Okefenokee Swamp

For the rivers and the aquifer,
John S. Quarterman
Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
/s
WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.
contact@suwanneeriverkeeper.org
www.suwanneeriverkeeper.org
PO Box 88, Hahira, GA 31632
850-290-2350
www.wwals.net
wwalswatershed@gmail.com

WWALS is an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity est. June 2012

Letter to candidates
PDF

WWALS Watershed Coalition advocates for conservation and stewardship of the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds in south Georgia and north Florida through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

Suwannee RIVERKEEPER® is a program and a paid staff position of WWALS.

Short Link: