The Georgia State Capitol is not a comfortable or easy place to advocate on behalf of nature—be it rivers, mountains, swamps or the coast. I know this from often painful and frustrating personal experience. Every winter, for more than two decades until retirement, I put on my business suit, pearls, and heels and joined the legislative circus in the cavernous capitol hallways, where seating is limited and the floors are cold, hard marble.
Lobbyists hang out on the third floor of the building, watching televisions that show the activity in each legislative chamber (House and Senate). This makes them easily accessible to legislators, who periodically dash out of their chamber doors to ask for advice or meet with constituents. Public interest lobbyists who advocate for the environment, healthcare, families, education, and other progressive causes can be found on the north side of the third floor. Business lobbyists dominate the south side of the building with its shoe-shine stand—a deep, philosophical (and relative compensation) chasm between them.
Political Landscape
On behalf of Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, I worked with conservation colleagues to pass good environmental bills and kill bad ones; the latter often took up more of our time than the former. In the 1990s and early 2000s, it was possible to find bipartisan support from leading Democrats and Republicans for some of our legislative proposals. Sadly, this bipartisan alignment is less common today.
For the past twenty years, the political landscape has been dominated by one party in the governor’s office, both legislative chambers, and key committee chairs, importantly including natural resources. The largely anti-environmental stance on the part of the Republican majority has made lobbying for a healthy environment more difficult. Despite the formidable challenges, the Georgia Water Coalition (gawater.org), which celebrated its twentieth-anniversary last year, continues to deliver results, even if some of them are years in the making.
The GWC was established to stop the attempted transformation of Georgia’s water into a marketable commodity—allocated not according to need or plan but to the agreements between willing buyers and sellers seeking profits. That horribly misguided idea was defeated by the coalition and its allies, notably local government officials. Today, GWC members adopt legislative priorities each year to address critical threats to state waters—in addition to opposing attempts to roll back environmental protections.
During the current 40-day legislative session, scheduled to end on March 29, the GWC is actively supporting two initiatives: a bill to protect the Okefenokee Swamp from mining, and anticipated legislation to strengthen the regulation of “soil amendments” (read: animal waste and sewage sludge) applied to farmland.
Protecting Georgia’s ‘Wild Heart’
On Feb. 8, Governor Kemp and legislators proclaimed Okefenokee Swamp Day in Georgia before an enthusiastic crowd of swampers, including mayors, country commissioners, farmers, and businesspeople interested in eco-tourism. Two people-size alligators waved from capitol balconies, while several real swamp critters (and their handlers) tolerated the attention of legislators and lobbyists.
If it passes, the HB 71 Okefenokee Protection Act (legis.ga.gov/legislation/63631) will help safeguard the world-renowned, 438,000-acre wetland from industrial mining proposals that threaten irreversible, negative impacts. The legislation would prohibit the state from issuing future permits to conduct surface mining operations on the highest elevations of Trail Ridge: the prehistoric barrier island that helped create the swamp by holding back its waters. HB 71 has been assigned to the House Natural Resource Committee, chaired by Rep. Lynn Smith (R-Newnan). For nearly two decades, she has regularly stifled pro-environment legislation. More worrisome are the highly-paid, corporate lobbyists hired by Twin Pines to oppose the bill.
The motivating factor for the Okefenokee Protection Act is a pending, highly flawed application by Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals LLC (a proven bad actor in other projects) to mine heavy mineral sands (epd.georgia.gov/twin-pines) near the Okefenokee; this specific application would not be affected by HB 71. The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (read the governor) will decide this year whether or not the risky Twin Pines project will be approved. It must be stopped.
Streams of Chicken Waste
Last summer, gray, bubbling water was discovered in a tributary to the Little River in northeast Georgia, upstream of a massive fish kill. The pollution was traced back to a farm that had, in just six weeks, accepted more than two hundred loads of “soil amendments” – waste from a pet food plant and a milk facility – and dumped the liquid gunk onto hay fields and into a pond.
In Georgia, soil amendment is the term state officials use, euphemistically, to describe animal waste (mostly chicken blood and guts) and industrial sewage sludge; they also like to call it “repurposed material.” Applied to dry soils and in limited quantities, this liquid waste can improve soil condition; however, that is rarely the outcome in Georgia. Most of the material is being dumped in massive quantities on farm fields. Neighbors must contend with unbearable odors and swarms of flies. When it rains, and often even when it doesn’t rain, the waste flows into nearby streams.
Although it’s responsible for managing how these materials are used as soil additives, Georgia’s Department of Agriculture is not doing enough to ensure the sludge is kept out of nearby waterways. Local officials, citizens, and the GWC are pushing lawmakers to give local governments more authority in managing the waste disposal; greater transparency is also needed. Not surprisingly, Big Chicken – a dominant player at the Gold Dome – is not keen on any additional regulation or oversight.
HB 477, sponsored by Rep. Rob Leverett, has been assigned to the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee with hopes of getting a hearing before Crossover Day on March 6.
Let your state legislators know what you think about these issues using this link georgia.gov/contact-state-legislators. Provide comments to the Georgia EPD about the Twin Pines mining proposal at twinpines.comment@dnr.ga.gov.