Activists have been voicing their concerns for the potential mining of Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp, and local government is singing the same tune.
Brookhaven City Council members last week passed a resolution urging Gov. Brian Kemp to protect the Okefenokee Swamp, home to over 1,000 species of plants and animals, many of which are threatened or endangered.
The Okefenokee is “facing a grave threat,” said the Brookhaven resolution. A proposal by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC, an Alabama mining company, is proposing to stripmine along the eastern hydrologic boundary of the swamp.
According to Twin Pines Minerals’ website, the company “has applied for permits to extract titanium and zirconium from a tract of land, that at is closest point is approximately 2.9 miles southeast of the Okefenokee Refuge. However, we will mine only 582 acres, and at any given time excavate in a very small section of the property (1.5 to 2.5 acres) to a maximum depth of 50 feet, advancing 100 feet per day.”
“We will remove the noted minerals, which make up a tiny fraction of the soils and sand, and then replace the soil to present-day elevations and contours within 20 days. The average time any given portion of the mining pit will be open is only five days,” the website claims.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has warned that mining on Trail Ridge would dewater wetlands inside the refuge.
The land is being nominated by the United Nations as an UNESCO World Heritage Site to drive tourism to the area.
Read Sally Bethea’s recent column on the Okefenokee.
