Okefenokee flyaround –Wayne Morgan 2019-10-05

The cause of this flight was the titanium mine Twin Pines Minerals wants to put near the southeast corner of the Okefenokee Swamp. We documented they have heavy equipment on that site now:

031Equipment Twin Pines Minerals mine site T Model Road
031Equipment Twin Pines Minerals mine site T Model Road

The Georgia Water Coalition Dirty Dozen, used one of these aerial pictures taken by Wayne Morgan for WWALS on a Southwings flight for Suwannee Riverkeeper, pilot Allen Nodorft, October 5, 2019.

The mine site is less than three miles from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, and about the same distance from the Cherokee of Georgia Tribal Grounds:

029Cherokee of Georgia Tribal Grounds
029Cherokee of Georgia Tribal Grounds

For more about why that mine is a bad idea, see the Waterkeepers Florida resolulution against the mine.

For how bad it can get, see the string of four Chemours titanium mines in north Florida. Twin Pines Minerals along with Chemours is under a Florida Consent Order for a range of violations at those mines.

014North Maxville Mine Chemours
014North Maxville Mine Chemours

For much more about this bad strip-mining project, see wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining/, including how you can comment against it to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

These videos also show what we are protecting, including the Suwannee River:

004Suwannee River and Griffis Fish Camp
004Suwannee River and Griffis Fish Camp

The St Marys River:

025Steel Bridge Road St Marys River
025Steel Bridge Road St Marys River

The Okefenokee Swamp:

040Dinkins Road Half Moon & Bluff Lake Canoe Shelter
040Dinkins Road Half Moon & Bluff Lake Canoe Shelter

And Okefenokee Swamp Park:

045Okefenokee Swamp Park
045Okefenokee Swamp Park

Below are links to each WWALS video, followed by a WWALS video playlist.

Here’s a LAKE video playlist:


Around Okefenokee Swamp, pictures by Wayne Morgan for WWALS 2019-10-05
On Southwings flight for Suwannee Riverkeeper, pilot Allen Nodorft.
Made into videos by John S. Quarterman for WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS).

How to Comment

The Georgia Water Coalition has provided a convenient action portal for writing to the Georgia governor. You don't even have to live in the state to use it!

You can write to your Georgia state representative or senator or governor or lieutenant governor and ask them to refuse any such instrument.
To find your legislator you can type in your ZIP code here: http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

These are the Georgia state Senators with districts most involved with the Okefenokee Swamp:

  • District 007 Senator Tyler Harper (R-Ocilla) (Tift, Berrien, Irwin, Ben Hill, Coffee, Bacon, Atkinson, Ware, and Charlton Counties), (404) 463-5263, tyler.harper@senate.ga.gov. His district includes the Okefenokee Swamp, and he is the Chair of the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee.
  • District 008, Senator Ellis Black (R-Valdosta) (Lowndes, Lanier, Echols, Clinch, Cook, Brooks, and Thomas Counties), (404) 463-6597, (229) 559-7546, ellis.black@senate.ga.gov. Ellis Black is retiring.
    Russ Goodman won the election for this seat: 912-218-0447, rustingoodman@gmail.com.
  • District 003 Senator William T. Ligon, Jr. (R-Brunswick) (Brantley County), (404) 463-1383, (912) 261-2263, william.ligon@senate.ga.gov.

These are the Georgia state Representatives with districts most involved:

  • 174, John Corbett, R - Lake Park, 404-656-0213, john.corbett@house.ga.gov. His district includes the mine site.
  • 180, Steven Sainz, R - Woodbine, 404.656.0177, steven.sainz@house.ga.gov, Charlton and Ware Counties
  • 176, James Burchett, R - Waycross, 404.656.0188, james.burchett@house.ga.gov, Lowndes, Lanier, Atkinson, and Ware Counties
  • 177, Dexter Sharper, D - Valdosta, 404.656.0126, dexter.sharper@house.ga.gov, Lowndes County

You can also write to your U.S. Representative or Senator and ask them to urge the Corps to reject this mine or at least require an EIS, like Rep. Al Lawson (FL-05) already did.

For the requested Georgia state permit regarding Section 401 of the Clean Water Act, you can send a comment or request for public hearing to
Stephen Wiedl, Wetlands Unit, stephen.wiedl@dnr.ga.gov
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Environmental Protection Division, Water Protection Branch, 7 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive, Atlanta, Georgia 30334.
Be sure to mention Applicant: Twin Pines Minerals, LLC, Application Number: SAS-2018-00554.

For the Georgia Coastal Management Program certification, you can send a comment to
Federal Consistency Coordinator, Ecological Services Section, Coastal Resources Division,
Georgia Department of Natural Resources, One Conservation Way, Brunswick, Georgia 31523-9600
Telephone 912-264-7218.

The Army Corps public announcement of the miners' re-application last spring says: “The applicant may also require assent from the State of Georgia, which may be in the form of a license, easement, lease, permit, or other appropriate instrument.”

You can also write to the Georgia DNR board, asking them to refuse any such instrument.
Georgia Board of Natural Resources
2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, SE, Suite 1252, Atlanta, GA 30334

To submit a letter to the editor of the Charlton County Herald, you can email editor@charltonherald.com.
Or write to your local newspaper.
You can also contact radio, TV, and of course post on social media.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!