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
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
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
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
The St Marys River:
025Steel Bridge Road St Marys River
The Okefenokee Swamp:
040Dinkins Road Half Moon & Bluff Lake Canoe Shelter
And Okefenokee Swamp Park:
Below are links to each WWALS video, followed by a WWALS video playlist.
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000Port
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001Rice Rail Yard takeoff
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002Entering Suwannee River Basin
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003Suwannee River Sill
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004Suwannee River and Griffis Fish Camp
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005Long Pond in SW ONWR
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006GA FL Line
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007Train on railroad
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008South tip Okefenokee NWR
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009Moccasin Swamp
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010Middle Prong St Marys River
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011North Prong St Marys River upper right
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012South Prong St Marys River lower right
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013Transportation Dept Baker Co FL lower right
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014North Maxville Mine Chemours
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015Maxville Landfill Duval Co FL
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016Maxville Mine Chemours Duval Baker Co FL
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017. West Fraser Saw Mill CR 218 Clay Co FL
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018. Maxville mine to North Maxville Mine
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019. West across Bradford County
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020New River not really visible upper right
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021St Marys River Basin beyond Black Bottom Road
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022West across dredge spraying plumes
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023West across North Maxville Mine to Macclenny
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024West across Walmart Dist Center to Macclenny
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025Steel Bridge Road St Marys River
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026Martin Marietta St Marys Sand Co
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027SW down GA 23 towards Florida in upper left
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028Bell Circle to sawmill
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029Cherokee of Georgia Tribal Grounds
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030S to Fulghum Fibres sawmill
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031Equipment Twin Pines Minerals mine site T Model Road
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032Joaquin Creek
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033Moniac GA
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034River Styx from bottom center
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035Maybe Monkey Lake open water in swamp center right
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036Chesser Island Road
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037Suwannee Canal Road and Boat Ramp
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038Cedar Hammock
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039Cedar Hammock under wing
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040Dinkins Road Half Moon & Bluff Lake Canoe Shelter
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041Kingfisher Landing
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042Buffalo Creek and Brantley County
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043Mission Mine South Chemours
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044Island in Big Bay
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045Okefenokee Swamp Park
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046Northern Okefenokee NWR
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047Back to civilization
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048Rice Rail Yard landing
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049Waycross towards landing
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050Ware County Middle School
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051Airport approach for landing
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052On the ground again
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.
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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!
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