Daily Archives: April 13, 2020

Deadline extended to May 28 after virtual Public Meeting on May 13 for mining application near Okefenokee Swamp 2020-04-13

Six weeks more from the Army Corps, less than the two or four months requested by various parties. That’s still better than no extension for public comments on the re-application by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC, to mine far too close to the Okefenokee Swamp, the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers, above the Floridan Aquifer.

Plus, before the new comment deadline of May 28, 2020:

[Suwannee River]
Twin Pines Minerals proposed mine site, Okefenokee NWR, and Suwannee River

The Savannah District will hold a virtual Public Meeting for the Twin Pines project on May 13, 2020 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM EDT. The meeting will consist of a formal presentation followed by a question and answer session. The meeting will be recorded and published to the Savannah District public website.

Published by the Corps at 4:35 PM on the original deadline of today, here is the Public Notice of Extension on the Corps’ website, and here it is in PDF.

For far more about this bad mining proposal and the organizations that support the Okefenokee Swamp and oppose anything that would harm it, see:
wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining/

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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

Waterkeepers Florida to Army Corps and EPA against strip mine near Okefenokee Swamp 2020-04-10

On Friday, Waterkeepers Florida, a regional entity composed of all 13 Waterkeeper organizations working in the State of Florida to protect and restore our water resources across over 45,000 square miles of watershed, which is home to over 15 million Floridians, wrote to both the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. EPA asking for more third-party comment on the application by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC, to strip mine for titanium near the Okefenokee Swamp, which is the headwaters of the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers.

[WKFL logos]
WKFL logos

Today’s the comment deadline, and today you can also write such letters about Application Number SAS-2018-00554-SP-HAR. Here’s how:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining/#howtocomment

Waterkeepers Florida (WKFL) to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

See also Continue reading

Bad water quality at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-11

Update 2020-04-14: Cleaner at State Line, Withlacoochee River 2020-04-12.

The Withlacoochee River looks good, but it’s got E. coli, 17,833 cfu/100 mL at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, results for Saturday, April 11, 2020.

How bad? Horrible, since 410 is bad and 1,000 is alert level. See also what do these numbers mean. Suzy drew water downstream at Nankin State Line Boat Ramp Sunday, and I’m going to collect some elsewhere today. You can help.

[Shoals]
Photo: Suzy Hall, Withlacoochee River at Knights Ferry, Upstream Shoals

Suzy Hall said, “I really thought they were not going to be purple, but they are.” Continue reading

Again, Within these WWALS 2020-04-13

Contest number 2: Please identify (by scientific or common name) each of the items highlighted in a set of photos and then come up with the name of the WWALS waterway where all the photos were taken.

You can answer here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfCgPOcO2dnF_HyHNWdR4rWctS4WkXrggq4AtGL_2TGm6j18Q/viewform

[Four square]
Four square

The first person to submit the correct answers wins a packet of WWALS photo cards from that watershed.
https://wwals.net/2020/03/30/wwals-online-store-cards-hats-stickers-raffle-membership/

Winners will be listed in Continue reading