Category Archives: Aquifer

The Floridan Aquifer is our main drinking water source under our entire WWALS watershed, east to south Carolina, west through Alabama to Mississippi, and under all of Florida.

Public Comment on land use plan for titanium strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp –GA-EPD 2023-01-19

GA-EPD is providing more public comment opportunity than it has been promising for the past year. It has opened a comment period on Twin Pines Minerals Mining Land Use Plan, after which it will do what it previously promised: issue a draft permit and open a comment period on that.

You can object now to that titanium dioxide strip mine for white paint far too close to the Okefenokee Swamp, which is the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers, and sits above the Floridan Aquifer from which we all drink in south Georgia and north Florida. You can email or paper mail your comments, or join one of two zoom webinars.

The comment deadline is 60 days after the notice of yesterday, so apparently Monday, March 20, 2023.

[Proposed Project Location, 2-MLUP-App-N-b-Modeling-the-Groundwater-Flow-System-on-Trail-Ridge-9-14-2021-Figs-Tables-and-Apps-0012]
Proposed Project Location, 2-MLUP-App-N-b-Modeling-the-Groundwater-Flow-System-on-Trail-Ridge-9-14-2021-Figs-Tables-and-Apps-0012

The Twin Pines Minerals Draft Mining Land Use Plan and Associated Documents for Public Comment are on the GA-EPD website, and also on the WWALS website.

Here is the public notice: Continue reading →

News again: Valdosta’s 2021 resolution against the strip mine proposed too near the Okefenokee Swamp 2023-01-01

Old news is new again.

You can help make this resolution and others affect the miners’ plans:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium

Terry Richards, Yahoo News and Valdosta Daily Times, January 1 2023, Valdosta on record opposing mining operation,

Jan. 1—VALDOSTA — More than a year ago the Valdosta City Council joined lawmakers across South Georgia opposing controversial mining plans near the Okefenokee Swamp.

At the time, the president of the mining company said he was not concerned about local resolutions like the one passed by Valdosta.

“The Valdosta City Council’s resolution has no impact on our plans whatsoever,” said Steve Ingle, president of Twin Pines Minerals, in a statement.

Valdosta City Council voted Nov. 11, 2021 to oppose Twin Pines’ plans to start a mining project near the Okefenokee Swamp, about 75 miles from Valdosta. The vote was 6-0.

[Dragline on TPM mine site 2022-09-27 and Valdosta City Council 2021-11-11]
Dragline on TPM mine site 2022-09-27 and Valdosta City Council 2021-11-11

Here is video of that vote and the text of the resolution.
https://wwals.net/?p=57073

All the other similar resolutions are on the WWALS website.

Back to the story: Continue reading →

Massive citizen opposition to development foothold in agricultural and forestry area @ GLPC 2022-12-08

Update 2023-01-29: Lowndes County nixes planned Dollar General –VDT 2023-01-26.

Update 2022-12-09: Packet: Dollar General may be tabled @ LCC 2022-12-12. Go ahead and ask them to deny it.

We don’t need more clearcutting, impervious surface, petroleum runoff, and trash, uphill from the Withlacoochee River, setting a precedent for further sprawl into a forestry and agricultural area, costing the county money, and everybody downstream as well.

This Lowndes County, Georgia, rezoning decision affects the entire county and everybody downstream all the way into Florida, for drinking water, flood prevention, wildlife, river water quality, and quality of life.

You can write to the Lowndes County Commission: http://lowndescounty.com/181/Board-of-Commissioners. And in the public hearing Tuesday evening at 5:30 PM, you can speak, no matter where you come from.

If you live or own land in Lowndes County, you can sign the petition.

Malia Thomas, Valdosta Daily Times, December 8, 2022, (links and illustrations added by jsq), Rezoning sparks neighborhood petition,

VALDOSTA — More than 120 Lowndes County residents have signed a petition to keep Dollar General away from their rural community.

Continue reading →

Unacceptable risk to mine near the Okefenokee Swamp –U.S. Interior Secretary Haaland 2022-12-07

She finally said what she did not say when she toured the Okefenokee Swamp back in September.

You can also tell the state of Georgia to stop the proposed strip mine far too close to the Okefenokee Swamp, the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers, above the Floridan Aquifer from which we all drink.

[Interior Secretary Haaland in the Okefenokee Swamp 2022-09-16 Photo: Shannon Estenoz and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service]
Interior Secretary Haaland in the Okefenokee Swamp 2022-09-16 Photo: Shannon Estenoz and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Russ Bynam, AP in the AJC, 7 December 2022, Interior secretary: `Unacceptable’ to mine near famed swamp,

A member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet is urging Georgia officials to deny permits for a proposed mine near the edge of the famed Okefenokee Swamp and its vast wildlife refuge

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A member of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet is urging Georgia officials to deny permits for a proposed mine near the edge of the famed Okefenokee Swamp and its vast wildlife refuge, saying the plan poses “unacceptable risk” to the swamp’s fragile ecology.

“I write to express Continue reading →

Videos: North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan meeting @ SRWMD 2022-11-15

Update 2023-02-07: Water budget, limit water withdrawals, do better aquifer recharge –WWALS to NFRWSP 2023-01-31.

Almost all the attendees were SRWMD staff; no board members. The only public comment was by me, at the NFRWSP Constraint Meeting, at SRWMD HQ yesterday.

You can comment in writing to partnership@sjrwmd.com by January 31, 2023.

[Presenters, Commenter]
Presenters, Commenter

The presentations were informative, although they omitted a major subject, which I addressed: limits on water withdrawal permits. Will the SRWMD and SJRWMD boards address it this time, or shrug it off like six years ago, after many people suggested it?

SRWMD seemed to be recording video of this meeting, and presumably they will release the slides sometime. Meanwhile, pictures of most of the slides are on the WWALS website. Here is a a WWALS video playlist: Continue reading →

Figures and Tables from NORTH FLORIDA SOUTHEAST GEORGIA GROUNDWATER MODEL (NFSEG V1.1) 2019-08-01

Update 2022-11-16: Videos: North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan meeting @ SRWMD 2022-11-15.

This rather thorough model of the Floridan Aquifer and its relatives is meant to be support planning, but does not actually do that planning. Planning is the topic of the meeting this afternoon about the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP).

[Collage]
Collage, Figures and Tables from NORTH FLORIDA SOUTHEAST GEORGIA GROUNDWATER MODEL (NFSEG V1.1)

That’s also why we need Right to Clean Water in Florida.

The sentence I’ve bolded below from the Executive Summary is the most important thing about the North Florida-Southeast Georgia (NFSEG) regional groundwater flow model. Continue reading →

Florida Right to Clean Water: get petition signatures for court review 2022-11-10

Update 2023-04-01: Florida Right to Hunt and Fish breezing through legislature towards 2024 ballot 2023-03-27.

Floridians, now’s the time to get the petition through the first hurdle: Florida Supreme Court review by March 1, 2023. 223,000 signatures is doable if enough people help.

If you’re a registered Florida voter, go here and sign the petition:
https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org/

[Unite for Clean Water flyer]

And join the campaign:
https://www.floridarighttocleanwater.org/uniteforcleanwater

Individuals, groups, businesses, or non-profits: all can help get constitutional protection for our rivers, creeks, springs, sinks and swamps, not to mention drinking water.

More about Right to Clean Water in Florida and Georgia here:
https://wwals.net/issues/right-to-clean-water/

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

NFRWSP Constraint Meeting, 2022-11-15

Update 2022-11-16: Videos: North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan meeting @ SRWMD 2022-11-15.

Update 2022-11-15: Figures and Tables from NORTH FLORIDA SOUTHEAST GEORGIA GROUNDWATER MODEL (NFSEG V1.1) 2019-08-01.

January will be six years since SRWMD and SJRWMD passed the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP), mostly ignoring input from interested parties. It’s back for renovations, with public comment at the end of the workshops. Maybe you’d like to attend and comment, or send them written comments.

When: 2 PM, Tuesday, November 15, 2022

Put In: District Headquarters, 9225 CR 49, Live Oak, FL 32060

Figure C3: Aquifer surface change due to withdrawals in north Florida and south Georgia
Figure C3: Aquifer surface change due to withdrawals in north Florida and south Georgia

Continue reading →

Bill Gates responds on MSNBC to my criticisms of his farm policies 2022-09-13

Last night Bill Gates again pretended to be an expert on farming, while avoiding mention of water, soil, ecology, environment, or community. Many of the assertions he made about farming in the U.S. and Africa don’t match documented research.

He did seem to be familiar with my criticisms of his policies, and by his expressions he doesn’t like them much.

[Question and three Gates expressions]
Question and three Gates expressions

He says “all these areas, they evolve, they understand how to say use less fertilizer, which is both good economically and good environmentally.”

Well, his landholdings in Florida and Georgia did not evolve. And he’s now sold off many of them, so maybe they weren’t good economically for him.

Meanwhile, he has driven the size of farm landholdings up, Continue reading →

Twin Pines Minerals sues Army Corps about oversight of strip mine site near Okefenokee Swamp 2022-06-27

Well, that did not take long. Only three weeks after an Assistant Secretary of the Army told the Army Corps it had to resume oversight of the proposed titanium-dioxide strip mine site too near the Okefenokee Swamp, the miners have sued the Corps. They still want to strip mine for white paint materials within three miles of the Okefenokee Swamp, an economic engine for southeast Georgia and northeast Florida, and an irreplaceable refuge for numerous land, water, and bird species. That Swamp is the headwaters of the St Marys and Suwannee Rivers, and above the Floridan Aquifer, from which we all drink in south Georgia and north Florida, including for agriculture and industry. There must be better sources of jobs for Charlton County, Georgia.

[Twin Pines Minerals equipment on proposed mine site 2022-02-12]
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS, Twin Pines Minerals equipment on proposed mine site 2020-02-12, 30.52081, -82.1261

Mary Landers, The Current, June 27, 2022, Mining company sues Army Corps over project near Okefenokee: Twin Pines claims agency erred in overturning decision and seeking Muscogee Nation’s input.

Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals filed suit against the Army Corps of Engineers last week, claiming the federal agency erred when it bowed to “stakeholder pressure” earlier this month and made it harder for the company to get permits to mine near the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

…In its filing, Twin Pines maintains “The Twin Pines Approved Jurisdictional Determinations were issued in compliance with all laws, regulations, and policies — including the tribal consultation policy — in effect when they were issued.”

More specifically, the company contends Continue reading →