This aired a few days ago on PBS:
Suwannee: Wild River,
in the series
AMERICA OUTDOORS WITH BARATUNDE THURSTON, Season 2 Episode 1 | 53m 8s.
The Suwannee is one of the last wild rivers in America, and its watershed creates woods and wetlands, marshes, and cave systems. From its headwaters in the Okefenokee Swamp, Baratunde journeys downstream, meeting colorful denizens of the Suwannee. From jet skiers to herpetologists, manatees to snapping turtles, he learns how this unique environment inspires a whole range of passions.
How WWALS water quality testing discovered cow manure was contaminating the Withlacoochee River and got it (mostly) fixed.
About that titanium dioxide strip mine proposed too near the Okefenokee Swamp,
plus trash and water trails.
Thanks to Bryan Blount for inviting me on WKUB 105.1 FM, from Pierce County, Georgia.
This is Part 2. See also Part 1 about the WWALS River Revue sit-down fundraising dinner,
with three speakers, silent auction, and the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest,
all 6-10 PM, Friday, September 22, 2023, at the Turner Center for the Arts in Valdosta, Georgia.
In addition to its usual business of roads and taxes,
the Clinch County Commission discussed with Suwannee Riverkeeper
outings, boat ramps, and a proposed resolution against the strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp.
Thanks to Chairman Henry Moylan and the Commissioners for their hospitality,
to
Clinch County Administrator Jaclyn James for ongoing communications,
and to WWALS member Etta Lee for talking to Commissioners and for being at the meeting; also for dinner.
Below are pictures, videos by Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange of the relevant agenda item, and links to documents.
If white paint wasn’t a bad enough reason for a strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp,
how about food coloring linked to serious health issues?
“Research shows the chemical [titanium dioxide] is likely a neurotoxin and immunotoxin,
and can damage the reproductive system, cause birth defects and
damage genes.”
Remember: Twin Pines Minerals is proposing to mine titanium dioxide, not titanium metal.
And the Okefenokee Swamp is the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers,
exchanging surface water with groundwater down to the Floridan Aquifer, from which we all drink in south Georgia and north Florida.
For ways you can object to the permits for that strip mine, currently before the
Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD),
or to support a bill that would prevent it expanding,
see:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining/
Public health advocates say a common color enhancer added to
thousands of US foods is toxic and dangerous, and have formally
petitioned federal regulators to ban the chemical’s use.
Though the compound, titanium dioxide, has been widely used for
decades and is found in foods like M&Ms, Skittles, Beyond Meat
plant-based chicken tenders and Chips Ahoy! cookies, recent science
has shown it is also linked to a range of serious health issues and
accumulates in the body and organs.
Eight out of fifteen ain’t bad.
A few more attended the actual Waterkeepers Florida (WKFL) meeting via teleconference.
Waterkeepers Florida asks you to ask Georgia officials to stop a proposed
strip mine too near 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 most of Florida:
https://wwals.net/?p=61437
While the comment period on the Mining Land Use Plan nominally closes at 4:30 PM today,
that same address has been open for comments for a year or more,
and will probably remain open.
Plus GA-EPD has said that if there is a draft permit,
they will open another 60-day public comment period.
Meanwhile, all the Waterkeepers of Georgia and Florida oppose
that strip mine for white paint, and support the Okefenokee Swamp,
the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers, and the Floridan Aquifer.