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Bradford County Local Mitigation Strategy Planning Committee 2025-03-20

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Several people informed me yesterday that they were alarmed to discover there is a meeting today at the Bradford County, FL, Sheriff’s Office about flooding.

Turns out it’s at the Sheriff’s Office because that’s where this long-running committee has been meeting. It works on flooding and wildfire issues.

[Bradford County Local Mitigation Strategy Planning Committee, Sheriff's Office, Starke, FL 2025-03-20]
Bradford County Local Mitigation Strategy Planning Committee, Sheriff’s Office, Starke, FL 2025-03-20

According to the agenda, Paul Still already has them talking about Sampson River Blockages and Radium and Chemours Discharges, which were the two big topics people were concerned about. The Sampson River blockages would seem to include the so-called three-pipes dam gates under CR 225 on the Sampson River just downstream from Lake Sampson. These gates were another concern I heard: people wish SRWMD would use them to lower Lake Sampson before big rains.

Like many such committees, this one has had few participants. Maybe this week’s alarm will get more people to attend.

Apparently most people saw this notice in the local newspaper, but it was also posted on facebook by Bradford County Sheriff’s Office – Emergency Management Division, March 7, 2025,

The Bradford County Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) Planning Committee/Workgroup will meet Thursday, March 20th, 2025, at 3:00 pm in the Bradford County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) located in the Bradford County Sheriff’s Office at 945B North Temple Avenue, Starke, FL 32091.

Continue reading →

Pictures: Georgia House Committee meeting on Okefenokee Bills 2025-03-03

Numerous people spoke to support the Okefenokee Swamp against mining too near it, about two bills before a subcommittee of the Georgia House Natural Resources and Environment Committee (GA HNRE), on March 3, 2025.

[Speakers on Okefenokee Bills, GA HNRE Comm. 2025-03-03, No action by Crossover Day, But already introduced for 2026]
Speakers on Okefenokee Bills, GA HNRE Comm. 2025-03-03, No action by Crossover Day, But already introduced for 2026

Unfortunately, that was just a hearing, and the Committee did not vote on those bills in any later meeting, either. Which means they did not get a chance for a vote by the full House before Crossover Day. Crossover Day was Thursday, March 6, 2025, after which any bills that passed in one house crossed over to the other house for their consideration.

The good news is that it is a two-year session, so these bills are already introduced for next year: HB 561 and HB 562. Continue reading →

Georgia House Committee meeting on Okefenokee Bills Monday 1PM 2025-03-03

Monday at 1PM or after the House adjourns, the Georgia House Natural Resources and Environment Committee (HNRE) will meet to consider the two bills against mining near the Okefenokee Swamp.

This is the committee where previous bills have died. So this is a very important meeting. Please contact your Georgia Statehouse Representative.

Feel free to mention that many city councils and county commissions have passed resolutions supporting the Okefenokee Swamp against mining. And all the Riverkeepers of Georgia and Waterkeepers of Florida have written letters.
https://wwals.net/pictures/okefenokee-resolutions/

Floridians, please ask your Georgia friends, relatives, and business associates to do the same. And you can contact those Representatives directly. Part of the Okefenokee Swamp is in Florida, and all of it is upstream from Florida, on the St. Marys River and the Suwannee River, of the Florida state song.

To find your legislator (and see below):
http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

[Georgia House Committee Meeting 2025-03-03 1 PM, on Okefenokee Bills, Natural Resources and the Environment]
Georgia House Committee Meeting 2025-03-03 1 PM, on Okefenokee Bills, Natural Resources and the Environment

These are the bills:

More about those bills here:
https://wwals.net/?p=67055 Continue reading →

Okefenokee Bills, city and county resolutions, GA House Committee 2025-02-27

Update 2025-03-01: Georgia House Committee meeting on Okefenokee Bills Monday 1PM 2025-03-03.

Many local governments support Georgia legislation to prevent mining near the Okefenokee Swamp, and you can, too.

Please ask your Georgia Statehouse Representative to support the two bills now in the Georgia House.

More about those bills here:
https://wwals.net/?p=67055

Here are all the Georgia State Representatives whose districts include any part of the Suwannee River Basin:
https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-house/

Find your legislator:
http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/

[Okefenokee Bills, city & county resolutions, GA House Committee, Natural Resources & Environment]
Okefenokee Bills, city & county resolutions, GA House Committee, Natural Resources & Environment

Floridians, please ask your Georgia friends and relatives to do that. And you can contact those Representatives directly. Part of the Okefenokee Swamp is in Florida, and all of it is upstream from Florida, on the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers.

Soon these bills will be heard in the House Committee on Natural Resources and the Environment (HNRE). Not this afternoon, despite an earlier rumor. Maybe as early as Monday. Continue reading →

Two Georgia House bills introduced to protect the Okefenokee Swamp 2025-02-20

Update 2025-02-27: Okefenokee Bills, city and county resolutions, GA House Committee 2025-02-26.

Bipartisan sponsors have introduced two Georgia House bills to protect the Okefenokee Swamp:

These bills will not stop the current mining application before the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD). But they can stop further applications for expansion, which will make the current application much less valuable. And they can stop other mining applications, including by other companies using other mining methods.

The focus of these bills is Trail Ridge east of the Okefenokee Swamp, which is in the St. Marys River Basin. But there is no dam in the Swamp between that Basin and the watershed of the Suwannee River, which drains about 85% of the Swamp.

Please contact your Georgia House Representative and ask them to support these bills.
https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-house/

Floridians, please urge your Georgia friends and family to do so. And you can call or write the Georgia State Representatives yourself. Remember: this is all upstream from Florida.

[Two Georgia House bills introduced to protect the Okefenokee Swamp, February 20, 2025]
Two Georgia House bills introduced to protect the Okefenokee Swamp, February 20, 2025

The experienced mining company Chemours spilled 230,000 gallons of process water into the Suwannee River Basin in Florida a week ago.

The company that proposes to strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp for titanium dioxide, which is primarily used for white paint, is still under a Florida Consent Order for violations it caused when it was processing tailings at one of Chemours’ Florida mines.

So please ask your Georgia State Representatives to support these bills, and other methods of preventing mining near the Okefenokee Swamp. Continue reading →

Chemours Trail Ridge South Mine Process Water Spill 2025-02-16

Update 2025-02-28: Clean Franks Creek 2025-02-26 and Alapaha and Withlacoochee Rivers 2025-02-27.

Update 2025-02-24: Two Georgia House bills introduced to protect the Okefenokee Swamp 2025-02-20.

Sunday a week ago the Chemours Trail Ridge South titanium dioxide mine spilled process water, approximately 230,000 gallons.

Chemours has decades of experience with many TiO2 mines in north Florida and south Georgia. Yet they spill. Should we trust an inexperienced bunch of coal miners to strip mine for tooth whitener materials within three miles of the Okefenokee Swamp? When those same coal miners already spilled while processing tailings at two Chemours north Florida mines, causing a Florida Consent Order?

[Chemours Trail Ridge South, Mine Process Water Spill, 230,000 gallons, Sunday, February 16, 2025]
Chemours Trail Ridge South, Mine Process Water Spill, 230,000 gallons, Sunday, February 16, 2025

This is according to a report emailed the next day in the daily Pollution Notice by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP). Which has more detail than what you can see in the online map of the last 30 days of reports.

For example, the emailed report has “Coordinates (in decimal degrees): Lat: 29.891, Long: -82.043”. That puts it within feet of the location reported for the September 14, 2024 Chemours process water spill.

Which is at the old Trail Ridge Mine, not at the location farther south of there given in the 2019 Bradford County Commission hearings for a permit for Trail Ridge South Mine.

I called my usual contact at Chemours, and he says the released water is little different from what would be in the creeks anyway.

I told him that would be great, but everyone would like to see some evidence, such as what Chemours promised in the incident report: “Water within the tailing cell, point of entry and downstream locations have been sampled and we will continue to monitor. The sample locations are checked every day per our water quality monitoring program.&rqquo; Plus some independent sampling downstream.

I have also sent email to the contacts for the Trail Ridge South Mine, asking for that information and a tour of the facilities. We shall see.

Meanwhile, Our Santa Fe River (OSFR) is on the case and has asked FDEP for further information. OSFR recommends:

“Please help remind our DEP to assess and inform us about the levels of radium that were discharged. You can contact the FL- DEP to request the sample results from the spillage. You may want to email the inspector Chris.Suarez@floridadep.gov or call the Mining and Mitigation office at 850-245-8336 to ask that the spill analysis be posted.”

So where did this wastewater go? According to the stated coordinates, at the top of a wetland or pond. Continue reading →

Okefenokee Day, Atlanta, GA 2025-02-06

Where Georgia state legislators and aides could not miss us, half a dozen groups presented Okefenokee Day in the hallways of the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta.

[Okefenokee Day, Georgia state Capitol 2025-02-06, Okefenokee Swamp Park, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge]
Okefenokee Day, Georgia state Capitol 2025-02-06, Okefenokee Swamp Park, Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge

This was the flyer for organizers. I’m one, since Suwannee Riverkeeper is part of the Okefenokee Partnership which was the principal organizing body for this event. Continue reading →

Okefenokee NWR Minor Acquisition Boundary Expansion approved by USFWS 2025-01-03

Now anyone who wants to sell property within the new boundary to the Refuge can do so.

That includes the coal miners from Alabama who want to strip mine within three miles of the Okefenokee Swamp. Sure, right now they say they don’t want to do that, but things could change.

See also the WWALS support letter for this Minor Expansion, which notes that this action protects not just Trail Ridge, but the entire circumference of the Swamp.
https://wwals.net/?p=66587

Leslie Hull-Ryde, USFWS PR, January 3, 2025, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Finalizes Plan for a Minor Expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge Boundary
Enables voluntary actions to protect hydrological integrity, conserve wetlands and key wildlife habitat, and create fuel reduction zone to help protect neighboring properties

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced its final decision to expand the acquisition boundary of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge by approximately 22,000 acres. The new acquisition boundary includes lands currently held by a variety of owners within a 1-mile fuel reduction zone adjacent to the refuge. Potential conservation actions on the lands within the boundary expansion could strengthen protection of the hydrological integrity of the swamp, provide habitat for the gopher tortoise, mitigate impacts of wildfires, and provide opportunities for longleaf pine restoration to benefit the red-cockaded woodpecker.

The expanded boundary allows the Service to potentially offer priority public uses such as hunting, fishing, wildlife watching, and education to the more than 400,000 annual visitors to the refuge, thereby driving a growing ecotourism economy within the community.

[Okefenokee NWR Minor Expansion of Acquisition Boundary approved 2025-01-05 by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service]
Okefenokee NWR Minor Expansion of Acquisition Boundary approved 2025-01-05 by U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Today’s decision follows the Department’s recent announcement that Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge will be nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage List. If designated, the refuge would join the list recognizing 1,223 cultural and natural sites of universal importance, such as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, the Taj Mahal in India, the Great Wall in China, and the Galápagos Islands in Ecuador. Continue reading →

Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge to be Nominated to Join UNESCO World Heritage List –U.S. Department of the Interior 2024-12-20

After the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Refuge staff and others did a lot of work, including much public input, the Interior Department has taken the next step towards getting the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

[Okefenokee NWR Nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Site, U.S. Department of the Interior, December 20, 2024]
Okefenokee NWR Nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Site, U.S. Department of the Interior, December 20, 2024

If approved by UNESCO, the Okefenokee will join its nearest neighbors, Everglades and Great Smokey Mountains National Parks in North Carolina and Florida, and Poverty Point Monumental Earthworks in Louisiana. Continue reading →

WWALS comment on Okefenokee NWR Expansion 2024-12-13

Update 2025-01-05: Okefenokee NWR Minor Acquisition Boundary Expansion approved by USFWS 2025-01-03.

Here is the letter I sent to USFWS yesterday. I have added some images and links for this web publication, plus a few extra paragraph breaks to fit the pictures. See also the PDF.

December 13, 2024

To: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Okefenokee@fws.gov

Re: WWALS comment on Okefenokee NWR Expansion

Dear Fish and Wildlife Service,

Suwannee Riverkeeper for WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) files these comments in support of the proposed minor expansion of the acquisition boundary for the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (ONWR).

I further recommend that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, or the Department of Interior, or Congress, provide sufficient funds to make competitive offers to buy land.

[WWALS Comments 2024-12-13, Proposed Minor Expansion of the Okefenokee, National Wildlife Refuge]
WWALS Comments 2024-12-13, Proposed Minor Expansion of the Okefenokee, National Wildlife Refuge

I sympathize with concerns I have heard expressed by people living near the ONWR, perhaps most basically Continue reading →