The map in this Chemours followup report about its January 31, 2024, 194,195-gallon wastewater spill seems to indicate the water went south into Double Run Creek, which goes to the Santa Fe River.
The latlong in the map legend, 29.8901015, -82.0506411, is on one branch of Double Run Creek. Continue reading
Update 2025-05-16: More about Spill from Chemours Trail Ridge South TiO2 mine SE of Starke, FL 2024-01-31.
Chemours wants to mine on SRWMD land in Bradford County, FL, upstream from the Santa Fe River, on Double Run Creek which already had a tailings wastewater spill last fall.
You’ve got 30 days to comment:
The Jacksonville District will receive written comments on the proposed work, as outlined above, until June 12, 2025. Comments should be submitted electronically via the Regulatory Request System (RRS) at https://rrs.usace.army.mil/rrs or to John Fellows at john.p.fellows@usace.army.mil. Alternatively, you may submit comments in writing to the Commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, Attention: John Fellows, 10117 Princess Palm Avenue, Suite 120, Tampa, FL 33610. Please refer to the permit application number in your comments.
That’s permit application number SAJ-2019-00480 (JPF).
Many of us complained back in 2019 about SRWMD allowing Chemours access through SRWMD property, but in 2021 SRWMD claimed it had no choice.
![[SRWMD parcels, Bradford County Property Appraiser 2019-10-17]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-05-13--usace-chemours-cr230-wetlands/srwmd-bradford-co.jpg)
SRWMD parcels, Bradford County Property Appraiser 2019-10-17
Now it’s not just access, it’s actual mining. So what does conservation mean to the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD)? Or to its parent the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP)?
Here’s the problem: Continue reading
Suwannee Riverkeeper, among 64 U.S. Waterkeepers, joined Waterkeeper Alliance and Environmental Integrity Project in asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to maintain and restore longstanding protections for the nation’s waters.
Most of this long comment letter is applicable to the Suwannee River Basin. For example, related to the ongoing Georgia attempts to define which rivers and creeks are navigable: “lUnder the agencies’ Pre-2015 Regulatory Definition, all tributaries to traditionally navigable waters, interstate waters, impoundments, and ‘other waters’ are categorically defined as ‘waters of the United States.’” For example, see Valdosta sewage into Sugar Creek and Quitman sewage and cattle manure into Okapilco Creek, both into the Withlacoochee River in Georgia, upstream from Florida and the Suwannee River.
The comment doesn’t mention the Floridan Aquifer, but there are mentions of “Large numbers of rivers and streams… that briefly flow subsurface and then reemerge as surface waters.” and river-connected “subsurface flows and springs” elsewhere. Subsurface flows are important in the Suwannee River Basin and the Floridan Aquifer.
The Florida Basin Managment Action Plans (BMAPs) supposedly intend to reduce by 85-95% the leaching of fertilizer nitrates through the soil and subsurface limestone into springs and rivers, causing algae blooms and crowding out native vegetation, to the detriment of manatees and other wildlife.
See also the Dead River Sink where the Alapaha River goes underground and comes back up in the Alapaha River Rise on the Suwannee River. Continue reading
Here are the WWALS comments sent to GA-EPD yesterday against the proposed titanium dioxide mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp.
Thanks to all who also sent comments to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) during the 60-day comment period.
Next, we wait for GA-EPD to read all the comments. Supposedly they have to reply to all questions in those comments.
Most likely then GA-EPD will issue the actual permits. Then lawsuits start flying.
If I am not mistaken, you can still send comments to TwinPines.Comment@dnr.ga.gov. They won’t be considered part of the 60-day comment period, but they will go into the public record, retrievable via an open records request, and usable in lawsuits.
See also PDF. Continue reading
Update 2024-04-07: Added names of County Commissioners in the form as passed.
Update 2024-03-16: Atkinson County, GA, resolution for the Okefenokee Swamp against the strip mine 2024-03-14.
County opposition to the proposed strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp has crossed the GA-FL line.
The Board of County Commissioners of Hamilton County, Florida, on February 20, 2024, passed this resolution. A signed copy is forthcoming.
![[Hamilton County, Florida, resolution for the Okefenokee Swamp, against the strip mine 2024-02-20]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-20--hamco-okefenokee/many.jpg)
Hamilton County, Florida, resolution for the Okefenokee Swamp, against the strip mine 2024-02-20
That makes four counties on the Suwannee River downstream of the Okefenokee Swamp: Ware, Clinch, Echols, and Hamilton.
Plus many other counties and cities.
https://wwals.net/2021/12/10/resolutions-for-okefenokee-swamp-against-strip-mine-suwannee-riverkeeper-sgrc-2021-12-09/
Resolution 2024-
A RESOLUTION FOR THE OKEFENOKEE SWAMP AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, HAMILTON COUNTY, FLORIDA
WHEREAS, Hamilton County takes pride in its rivers, including the Suwannee River to the east and south;
WHEREAS, the citizens of Hamilton County value the natural resources and outdoor recreation opportunities afforded by the Okefenokee Swamp and the Suwannee River and their watersheds;
WHEREAS, the Okefenokee Swamp is a unique natural, cultural, and economic treasure known worldwide, identified as an Aquatic Resource of National Importance by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a National Natural Landmark, a National Wilderness Area, and a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention;
WHEREAS, the Okefenokee Swamp is the headwaters of the St Marys River and of the Suwannee River, famous worldwide;
WHEREAS, the Suwannee River forms the eastern and southern boundaries of Hamilton County for more than eighty miles;
WHEREAS, Hamilton County hosts several Suwannee River access points, demonstrating commitment to recreation on the Suwannee River through various initiatives;
WHEREAS, the Hamilton County Commission has shown commitment to water quality and waterway recreation through the approval of the Comprehensive Plan, providing protections for the Suwannee River and its watersheds;
WHEREAS, the citizens value the Okefenokee Swamp and the Suwannee River for water quality and habitat protection;
WHEREAS, the environmental impact of strip mining in proximity to the Okefenokee Swamp raises significant concerns for the watershed;
WHEREAS, thorough and unbiased review processes are crucial in assessing the potential environmental consequences of mining activities;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners:
- Support the preservation and protection of the Okefenokee Swamp and its surrounding watersheds.
- Advocate for a comprehensive, transparent, and impartial review of any proposed mining activities near the Okefenokee Swamp, including public hearings, public comments, and independent third-party review.
- Encourage the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to thoroughly review and assess all mining permit applications to the same degree as a thorough U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Area-Wide Environmental Impact Statement, with public hearings, public comments, and independent third-party review.
- Advocate for legislative measures in Georgia to prevent future strip mines near environmentally sensitive areas, including the Okefenokee Swamp and the blackwater rivers in the Suwannee River Basin.
- Request the Florida Department of Environmental Protection to engage with the permitting process of the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to ensure thorough consideration of environmental impacts.
PASSED AND ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS, Hamilton County, Florida, this day of 2024.
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
HAMILTON COUNTY, FLORIDAAttest:
Greg Godwin
Ex-officio ClerkBy
Chairman, Robert E. Brown
District 3Member, Jimmy Murphy
District 1Member, Robby Roberson
District 2Member, Travis Erixton
District 4Member, Richie McCoy
District 5Approved as to Form By:
Andrew J. Decker, III
Hamilton County Attorney
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/
Update 2024-03-08: A 19th-century navigable definition does not work for 21st-century river economies 2024-02-29.
I watched it so you don’t have to,
Monday’s meeting of the Georgia Natural Resources & Environment Environmental Quality Subcommittee.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnl5fJP5ptM&t=1425s
The subcommittee is meeting again
at 1PM today, February 28, 2024, with HB 1397 as the only
thing on the agenda, and Rep. John Corbett again chairing.
https://www.house.ga.gov/Documents/Agendas/Natural%20Resources/January%2024,%202011%2027.pdf
See also the input I sent the legislators yesterday, Navigable stream additions to GA HB 1397 2024-02-27.
This is not a transcript. Except where I use quotation marks, it is a paraphrase of what I found to be the important points of the Monday subcommittee meeting.
The bill’s sponsor, Rep. James Burchett (District 176, Waycross) said he was concerned about people boating on oxbows and creeks onto private property, so the bill definitely did not include tributaries as navigable. He worries that currently the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR) is in a difficult position of having to decide matters of law.
Burchett said that he constructed the list Continue reading
Thanks to the Berrien County Board of Commissioners for passing a resolution supporting the Okefenokee Swamp and opposing the strip mine for titanium dioxide proposed by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC.
Please contact your
Georgia statehouse members and ask them to protect the Okefenokee Swamp:
https://www.gawater.org/okefenokee-swamp
Ask your Georgia state Senator to sponsor a bill in the Senate:
https://wwals.net/about/elected-officials/georgia-senate/
Floridians, please ask your Georgia friends and relatives to do this.
![[Berrien County Resolution No: 24-002 2024-02-06]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-06--berrien-county-okefenokee-resolution/igmany.jpg)
Berrien County Resolution No: 24-002 2024-02-06
See also the other resolutions so far.
More about this issue:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining
See also PDF. Continue reading
Thank you, Nashville, Georgia, Mayor and Council, for passing a resolution supporting the Okefenokee Swamp against the proposed strip mine.
![[City of Nashville Resolution and Okefenokee NWR sign]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-01-08--nashville-ga-okefenokee-resolution/igmany.jpg)
City of Nashville Resolution and Okefenokee NWR sign
For the increasing number of these resolutions, see:
https://wwals.net/?p=57248
Please ask your Georgia statehouse members to pass HB 71. Floridians, ask your friends and relatives in Georgia to do that. And ask your city or county in Florida to also pass a resolution.
For more about this issue, see:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining/
Update 2024-02-28: Navigability in HB 1397 in GA House Natural Resources & Environment Quality Subcommittee 2024-02-26.
Here is the Final Report with Recommendations after four public input meetings and a decision meeting of the Georgia House Study Committee on Fishing Access to Freshwater Resources.
Basically, they want to preserve both fishing rights (and private property rights) while preserving boating right of passage. The Study Committee found right of passage tied to navigability, so its key recommendations are to determine and delineate which parts of which rivers and streams are navigable.
If you know Committee Chair Rep. James Burchett or any of the committee members,
please contact them asking for maximum navigability while preserving private property rights.
Or contact your Georgia state house member.
http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/ Continue reading
Valdosta’s widening of Old Clyattville Road will affect a drainage ditch out of the SAFT America battery plant on Gil Harbin Road, which is currently hiring. The drainage ditch goes into Mud Swamp Creek, which joins Grand Bay Creek east of Valdosta to form the Alaphoochee River, which flows into the Alapaha River just across the GA-FL line, and then into the Suwannee River.
The project will require mitigation bank credits, probably from the Cherry Creek Mitigation Bank, half of which was previously denied deannexation by the Valdosta Mayor and Council. The city hired TTL to do most of the application work, and apparently also Lovell Engineering Associates to plan the actual road work.
WWALS did not file any comments with GA-EPD, because we did not find any irregularities in the actual project. We did find some interesting tidbits in the application, such as a historic cemetery, railroad, and archaeological sites.
Also, the USGS Hydrologic Unit Code (HUC) boundary for the Upper Mud Swamp (HUC 031103021001) is incorrect. We may contact USGS about that. Continue reading
![[More about Spill 2024-01-31, Chemours Trail Ridge South, TiO2 mine SE of Starke, FL, Santa Fe River Basin]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-01-31--about-spill-trail-ridge-south-chemours/fbmany.jpg)
![[Chemours Army Corps application to mine TiO2 on SRWMD land, Bradford County, FL, Santa Fe River Basin 2025-05-13]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-05-13--usace-chemours-cr230-wetlands/fbmany.jpg)
![[Waterkeeper Alliance advocates EPA and USACE restore longstanding protections for the nation’s waters 2025-04-23]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2025-04-23--wka-wotus/fbmany.jpg)
![[Application deficiencies in TPM TiO2 mining permits: Modeling, mercury, spills, slimes, Florida --WWALS to GA-EPD 2024-04-09]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-04-09--wwals-ga-epd-twin-pines-okefenokee/many.jpg)
![[Rep. James Burchett, Navigability in HB 1397 in GA House Natural Resources & Environment Quality Subcommittee 2024-02-26]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2024-02-26--ga-hnre-hb1398/many.jpg)
![[Chair Rep. James Burchett and GA House Fishing Access Study Committee 2023-11-30, plus fishing, fish, boating, and trash]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-12-01--ga-house-fishing-access-committee-final-report/many.jpg)
![[Collage of Valdosta application for Vegetative Buffer Encroachment on Mud Swamp Creek for Clyattville Road Widening]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-10-19--ga-epd-buffer-variance-bv-092-23-01/many.jpg)
