ATLANTA – Environmental activists asked Georgia House lawmakers Monday to enact a moratorium on mining adjacent to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.
But opponents of a proposed mining ban defended Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals’ plan to mine titanium dioxide along Trail Ridge as an important source of jobs in a high-poverty area of southeastern Georgia.
Two bills sponsored by state Rep. Darlene Taylor, R-Thomasville, include different versions of a ban on mining. One would place a five-year moratorium on mining, while the other would prohibit future mining altogether.
Taylor told members of a House subcommittee that the largest blackwater wetland in North America deserves and needs protection from mining, which would ruin a natural resource that draws 800,000 visitors each year and pumps more than $90 million into the region’s economy.
She has introduced legislation during the last several years to prohibit mining adjacent to the Okefenokee. Thus far, none of those measures has reached the House floor for a vote despite dozens of lawmakers signing on as cosponsors.
“I have been there,” Taylor said of the swamp at the start of a hearing on her bills. “Some of my fondest memories as a child involve visiting and enjoying the beauty. I want that for my grandchildren and your grandchildren.”
Rhett Jackson, a professor of water resources at the University of Georgia, said the planned titanium dioxide mine would lower water levels in the Okefenokee, increasing the chance of damaging wildfires.
“The largest wildfires in the state’s history have started in the swamp during drought periods,” he said
Environmental lawyer Josh Marks, president of the nonprofit Georgians for the Okefenokee, complained that the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, which is considering permit applications for the mine, has not used “sound science” in evaluating the project.
“Georgia EPD has show it is incapable of protecting the swamp,” he said.
But the mine’s supporters argued Taylor’s bills would essentially let the General Assembly decide whether to approve the project, usurping the EPD’s authority.
“The legislature lacks the expertise to make mining decisions,” said Joe Hopkins, owner of Toledo Manufacturing Co. in Folkston.
Lewis Jones, a lawyer representing Twin Pines, said the form of titanium dioxide found along Trail Ridge is both rare and critical to national security. Lighter than steel, titanium is used in the manufacture of bombers and fighter jets.
Jones also disputed arguments that the mine would harm the Okefenokee.
“We’re not going to lower the water levels,” he said. “We’re not going to pollute the swamp. If that were to happen, EPD wouldn’t approve the permit.”
Charlton County Commissioner Drew Jones said the mine would provide an economic boost in a county that can’t afford to provide adequate social services or roads.
“We are in desperate need for high-paying jobs in our community,” he said.
The bills’ opponents also said banning mining along Trail Ridge would amount to an unconstitutional taking of private property, an assertion the measures’ supporters disputed.
The subcommittee did not act on either bill. Crossover Day in the General Assembly – the deadline for bills to pass either the House or Senate to remain alive for the year – falls later this week, leaving little time for the bills to make it to the House floor for votes.