Legislators propose bills to address Okefenokee mining controversy

Don’t get your hopes up, but a couple of bills have surfaced in the Legislature addressing the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (insert oxymoron here) giving approval for Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals to mine a 584-acre tract of Trail Ridge on the eastern flank of our Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge for titanium oxide so that we never face the prospects of running out of toothpaste whitener.

House Bill 562 would provide a five-year moratorium on new mining on Trail Ridge, and House Bill 561, the Okefenokee Protection Act, would prohibit future mining in the area. Neither bill would stop Twin Pines from receiving permitting approval from the bureaucrats at the EPD, but the measures would hopefully prevent expansion or consideration of future mines on Trail Ridge. Rep. Darlene Taylor, R-Thomasville, is the lead sponsor of both bills and has backed previous legislative efforts concerning the Okefenokee.

The bills also list as sponsors Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah; Rep. Steven Sainz, R-St. Marys; Rep. Debbie Buckner, D-Junction City; Rep. Gerald Greene, R-Cuthbert; and Rep. Carolyn Huley, D-Columbus. Notice something interesting? Bipartisan. Democrats and Republicans. You don’t see that much these days.

The Okefenokee Protection Act would prohibit EPD from issuing, modifying or renewing any mining permits on Trail Ridge after July 1. This bill is nearly identical to legislation proposed in past sessions that had bipartisan backing but failed to get through the House of Representatives.

The second bill, House Bill 562, would prevent EPD from considering new permits for mines on Trail Ridge or modifying existing ones until mid-2030. A similar bill in the last legislative session would have paused permitting for three years. That measure cleared the House but did not receive a vote in the Senate.

Both of these new bills have been assigned to the House Committee on Natural Resources and Environment led by Chair Lynn (The Sphinx) Smith, R-Newnan, who refused to let the Okefenokee Protection Act out of her committee last year, despite bipartisan support, and then refused to tell us why. I hope whoever is pulling her strings will allow a different outcome this session. Obviously, she is being told what to do.

Twin Pines’ public-be-damned President Steve Ingle issued a statement saying the company opposes the new legislation, arguing that the company has “every right to mine our property, so long as the mining can be done safely without hurting the swamp.

“EPD will not issue a permit if it is not safe,“ Ingle states. ”Our opponents resorting to legislation, rather than attempting to substantiate the talking points they have used to oppose our project, speaks volumes about the merits of their position.” Like me, you may have to read this sentence several times to see if it makes sense. I did. It doesn’t.

I discern we are being asked by our elected officials to trust a group of faceless bureaucrats to do the – ahem – right thing on our behalf and, in turn, to trust Twin Pines Minerals, whose track record is not quite stellar, to do the same. Opponents aren’t buying that idea.

Attorney Josh Marks, founder and managing partner of GreenMark Law, heads up Georgians for the Okefenokee. He helped stop a similar mining effort by DuPont 25 years ago. Of Twin Pines Minerals, Marks says: “They simply can’t be trusted and should not be allowed within 100 miles of the Okefenokee. The company has repeatedly broken the law on this project and in two other states, defaulted on its taxes at least twice, and is in default of at least two mortgages. The fact that they may be on the verge of getting a permit shows that EPD is either incapable or unwilling to do its job of protecting our environment. It’s long past time for Governor Kemp and Speaker Burns to allow the Okefenokee Protection Act, with its overwhelming bipartisan support, to be voted on and passed so that the swamp can be protected once and for all.”

I suggest you not take your foot off the accelerator. Contact your local representative and let them know you support H.B. 561 and H.B. 562 and that you would like to know if they do, too. It will likely get you the generic, “Thank you. Your views are important” blahblah response, but they will know you are paying close attention as to what they will or will not do regarding this critically-important issue. Remember, this isn’t the Twin Pines’ Okefenokee or the EPD’s. It is ours. Let’s keep up the good fight.

You can reach Dick Yarbrough at dick@dickyarbrough.com or at P.O. Box 725373, Atlanta, Georgia 31139.