SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) proposed an expansion of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge on Friday which could lead to a major buyout offer for a private mine.
A mining company, Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals, wants to extract titanium and zirconium less than three miles from the refuge. In 2019, Twin Pines started seeking permits to develop a 584-acre tract on the east flank of the Okefenokee from Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD).
Titaniumis most commonly used in titanium dioxide, a whitening compound used in toothpaste, sunscreen and paint. The most important use of zirconium is in nuclear reactors for cladding fuel rods.
The proposed expansion by FWS would add approximately 22,000 acres adjacent to the existing refuge, including the land owned near the swamp’s edge by Twin Pines.
In the 2024 release, the FWS said that the proposed boundary expansion would strengthen the protection of the hydrological integrity of the Okefenokee, would help provide habitat for the gopher tortoise, mitigate impacts of wildfires and more severe and longer-lasting droughts and provide opportunities for longleaf pine restoration to benefit the red-cockaded woodpecker.
"If adopted, the proposed minor boundary expansion would enable the Service to work with willing landowners to explore voluntary conservation actions, including potential acquisition, that would further protect the refuge’s globally significant freshwater wetland system and wildlife habitat," the FWS said in a statement.
The AJC reported that outside scientists, including hydrologists from the University of Georgia and FWS, say the company has failed to prove it won’t harm the ecosystem and that critics claim the mine which, if permitted, could be allowed to suck nearly 1.5 million gallons a day from the underlying aquifer. They said that this could wreak ecological devastation and open the door for thousands more acres to be mined.
Environmentalists opposed to Twin Pines’s mine, like Georgia River Network executive director Rena Ann Peck, praised the FWS plan to expand the refuge. Peck said the proposal was a step in the right direction toward protecting the swamp and Trail Ridge, the ancient dune complex key to Okefenokee’s hydrology.
“Scientists say that to protect what’s inside the swamp, you have to protect what’s on the outside and that’s Trail Ridge, the hydrogeologic dam holding water in the swamp,” Peck said in a statement.
Others, like the U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, have voiced their concerns that the proposed mine will pose an "unacceptable risk."
“I strongly recommend that the State of Georgia not move ahead with approval for this proposed mine in order to ensure that the swamp and refuge are appropriately protected,” Haaland said in a letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp that was obtained by The Associated Press.
The company has insisted that it can mine near the Okefenokee refuge without harming it.
"We have not spoken with the US Fish and Wildlife Service,” Steve Ingle, president of Twin Pines Minerals said in a statement to the AP, “and our plans to commence mining upon permit approval are unchanged.”
However, this is not what was said by the FWS in statements provided to the AP by the Army Corps of Engineers in Feb. 2019.
“This will likely change its properties and the hydrology of the area,” the document said. The name of its author was redacted by the Army Corps, the AP said.
The agency said it’s also concerned about whether the mixed-up soil might affect the ability of protected species, including gopher tortoises and indigo snakes, to live in underground burrows.
“After the mining, it is questionable if the site will serve as habitat for either species ever again,” the FWS said.
Scientists urged the Army Corps of Engineers to deny the project a permit, but the agency said in 2020 it no longer had that authority after regulatory rollbacks under then-President Donald Trump. During his presidency, Trump narrowed the types of waterways qualifying for protection under the Clean Water Act, but the rollback was later scrapped by federal courts.
In June 2022, the Army Corps notified Twin Pines that its prior decisions allowing the company to bypass federal regulators “are not valid” because a tribal government with ancestral ties to the proposed mining site had not been consulted, the AP said. The agency then said the project couldn’t move forward without consulting the Muscogee Creek Nation.
Twin Pines sued the Army Corps in U.S. District Court, arguing the agency was “asserting jurisdiction the federal government does not possess” and noted the Corps’ finding from October 2020 that it lacked jurisdiction over the mining project should be valid for five years.
Without oversight by the Army Corps, the only regulatory approval Twin Pines needs is from the Georgia EPD.
The EPD issued draft permits for the project in February after state regulators said their analysis “concluded that water level in the swamp will be minimally impacted.”
The AJC reported that the Georgia EPD spokeswoman Sara Lips said the agency is moving forward with its review of Twin Pines’s permits and that so far, the EPD and Twin Pines share the view that the mine will not harm the swamp or its wildlife.
“EPD is continuing to evaluate and review the surface mining application submitted by Twin Pines Minerals,” Lips said.
The FWS can only acquire land from property owners who are interested and willing to sell their
property. If the expansion is adopted, the FWS said they will develop a plan that outlines the proposed acreage the Service would be interested in buying should landowners voluntarily decide they are willing to sell the property.
This means that Twin Pines could choose to refuse the buyout if the expansion is approved.
The FWS is seeking public input on the proposal that would expand the boundary of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, adding approximately 22,000 acres adjacent to the existing refuge.
The public may submit input by Nov. 18, 2024, via email to Okefenokee@fws.gov. Additionally, a public meeting will be held on Oct. 29, 2024, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Charlton County Annex Auditorium, 68 Kingsland Drive, Folkston, Georgia.
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