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Help Stop a Strip Mine Threatening the Okefenokee Wilderness!

Twin Pines Minerals is pressing on with its plans to build a massive heavy minerals (titanium and zirconium) sand mine next to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness in southern Georgia. Their latest proposal asks the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD) to grant five permits needed to excavate heavy minerals used in the production of titanium dioxide, a pigment used to whiten paper, paint, and food products.

The Okefenokee Wilderness is one of the largest Wildernesses in the east, covering 353,981 out of the Refuge’s 440,000 acres. The Okefenokee is recognized worldwide as a Wetland of International Importance and a Dark Sky Park. If the mine is approved, Wilderness values like solitude, silence, and remoteness could be lost.

Please take action today to keep the Okefenokee wild!

Twin Pines Minerals wants to mine 12,000 acres of Trail Ridge, a prehistoric sand dune that helped create and now forms the eastern border of the Okefenokee Refuge and Wilderness. Among the concerns of mining so close to the Wilderness is that hydrologic and water quality changes will damage the Okefenokee, which is one of the world’s largest still intact blackwater swamp ecosystems, and the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers that flow from its beautiful, placid waters. The mine would destroy over 370 acres of wetlands, pump over a million gallons a day of fresh groundwater, discharge pollutants into the air and waste into the St. Marys River basin, and cast noise and light pollution over the Refuge.

If all this weren’t reason enough to reject this mine, it’s worth noting that Twin Pines has a bad track record throughout the Southeast, where the company and their associates have caused major environmental problems in the communities where they are operating and have provided regulators with misleading information. They must not be allowed to destroy the unique Okefenokee Wilderness and National Wildlife Refuge.

We need your help to stop this mine next to the Okefenokee Wilderness and National Wildlife Refuge! Urge the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to deny the Twin Pines mining permit. Please consider personalizing your message. Thank you.

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Georgia Environmental Protection Division

Subject: Protect the Okefenokee Wilderness—Deny Twin Pines Mining Permits

Message:

I am writing to express my opposition to the application submitted by Steven R. Ingle and Twin Pines Minerals. I value the Okefenokee Wilderness and do not want to see it degraded or permanently altered in any way. Twin Pines' proposal to mine for minerals deep into Trail Ridge adjacent to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness will likely have lasting and irreversible impacts. The company offers no assurances that its mining operations, including the alteration of wetlands, will protect the swamp from permanent damage or that it will protect the interests of the people across the nation who value the wildness and wildlife of the Okefenokee Wilderness. I request that the GA EPD deny Twin Pines permission to operate a heavy mineral sand mine next to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and Wilderness. The Okefenokee Wilderness is a rare and treasured public resource. It’s not only one of the largest Wildernesses in the entire eastern United States, but it’s also part of one of the world’s largest still intact blackwater swamp ecosystems, and provides important habitat for native wildlife such as black bears, American alligators, and red-cockaded woodpeckers. Water is critical to the well-being of Okefenokee, which is recognized worldwide as a Wetland of International Importance. The health of this entire ecosystem would be put at risk by Twin Pines' current proposal. The first phase of this harmful mine will eliminate roughly 370 acres of valuable wetlands, withdraw millions of gallons of groundwater, release air and light pollutants into the refuge, which is an International Dark Sky Park, and discharge wastewater into the St. Marys River basin. In addition, Twin Pines and its executives have a bad track record through the southeast. In its original surface mining application, Twin Pines misrepresented the existence of a lease on adjacent lands. Twin Pines has also committed environmental violations at its mine in Starke, Florida. And its affiliate, Georgia Renewable Power, has violated air and water permits and caused harm to the citizens of Madison and Franklin Counties in Northeast Georgia. Twin Pines must not be allowed to destroy the unique Okefenokee Wilderness and National Wildlife Refuge. Please deny the Twin Pines mining permits. Thank you.

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Help Stop a Strip Mine Threatening the Okefenokee Wilderness!

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