Editor, The Times: Kudos to Dick Yarbrough for his outstanding column in last week’s edition about the Okefenokee Swamp and the dangerous threat posed to it by mining. Several of his points bear repeating.
First, he indicates that Georgia regulators have finally realized the Twin Pines proposal to strip mine along the swamp's edge is both scientifically and legally defective and should be rejected. If correct, that would be an enormous victory for Georgians who have unanimously voiced their opposition to this terrible project since 2019.
Second, he correctly highlights the outsized influence of local timber owner Joe Hopkins, the county’s largest landowner who has been pushing for mining at the Okefenokee for 30 years. Back in the 1990s, he leased 23,000 acres of his land along the swamp’s edge to Du-Pont Chemical for a massive strip mine. When I and others successfully fought that project and DuPont abandoned the effort, Hopkins didn't give up. Through campaign contributions to Governor Kemp, he has helped keep the Twin Pines project alive, block overwhelmingly popular bills at the state legislature that would protect the swamp from mining and is now actively pushing for DuPont's successor, Chemours, to buy Twin Pines and launch a massive project that would expand onto his property.
Third, Chemours has an atrocious track record. Not only has it been forced to pay over $500 million for polluting water around the country with its “forever chemicals,” including in northwest Georgia, but it has repeatedly broken the law at its mining sites in Florida, where it has polluted the soil with iron and radioactive particles and violated rules governing wastewater toxicity at its mineral processing facility in Georgia. Chemours needs to follow its corporate predecessor’s example and publicly commit to avoid the Okefenokee.
Fourth, the federal government's expansion of the acquisition boundary at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge is a critical step towards the only viable solution, namely, the acquisition of the lands along the swamp's edge for conservation. But the only way for such acquisition to realistically happen is for landowners like Hopkins and Twin Pines to get religion about the value of their acreage. They don’t deserve and shouldn’t expect to receive a minerals valuation for their land if the minerals can’t be extracted. And the only way to convince them is for Governor Kemp to follow the science, law and the overwhelming will of Georgia’s citizens and deny the permits for mining.
Let's hope that Dick's sources turn out to be right and the state is poised to send Twin Pines back to Alabama. If so, it will be a wonderful New Year’s gift to Georgia.
Josh Marks, President of Georgians for the Okefenokee Atlanta Editor, The Times: I became aware of the proposed crypto mining facility about a week ago. I did some research and most of the articles I came across were from private citizens who complained about the noise and the effect on livestock. I am not smart but believe we should conduct an environmental study before allowing this to be built. The County Planning Board met Monday, Jan. 13 and rezoning for this was an agenda item. It was confusing to me that they have already put down concrete and well into the process of building the facility, although it is still zoned as agriculture. There were dozens of Pierce County citizens in attendance, against the proposed facility. The planning board recommended to the county commissioners to deny the rezoning. At the meeting it was identified that County Manager Raphel Maddox, had given the company the go ahead to begin construction. This is the second time in the last year this kind of event has happened. Last year, a migrant facility was already in the works at the old ME shoppe, prior to the planning board meeting, which is prior to the county commissioners meeting.
In my career, I attended many planning board meetings for processes coming to Kings Bay. There was never any permission to start any construction until all parties were in agreement. I have yet to find where Mr. Maddox has the authority to approve the process. Seems to me that this is a BIG conflict of interest for him. I am not willing to risk our local peace and quiet, our wildlife, our farming animals or the strain on our power grid, along with all the negative impacts this seems to bring to local areas.
We seem to have two issues: 1. Members of our local government did not follow the process, and instead gave permission he did not have the authority to give, and 2. The citizens of Pierce County need to understand the environmental impact of this process to determine the best way forward for our county commissioners to vote.
Beth Thomas Blackshear Editor, The Times: Over my lengthy career at The Blackshear Times, I have had plenty to say about our Board of Education, oftentimes critical of things the board may have done — or not done.
Their latest action, approving $200,000+ to attempt to make our students, teachers and all school personnel safer has to be one of their best moves ever.
The job they all do is one of the most important in public service. It’s also one of the most thankless!
I hope every county resident will join me in praising and thanking our BOE and Superintendent Dara Bennett for addressing this critical issue.
Robert M. Williams, Jr. Blackshear
(Williams retired in 2019 after publishing nine newspapers in Georgia & Florida.
He is still a co-owner of the 4,500 circulation Monroe County Reporter in Forsyth and acts as a consultant with the National Newspaper Association, assisting newspapers across the country. He can be reached at [email protected].)
