Release:

The most populous city in the Suwannee River Basin unanimously passed a resolution opposing the proposed Twin Pines Minerals (TPM) strip mine or any others within ten miles of the Okefenokee Swamp.

“This is a national resource that Valdostans and surrounding cities and counties have enjoyed for a long time,” said Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson. “Anything that would threaten it: I would hope this Council would come out in support of its citizens, and the activities that this natural resource presents to all of us.”

“If the state of Georgia will risk the Okefenokee, what won’t they risk?” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. “Many thanks to Valdosta Mayor and Council for helping stop this threat to the Okefenokee Swamp, a gem of an ecosystem that supports 700 jobs and is the headwaters of the Suwannee River. You can also ask the state to stop this mine:” https://wwals.net/?p=55092

The resolution further asks the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reverse its abdication of oversight, asks GA-EPD for a moratorium on all mining permits until effects are settled of the recent court overruling of 2020 Clean Water Act changes, as well as to reject the TPM permits, or at least to review those applications as thoroughly as the Army Corps would, and asks the Georgia legislature to prevent such strip mines near the Swamp or any blackwater rivers in the Suwannee River Basin.

About WWALS: Founded in June 2012, WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS) is an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity. WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds in south Georgia and north Florida through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities. Since December 2016, John S. Quarterman is the Suwannee Riverkeeper®, which is a staff position and a project of WWALS as the member of Waterkeeper® Alliance for the Suwannee River Basin.