Polls show strong opposition to mining near the Okefenokee Swamp

by Dave Williams | Capitol Beat News Service

ATLANTA – A new poll shows overwhelming public opposition to an Alabama company’s plans to mine titanium near the Okefenokee Swamp.

The survey of 600 Georgia voters, conducted last week by Washington, D.C.-based Hart Research Associates, found widespread bipartisan opposition to granting state permits to Twin Pines Minerals for the project.

More than nine in 10 respondents said it is important to protect the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge and its wildlife from pollution and other environmental hazards. By the same overwhelming margin, voters surveyed said it is more important to protect plants and wildlife that live in the swamp from harm, even if it could hinder economic development.

“This just supports what we’ve been hearing in our state for years, that Georgians don’t want this mine to threaten the Okefenokee,” said Bill Sapp, a senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center. “For years, Twin Pines has been unable to prove that their proposed mine would not harm the swamp. It is clear that Georgians oppose any threat to the swamp, including the proposed Twin Pines mine.”

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) released draft permits for the first phase of the proposed mine in February. Twin Pines executives have said the project will not harm the swamp.

But opponents cite research showing that titanium oxide mining along Trail Ridge on the eastern edge of the Okefenokee would threaten the swamp’s water levels, increase the risk of wildfires, harm wildlife and release toxic contaminants into nearby surface and groundwater.

Legislation aimed at stopping the mine has been introduced in the General Assembly but has failed to advance. The last attempt, which passed the House of Representatives on the penultimate day of this year’s session, called for a three-year moratorium on the type of mining planned near the swamp. But the bill died when it failed to get a vote in the Senate.

At least 19 local governments in Georgia have passed resolutions calling for protection of the Okefenokee.

“Georgians of all political stripes know that this proposal to mine titanium dioxide, a common pigment, is plainly wrong for the Okefenokee,” said Chris Watson, southeast campaign manager for the National Parks Conservation Association. “This poll makes that clear.”