A prairie in the Okefenokee Swamp in June 2024. (Marisa Mecke/WABE)
After six years, the controversial plan to mine next to Georgia’s beloved Okefenokee Swamp has been halted.
The Conservation Fund, a nonprofit organization specializing in the acquisition of at-risk lands for environmental conservation, has purchased the land adjacent to the Okefenokee Swamp from Alabama-based Twin Pines Minerals, LLC.
Twin Pines first applied to the state of Georgia for permits to mine the land back in 2019. Since then, the plan kicked up major dust in Georgia — and nationally — facing consistent backlash from the scientific community, feds, environmentalists and the general public.
Twin Pines Minerals, LLC declined to comment for this story.
Stacy Funderburke, vice president for the Central Southeast at The Conservation Fund, says the organization is closing on about 7,800 acres of land along Trail Ridge.
Right now, TCF is closing on about 40% of Twin Pines’ property, including the initial pilot permit site. It’ll finish closing on the rest on July 31, including all the mineral rights for the land.
“The big moment is, I think as of today, the mining threat from Twin Pines is eliminated,” Funderburke said.
The Conservation Fund spent about $60 million on the deal. Funderburke says that as a national nonprofit, TCF has a revolving fund that allows it to work quickly to acquire land.
It also works with significant private philanthropic commitments, and Funderburke says TCF plans to raise half the cost of this deal through those donations. So even though the deals are done, he says TCF will still continue raising money as it supports the funds for the organization nationwide.
Conservation groups filed suit Tuesday, Nov. 15, against a U.S. government agency challenging its decision to allow a mining project to move forward without federal permits near the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp’s vast wildlife refuge.
Bill Sapp, senior attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, says this is the culmination of statewide collaboration.
He said when the SELC first heard about the permit application, they gathered with other Georgia environmental groups and all met down at the Okefenokee.
“And from that, we built a coalition that is now 52 organizations strong. And collectively we reached 5 million people,” Sapp said. The Okefenokee Protection Alliance has since rallied support among Georgians, participated in public hearings and more.
“We were able to get 250,000 people to write in opposing the mine, you know, people from all 50 states, from 36 different countries, and all of that helped put the Okefenokee on the national stage,” Sapp said.
His organization also provided technical legal comments in the permitting process, as well as when wetlands on the mining site were losing federal protections.
“When we started this matter, all of those wetlands were protected by the Clean Water Act, and then, through changes in the regulations, and then later a [U.S.] Supreme Court case, suddenly those waters were not protected at all,” Sapp said.
He said the Okefenokee is a “poster child” for the loss of federal protections for wetlands, and the proposed mine exemplified what is at risk.
Sapp said what the Okefenokee has taught the Georgia environmental community is that Georgia environmental groups must use all the tools in the toolbox, and reach out to people nationally and locally to fight for protections “any way we can.”
What was this mine, again?
Twin Pines applied in 2019 for permits to mine heavy mineral sands for titanium dioxide on Trail Ridge, a geologic formation next to the Okefenokee Swamp some experts argue holds the water of the swamp in, like a bowl.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, 95% of the mineral that’s mined is used for whitening products like toothpaste or the cream in Oreos. It’s found in pretty scattered amounts, such as the black specks in layers on Georgia’s beaches.
However, Twin Pines Minerals said that titanium dioxide is also critical for military technology, which the U.S. largely imports from other countries.
Mary Landers at The Current interviewed Twin Pines CEO Steve Ingle in 2021. Ingle stated that his company doesn’t process titanium dioxide, only mines it — so Twin Pines didn’t know if its product would be used for military technology or white paint.
The Okefenokee Swamp in South Georgia — one of the largest wetlands in North America — is home to endangered species. It also sits near potentially valuable mineral deposits. (Molly Samuel/WABE)
Efforts at protection over the years
Environmentalists attended public comments, rallied politicians from county commissioners to senators and even drew the attention of Leonardo DiCaprio to protect the swamp.
The company vowed to forge ahead with its plan, maintaining that the mine would bring much-needed jobs to the rural area, where environmentalists argued it could affect the swamp’s water levels and threaten the entire swamp ecosystem.
It stirred up major questions about Georgia’s willingness to develop near a fragile ecosystem, how development can impact rural economies and what happens when scientists at the Georgia Environmental Protection Division run contrary to other scientific experts.
Some environmentalists say the fight isn’t over though.
Josh Marks, president of Georgians for the Okefenokee and a lawyer who defended the swamp against a similar mining effort in the 1990s, said the threat hasn’t passed entirely.
“We must now turn our attention to the other big mining threat: Chemours,” Marks said.
Formerly known as DuPont, Chemours tried to mine a similar site years ago and currently operates mines in the region around the Okefenokee Swamp.
“For the last 2 years, Chemours has ignored repeated requests for a public pledge that it will permanently avoid having anything to do with mining at the swamp,” Marks said.
Additionally, he said that even though Twin Pines’ plan isn’t moving forward, the legislature should redouble its efforts to pass, and for Gov. Brian Kemp to sign, the Okefenokee Protection Act, which would permanently protect the larger area around the swamp’s edge.
“So that we don’t have to keep having these fights every 20 years,” Marks said.
