The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Okefenokee
its floodplain. During droughts, the river shrinks dramatically.
EPD says the mine’s water use won’t significantly reduce flows in the St. Marys. But Emily Floore, the executive director of St. Marys Riverkeeper, worries the mine will harm wildlife in its black waters, such as a distinct population of endangered Atlantic sturgeon found in the river.
“If you’re constantly taking (water), how can you say there’s going to be no impact?” Floore said.
‘They’re gonna destroy it’
In Folkston, the Charlton County seat and a town of 4,000 known as the “Gateway to the Okefenokee,” the swamp that lies a few miles west of its Main Street is key to the town’s identity and economy.
Many families have roots going back generations, and the mine is a thorny topic.
Few have deeper ties to the swamp than Sheila Carter. Carter ran guided tours in the Okefenokee for 25 years and her family, the Chessers, settled in the swamp in the 1800s. Today, visitors can explore one of their early homes, on an island that bears the family name.
“God put this here to stay here forever,” Carter said. “And if they mine, I think they’re gonna destroy it.”
Others in Folkston say the town needs jobs.
Charlton County’s median household income is about $46,000, compared to $71,000 statewide. Twin Pines says its project will create 400 jobs with salaries around $60,000.
While leaders in surrounding counties are against Twin Pines, the Charlton County Commission passed a resolution backing the mine in 2019.
Drew Jones, Charlton’s District 4 commissioner, said he supports the mine — if the experts at EPD determine it’s safe — and he doesn’t think the commission’s consensus has changed. The other four commissioners did not respond to requests for comment.
The county’s lone hospital closed years ago, its emergency services have been understaffed and the fire department has carried on with outdated equipment. He said those problems only get attention during controversies like this.
“We need help all the time,” Jones said.
“We need jobs and we need opportunities.”
There has been mining in the area before, though farther from the Okefenokee’s edge. Decades ago, the Humphreys mine extracted mineral sands on Trail Ridge about 7 miles from the refuge.
Glenda Gowen, who was born and raised in Folkston and owns a salon there, said Humphreys brought an economic jolt to the community. She hopes Twin Pines can do the same.
“I felt like it brought in people who built homes, added to the tax base and went to our church,” Gowen said.
Josh Howard, a local school administrator and president of the nonprofit Friends of Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, is opposed to the mine and said he’s skeptical about the purported job boost. Howard, who oversees the school district’s career programs, said the county already shuttles workers in from other communities.
“Yes, it could bring in tax dollars,”
Howard said.
“But as far as bringing in jobs for locals, I don’t know that we have the workforce.”
‘Willing to take that risk’
Even if Twin Pines obtains final permits, the fight over mining near the swamp may only be beginning.
Records show the company owns nearly 8,000 acres in Charlton County, and it has called the current 582-acre project a “demonstration” mine.
Any expansion would require new permits. Asked whether it intends to mine more land near the swamp, Ingle, the Twin Pines president, said the company is confident it can show mining is safe on the ancient sand dunes, allowing it to seek new permits.
“If our opponents’ claims have merit
— if the sky actually falls — those permits will not be granted and our significant investments in land will be wasted,” Ingle said in a statement. “We are willing to take that risk because we trust the science and already know what the demonstration will show.”
Another major landowner nearby has also shown interest in allowing mining on his property.
The Toledo Manufacturing Co. and its CEO, Joe Hopkins, own tens of thousands of acres of land in the county, including a 30,000-acre tract directly north of Twin Pines’ property. In the 1990s, Hopkins leased a portion to DuPont for a mine that was scuttled when then-Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt opposed the project after outcry from environmental groups.
Last year, Hopkins spoke at a state legislative hearing on HB 71, a bill that would prevent mining on his land, arguing it would infringe on private property rights.
Hopkins also has ties to Charlton County leaders. His niece is married to Jones, the county commissioner, and Jones is an employee at Toledo.
Hopkins said he has had conversations with Twin Pines and other companies, but no agreements are in place to allow them to mine his land. Like Jones, Hopkins said a demonstration mine is a responsible way to go.
“Put the equipment out, put the tests down, and if all of a sudden it starts creating a problem 3 or 4 miles away, then yeah — shut it down,” he said.
Water rights
There is still the chance that the federal government could reinsert itself into the fray.
In January, U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s Acting Regional Director Mike Oetker sent a letter to state EPD Director Jeff Cown reserving federal rights to the water that fills the Okefenokee. Oetker wrote the agency is “concerned that the issuance of a permit at this juncture would not preserve sufficient water” for the refuge.
EPD spokeswoman Sara Lips confirmed that Cown and Oetker met on Feb. 12 to discuss the issue and that EPD is evaluating the letter.
Robert Glennon, a law professor at the University of Arizona and an expert on water law, said the agency’s argument is more common in the drier, western U.S.
Glennon said the Okefenokee’s reserved water rights were established when the federal government created the refuge in 1937, but their extent has never been determined — probably because there’s not been a need to. Still, the issue is one the state will likely need to consider, he added.
“Just because they (the rights) haven’t been quantified, doesn’t mean they don’t exist,” Glennon said.
‘God put this here to stay here forever. And if they mine,
I think they’re gonna destroy it.’ Sheila Carter, who ran guided tours in the Okefenokee for 25 years