The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are revisiting a Trump-era rule that affects a proposed mine near Georgia's Okefenokee Swamp. Under the current version of the law, the controversial mine doesn't need any federal permits to be built. On Wednesday, the Biden administration said
The Biden administration’s plan to revive protections for some wetlands and streams that got eliminated during Donald Trump’s presidency isn’t likely to restore federal oversight of a proposed mine outside the Okefenokee Swamp’s vast wildlife refuge.
Undoing Trump rule won t likely affect Okefenokee mine plan
RUSS BYNUM, Associated Press
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1of3FILE- In this Aug 2, 2007 file photo, an alligator hangs around the canoes at Okefenokee Adventures at the entrance to the Okefenokee Swamp in Charlton County, Ga. A battle over whether to allow mining near the vast wildlife refuge in the Okefenokee Swamp rests with Georgia state regulators after federal agencies declared they no longer have oversight. (Chris Viola/The Florida Times-Union via AP, File)Chris Viola/APShow MoreShow Less
2of3Jane Winkler stands with a sign that says Protect The Okefenokee outside a church where Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp met with local Chamber of Commerce members in Folkston, Ga., on April 22, 2021. Winkler and others are fighting a mining company s plan to dig for minerals about 3 miles from the edge of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. The company Twin Pines Minerals says it can mine the area without harming the sw
The proposed project could potentially destroy over 400 acres of wetland as well as threaten the refuge itself through adjacent habitat destruction, runoff, and noise and light pollution. Water pollution is a serious concern as well, as the surface water in the proposed mining area is connected directly to the river headwaters in the Okefenokee. The site of the project, known as Trail Ridge, is a hydrologically complex sandhill forming the eastern border of the Okefenokee. As well as being an integral component of the health of the greater Okefenokee area, the ridge is itself ecologically important and connected through groundwater to the refuge and surrounding wetlands. The modification of the Clean Water Act under the Trump administration means that the state of Georgia is responsible for all of the environmental impact statements and permitting for the mine, despite the refuge’s national protected status; this puts unaccustomed pressure on Georgia’s Environmental Protectio