ATLANTA — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released comment letters from the EPA and the Georgia EPD regarding the Twin Pines mining proposal outside the Okefenokee.
Read the comment letters here: https://www.sas.usace.army.mil/Portals/61/docs/SAS-2018-00554-Charlton-0917-SP%20(HAR).pdf?ver=2019-09-17-120725-677.
According to the EPA's letter, Twin Pines' application is inadequate. The company proposes replacing more than 500 acres of wetlands, but "detailed wetlands and stream reclamation/restoration plans have not been provided," according to the EPA.
Twin Pines has "not demonstrated that the proposed project will not result in significant degradation, including individual or cumulative effects to fish and wildlife; ecosystem diversity, productivity and stability; and recreational, aesthetic and economic values," the EPA states.
As a result, "the EPA finds that this project, as proposed, may result in substantial and unacceptable impacts to aquatic resources of national importance..."
The Georgia EPD concurs, saying that the documentation for this project has "not yet been prepared, completed and distributed" to the EPD. The permit application references a series of reports that address hydrogeologic factors at the site, but these studies have not been completed.
"[We] respectfully submit that the ... permit application as submitted thus far is not complete since it lacks full information and findings..." regarding the effects of the mine," the EPD states. "We feel that it is inappropriate and premature to close the project comment window when such notable elements of the environmental documentation for this project have not yet been made available..."
In response to these findings, Jessica Morehead, interim director of the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter, said, "These letters reinforce what our members and the science all say: This mine could cause irreparable damage to the ecosystem in and around the Okefenokee. Hundreds of Sierra Club activists joined more than 20,000 people who told the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as much during the public comment period. We urge the Corps to deny this permit application, or at the very least, force Twin Pines to submit a full application, use responsible scientists to prepare an environmental impact statement, and give the public the opportunity to review all this information and make their voices heard. The Corps cannot rush this decision. The Okefenokee is one of the most important natural habitats in the world and it must not be put at risk."
**Media contact**
Ricky Leroux, communications coordinator, Sierra Club Georgia Chapter
404-607-1262 ext. 234
ricky.leroux@sierraclub.org