Agency ruling delivers big setback to Okefenokee mining plan

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By RUSS BYNUM

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A federal agency delivered a big setback Friday to a company’s controversial plan to mine near the edge of the Okefenokee Swamp and its vast wildlife refuge.

A government memo said the Army Corps of Engineers is reasserting jurisdiction over Twin Pines Minerals’ proposal to mine minerals just outside the Okefenokee, home to the largest U.S. wildlife refuge east of the Mississippi River.

Scientists have warned that mining close to the swamp’s bowl-like rim could damage its ability to hold water. They urged the Army Corps of Engineers to deny the project a permit. But the agency declared in 2020 it no longer had that authority after regulatory rollbacks under then-President Donald Trump narrowed the types of waterways qualifying for protection under the Clean Water Act.

Trump’s rollbacks were later scrapped by federal courts. President Joe Biden’s administration has sought to restore federal oversight of development projects that under Trump had been allowed to sidestep regulations to prevent pollution of streams or draining of wetlands.



Read more: https://apnews.com/article/georgia-savannah-army-donald-trump-279e5b5c24f1f87468dcafe6d50de556

[secondwind]

1. Damn Trump left his sleazy footprint everywhere... ugh

[bucolic_frolic]

2. Aren't there enough minerals in the recycling stream to never mine again? 'nt

[sop]

3. "Recycling as a source of mineral commodities"

https://www.americangeosciences.org/geoscience-currents/recycling-source-mineral-commodities

[oldsoftie]

4. Not even CLOSE. And never will be.

What everyone seems to ignore when they push for electric/solar/wind power is the high amounts of critical materials needed for each item. Recycling should definitely be required, but it still doesn't provide enough for a replacement. The amount of mining we already do is massive. And it yields nowhere NEAR what we would need to, for example, make every car total electric. Not to mention, the biggest supplier of many of the critical items needed is CHINA. Making us even MORE dependent on one of our biggest enemies.
We need an earth shattering invention of some sort that will take energy production to the next level.

[housecat]

7. "Ya can't always get what you want, but you just might get, get what you NEED."

[canuckledragger]

5. Mining next to bodies of water is never a good idea.

[Pas-de-Calais]

6. What company would mine?

In such an area?
Makes no sense.