Federal regulators on Tuesday called for a 10-year moratorium on new mining near the fabled Okefenokee swamp in Georgia and reiterated their concerns about a plan to dig up titanium and zirconium near the nation’s largest blackwater swamp.
A top official at the Fish and Wildlife Service told Georgia lawmakers in a letter Tuesday that a decadelong reprieve would give scientists time to collect data and better understand how disturbances like digging could affect the hydrology of the swamp.
in a letter Tuesday
The letter was a direct response to H.B. 1338, a piece of legislation from state Rep. John Corbett, a Republican whose district includes the swamp. The measure would bar new mining near the swamp for at least three years, through July 1, 2027.
legislation from state Rep. John Corbett,
But Stephen Guertin, who signed the letter as the agency’s acting director, told lawmakers the moratorium should be extended to more than triple that amount of time.
