Last push on environmental bills

– March 27, 2024 –

Good morning! As Georgia lawmakers wrap up their session this week, we’re taking a look at controversial environmental bills still being hashed out. In Savannah, ardent recyclers were frustrated by the suspension of a popular program. And in Brunswick, Glynn Environmental Coalition shows us around the area’s Superfund sites.

Questions, tips or concerns? Send us a note at staff@thecurrentga.org

---

Mining moratorium advances

A bill that provides a three-year pause on the permitting of dragline mining near the Okefenokee Swamp is speeding through the legislature’s final days. The moratorium would prevent state regulators from accepting this type of mining permit application until June 30, 2027, a break that Rep. Lynn Smith (R-Newnan) likened to putting children in time-out.

“Is it not true that a parent would send a child to each corner while things can quiet down?” Smith, the chair of the House Natural Resources and Environment Committee, asked during the floor debate Tuesday.

The original moratorium proposal appeared dead but was resurrected as a substitute last week and passed out of the powerful House Rules Committee, The Current’s Mary Landers reported. On Tuesday, the House approved it 167-4, with sponsor John Corbett (R-Lake Park) defending it, as Capitol Beat’s Dave Williams reported. With Thursday the last scheduled legislative day, it still must get senate approval.

Environmental groups are split over the bill. The Georgia Conservancy supports it. Most other groups active in the mining debate oppose it.

---

Fishing access debated

Is standing in a streambed trespassing? How about anchoring along a river? Conservationists and environmentalists say these activities could be illegal in some places if lawmakers don’t clarify language that expresses the public right of passage on Georgia’s waterways, as Georgia Recorder’s Jill Nolin reports.

---

Stay glassy, Savannah

Collection bins around Savannah encourage residents to “Stay glassy” by recycling their bottles and jars. But Mayor Van Johnson announced Tuesday the popular program is taking a pause. GlassWRX, which turned glass into a pumice-like material used for water filtration or as an aggregate for lighter weight concrete, stopped providing its services. Johnson vowed that glass recycling will return. The Current’s Mary Landers has more details on Savannah’s recycling efforts here.

---

Also noted:

• Take a tour of Glynn County’s four Superfund sites in this article by The Current’s Mary Landers, who visited the federally-listed toxic waste sites last month with the Glynn Environmental Coalition. Want more? The article links to GEC’s next tour.

• Hayden W. Mundy, 24, of Midway, reeled in an almaco jack (Seriola rivoliana) weighing 19 pounds, 10.53 ounces while fishing offshore on March 14. His catch shattered the previous record of 7 pounds, 0.7 ounces, set by Sean Tarpley of Brunswick in October, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources reported.

• The Georgia Department of Natural Resources announced the selection of the 2023-2024 Georgia Outdoor Stewardship Program grants for conservation and outdoor recreation projects. Several coastal projects are on the list, including a multi-use trail in St. Marys, a wildlife-focused corridor and park on Jekyll and a 3,900-acre addition to the Ceylon Wildlife Management Area in Camden County.

---

We want to meet your friends! If you like this newsletter be sure to share it.

---

Support independent, solutions-based investigative journalism without bias, fear or favor on issues affecting Savannah and Coastal Georgia.

WITH GENEROUS SUPPORT FROM