Much has transpired over the past several months effecting the St. Marys River. And, I must admit, I have been struggling with the learning curve as I attempt to become better informed about activities that appear to be threatening the water quality and surrounding environment of our St. Marys watershed.
Since my last post, or should I say as a result of my last post, I was contacted by Interim Satilla Riverkeeper, Clay Montague, who had concerns about several issues in my blog. The first concern was my reporting on the proposed Zirconium mining operation in the Satilla River watershed, which also shares the St. Marys River watershed. Clay recognized my ignorance of the mining process and felt it necessary that I become better informed, so that I can more accurately communicate what this mining project entails. I could not agree more, and I was most appreciative of his offer.
Southern Ionics, the mining operator, through its representative, Jim Renner, contacted me and arranged a tour of its mining site. Jim, a well educated and experienced environmental consultant attached to the corporate office of Southern Ionics, and himself a residential property owner along the Satilla River, was most helpful and patient explaining to me their proposed mining operation. Consequently, I stand corrected on several points in the blog. While in the Satilla River watershed, the actual mining will not take place directly on the Satilla River. The processing of the zirconium will take place off site, in fact, moved by truck to its processing facility in Alabama. Therefore, neither chemical processing nor toxic waste disposal will occur at the actual mining location. Furthermore, as Jim explained the actual mining process, i.e. the physical removal of ore from the sand, the Five story piece of equipment embraces technology designed to maximize land reclamation almost simultaneous to the mining process.
Thanks, Jim and Clay, for your time and patience educating me to your mining process. We all hope your project goes as planned. As a corporate front man for a large hospital chain in a previous life, I can assure you that what we say upfront in the development of a proposed new hospital is not always how the operation works in real life. In this case, the Satilla Riverkeeper, the GA DNR, and SELC must be diligent in their oversight of the mining operation and subsequent environmental reclamation.
The second matter, was my reporting that the Satilla River was included on the Georgia River Network's registry of 10 dirtiest rivers in Georgia (see reference link in 11/14 blog post). After contacting the GRN, I learned that their annual dirtiest rivers list was, in fact, created by the GRN and is their way of alerting and educating legislators and others in positions of authority as to those rivers in the State most in need of immediate action to mitigate said issues. Mr. Montague's point was well taken, that the list was based on peer review and not a true objective, third party assessment of the state of Georgia's rivers. He suggested that, perhaps, sometime in the future, even the St. Marys River might want or need to be placed on this list to draw attention to its own environmental threats.
It's my intention that we never get to that point, that as result of this blog and the efforts of many constituent groups, that we can educate and mobilize resources in sufficient time to prevent serious damage to our River and, thus, avoiding the inclusion of the St. Marys River on any dirtiest river list.
As an update to JEA/EZBase issue reported in the November 14 blog, much has and is still being learned. Alex Kearns, Chair of the St. Marys EarthKeepers, in her continuing research on the EZBase issue has learned that JEA has dumped their coal ash on several roads in St. Marys including Cumberland Harbour, Osprey Cove (where it was subsequently removed as a condition of sale), Bridge Pointe, Hammock Cove, The Reserve at Park Place, Gilligan's Island
and elsewhere throughout the county. And, more applications are coming to the fore as folks become more aware. The new property management at Osprey Cove stipulated that that the EZBase product be removed from its golf course roadway only to find that the removal process may have spread harmful aerosols/dust into the air. (Several residents reported respiratory issues). Worse, Cumberland Harbour, built on wetlands, is deeply concerned and are struggling to come to grips with their own possible mitigation plan.
Bear in mind that in all of the above cases, no variance was issued by the GaEPD. Only one EZBase variance has ever been granted for Georgia - that was was for the purpose of testing the product's safety.
Subsequent reports have been presented to St. Marys City Council which has shared its concerns with public.
Regarding the continuing application by JEA of EZBase on Rayonier property directly on wetlands and tributaries of the St. Marys River, the Southern Environmental Law Center, St. Marys RiverWatch (a committee of the St. Marys Earthkeepers) and several other environmental constituencies are monitoring the soil tests for JEA to comply with the variance requirements of the GA DNR. The first of the test results are expected momentarily. Stay tuned...
Many thanks to Mark Lyons, Baker County, and Sydney Bacchus, an independent environmental consultant, for my first tour by boat of the upper St. Marys River. Meandering through Baker County on the Florida Side and Charlton County on the Georgia side what a magnificent stretch of our blackwater River. At this point, the River is no more than 20 meters across, feed by the Okefenokee, and barely navigable by motor. White sand beaches dotted either side separated by cypress stands and pines of all different varieties. The banks on either side still showed the effects of flooding caused by tropical storms earlier in the year as one could observe debris entangled in trees some 10 meters above the River level.
As we navigated the narrow stretches, Sydney pointed out the dead cypress, pine and oak trees along the bank of the River on the Georgia side. She explained that these and other trees have and more are dying because of the loss of their source of water due to years of sand mining. Because the wells drilled by the mining companies years ago were shallow wells and consequently, when they pumped ground water for their mining operation, they lowered the water table and, hence, starved the trees of there water source. St. Marys Mining now appears to be the culprit. It must be made clear to them that their source of water must be from a deep aquifer and not depleting the ground water so essential for continued healthy plant growth.
And, we must remain vigilant because as paper products decrease in demand, the owners of massive tree farms, like Rayonier, are looking for replacement forms of revenue for their properties, and mining is an alternative. For example, Rayonier's property has a five mile stretch of 1 lane logging road which it is grading and expanding using JEA's coal ash to harden the roadway. The suspicion is that Rayonier is preparing this road as access for future mining operations. In addition to the heavy metals contained in the EZBase and directly applied in wetlands and tributaries, any future mining operation will have a significant and immediate negative effect on the ground and surface waters which feed the wetlands and tributaries of the St. Marys River. The exposure of our River and wetlands to these toxic heavy metals and reduction in ground water supply are cause for deep concern. As I have learned, heavy metals like mercury, arsenic, vanadium, lead do not go away. Like radioactive material, they will remain in our water supply, our vegetation, our fish and animals for many years to come. Is this what we want to look forward to for children? I think not.
