Company withdraws application to mine near Okefenokee refuge

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — A mining company has withdrawn its request for the federal government's permission to dig up minerals near the vast wildlife refuge in the Okefenokee Swamp, saying it plans to submit a new application that proposes a smaller area for the project.

The Army Corps of Engineers disclosed last summer that it was weighing a mining permit for Twin Pines Minerals to mine for titanium dioxide less than 4 miles (6.4 kilometers) from the southeastern boundary of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge.

It's the largest federally protected refuge east of the Mississippi River, covering nearly 630 square miles (1,631 sq. kilometers) near the Georgia-Florida state line. Critics feared the mining project could cause irreparable harm to the swamp's fragile ecosystem that serves as habitat to alligators, bald eagles and other protected species.

Twin Pines, based in Birmingham, Alabama, said it's not abandoning the mining proposal. Company President Steve Ingle said in a statement sent Monday to The Associated Press that a revised application is in the works.

“In an effort to be even more conservative in our approach than we were in our initial application, we have agreed with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reduce the size of the permit area and resubmit new documentation for further review and evaluation as soon as possible,” Ingle said.

The Twin Pines proposal came 20 years after chemical giant DuPont abandoned plans to mine outside the Okefenokee amid staunch opposition from environmentalists and the administration of then-President Bill Clinton.

Twin Pines wants to mine titanium dioxide that is primarily used to produce white pigment for paints and paper.

The application the company withdrew Friday sought permits to mine on a sandy ridge that serves...