A state legislator has co-sponsored a bill that would prohibit future mining development in southeast Georgia’s Okefenokee Swamp after one company’s plans to mine near there, which are tied up in court, were criticized for its environmental impact.
House Bill 71, also known as the Okefenokee Protection Act, was filed in the House on Jan. 24 and received its first and second readings from that chamber on the following two days. If passed into law, it would take effect on July 1 and would keep developers from doing any surface mining on that part of the swamp.
