Please help save the Okeefenokee Swamp!

From: Philip Thomas (thomasp@maui.com)
Date: Wed Aug 06 1997 - 03:47:01 PDT


Date: Wed, 6 Aug 1997 00:47:01 -1000 (HST)
From: Philip Thomas <thomasp@maui.com>
To: cp@opus.hpl.hp.com
Message-Id: <aabcdefg2977$foo@default>
Subject: Please help save the Okeefenokee Swamp!

Dear Friends & Colleagues:

Following is a letter I recently sent to DuPont* regarding
their proposal to mine titanium products near the Okeefenokee Swamp (a
project which even they admit in their online news blurb is
"controversial"). If you have ever had the opportunity to see the
Okeefenokee Swamp, I don't need to do a sales job on you in order for you
to understand why this is a major issue. If you haven't seen it, please
take my word for it that it is a world-class resource--which needs NO
further (much less major) impacts threatening to destroy it.
(*info@dupont.com; don't know if this is the best address; any suggestions?)

***** PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO E-MAIL (info@dupont.com) AND/OR CALL
(1-800-441-7515) DUPONT AND HELP THEM DECIDE *NOT* TO PURSUE THEIR PLANS
FOR MINING!!

Public hearings are NOW underway regarding this issue. If there is any
time this can be stopped, it is NOW. ** PLEASE TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO
HELP! **

Thanks!

Aloha nui loa,
-Philip Thomas

cc: of my letter:

The bluebird blurb ("environment-friendly DuPont") in your news today
(http://www.dupont.com/corp/whats-new/newsfile/970805.html) was an
interesting touch... just after bringing up the issue of DuPont's
admittedly "controversial" titanium mining near the Okefenokee Swamp.

The Okeefenokee Swamp is an incredible place. There's nowhere like it on
earth. It is not only a local and national treasure, but an
international one. DuPont's hopes that titanium mining won't harm it
will NOT make the impacts any lesser. Ecosystems like the Okeefenokee's
are dependent on myriad factors, some of which may seem insignificant,
but others which ARE decidedly significant--impacting water tables,
hydrology, siltation, and other impacts of mining--are certain to
negatively influence this fragile ecosystem. Although it is impossible
to predict all factors which can collectively contribute to the downfall
of an incredible natural system such as the Okeefenokee, it would be
LUDICROUS to declare that certain major impacts--such as high-tech
mining--can take place nearby "without harming the Okefenokee's delicate
ecosystem."

And framkly, the statement of "confidence" from a high-level, highly paid
DuPont executive (i.e. WPMP Vice President and General Manager Ellen J.
Kullman) that highly profitable operations will not cause environmental
damage does nothing to reassure me. In fact, it scares me! Does DuPont
think that ALL of the public is ridiculously stupid?

Ecosystems are incredibly complex things; even those who study them do
not understand all their subtleties. However, it can be easily agreed
upon by anyone with any knowledge of the subject at all that they are
often delicate systems, and that gross environmental changes--such as
those inevitable with mining operations--negatively impact these systems
AND are usually CUMULATIVE.

Try to do a little less (in this case) of making products which "make a
difference in every day life." This mining will certainly make such a
difference--and for the worse, not only for this generation, but for all
future generations to come.

The Okeefenokee is irreplaceable. Go get your titanium--and your
dollars!--somewhere else!

-Philip Thomas
 P.O. Box 1272
 Puunene, HI 96784
 thomasp@maui.com

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
   Philip A. Thomas - Research Associate - Hawaiian Ecosystems at Risk
                University of Hawaii/Botany Dept./CPSU/RCUH
                   http://www2.hawaii.edu/~halesci/HEAR

          voice: (808) 572-9306 ext. 3233 fax: (808) 572-1304
            P.O. Box 1272 - Puunene, Maui, Hawaii 96784 USA
    thomasp@maui.com http://www.maui.com/~thomasp/PhilipAnthonyThomas

## Opinions expressed are my own and do not necessarily represent ##
## the views of USGS/BRD, RCUH, CPSU, UH, or anyone besides just me! ##



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