Monthly Archives: December 2016

No sign of sinkhole with equipment in it 2016-12-18

There’s a rumor that Sabal Trail has some equipment stuck in a sinkhole at the Suwannee River. Multiple people have gone and videoed and seen nothing like that there, on either side of the Suwannee River. We’ve also checked the Withlacoochee River at US84: nothing like that is visible at the visible HDD site in Georgia (it could be at the Brooks County, GA site that we can’t see).

The drilling equipment formerly at the Martin Lane Withlacoochee HDD site in Lowndes County, Georgia is gone, and the drill truck photographed recently at the Suwannee south bank HDD site looks like the same Southeast Directional Drilling truck with the Arizona address on its side.

Southeast Directional Drilling, 3117 North Cessna Ave., Casa Grande, AZ 85122, 520-423-2131, www.southeastdrilling.com,

Incidentally, unlike some other Sabal Trail contractors, Continue reading →

Why #NoSabalTrail #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife

Update 17 Dec 2016: What would you add? Comment here or send email to wwalswatershed@gmail.com. There will be a longer second version of this post.

Many new people and organizations are joining the opposition to the Sabal “Sinkhole” Trail fracked methane pipeline. Many of them ask me: why are we opposing this pipeline? It’s simple: our water, land, and air are more important than profit for a few utility executives and a few fossil fuel companies from Houston, Texas and Alberta, Canada. Solar power is now cheaper, faster to install, and far less destructive than any other power source, so the Sunshine State should turn directly to the sun.

Three years ago FPL said Sabal Trail was needed for new Florida electricity. FPL’s 2016 Ten Year Plan says Florida needs no new electricity until 2024 at the earliest. So why should we accept any destruction or risk for an unnecessary pipeline?

We were assured by Sabal Trail and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s one witness testified under oath in WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP: Continue reading →

It’s that most wonderful time of the year — Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Yuletide Greetings!

Are you looking for a non-profit for your year end giving, or a gift for that hard to buy for person? WWALS is a 501(c)(3) and your donations are tax deductible as allowable by law. I invite you to become a member today or make an additional year end gift. Your gift helps us achieve our mission:

/donations/
PO Box 88, Hahira, GA 31632

Organizations can donate to WWALS, too, as many have.

In this very busy year of 2016 WWALS has: Continue reading →

GA-EPD found Sabal Trail right of way violation 2016-12-14

Georgia EPD found Sabal Trail out of its right of way at Okapilco Creek in Brooks County, and an enforcement action is being prepared. This was while investigating the possible wetlands and water violations reported by WWALS. So reports do sometimes work, although sometimes for violations different than the ones you thought you were reporting.

Update 21 Dec 2016: Please report potential violations.

This afternoon GA-EPD called me to provide a preliminary report on what they found when they inspected the possible violations WWALS reported December 8th 2016. The call came from Tommy W. Fowler, Program Manager, Southwest District, Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD). These are my notes on what he said, in order from the WWALS complaint filing: Continue reading →

December Tannin Times, the WWALS Monthly Newsletter

All the WWALS Monthly Newsletters are now available on the WWALS website. WWALS Biota, GWC DD, US 84 Sabal Trail HDD, Southwings WWALS Members get the newest Tannin Times issue when it comes out at the beginning of the month. The most recent is for December 2016 (PDF), with:

  • Bret Wagenhorst’s column WWALS Biota about plants and animals in our watershed,
  • the Georgia Water Coalition Dirty Dozen which features Sabal Trail for the third year running,
  • the WWALS discovery of a Sabal Trail frac-out blowing drilling mud up into the Withlacoochee River just upstream from US 84 between Quitman and Valdosta, Georgia,
  • a Southwings flight for WWALS over the Suwannee River in Florida,
  • community outreach at the Alapaha (Georgia) Station Celebration and Okefenokee Pioneer Days (near Folkston, GA),
  • an Outing to the very unusual Dead River Sink on the Alapaha River,
  • the Resolution by Continue reading →

Sabal Trail Hamilton County Suwannee River HDD

Movie: Generator at drill site (1.5M) The pipe to go under the Suwannee RIver is laid out, welded, and has pressure test fittings at the Hamilton County side of the Suwannee River, but the drill site itself has nothing but a generator. So it looks like they’re drilling under from the Suwannee County side Here are some pictures and videos taken in Hamilton County near CR 141. Sabal Trail didn’t like that.

Pressure fitting on pipe

This is the site at 30.410381, -83.165874 that you see in the foreground in an aerial picture in a previous post.

Here’s a playlist of WWALS videos, and there are more pictures below. Continue reading →

Water Trails at Valdosta-Lowndes Development Authority 2016-10-18

After getting some clarification on local bonds, I invited VLCIA to the WWALS Quarterly presentation about Valdosta wastewater and flood control, to the Dead River Sink hike, and told them about the dye test that discovered where the Alapaha River water comes back up (at the Alapaha Rise). Afterwards I nudged them about the letter in support of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail they previously promised.

Some day some of them will actually come to a WWALS event, and meanwhile they seem to like to be invited. Here’s the LAKE video from the 18 October 2016 Regular Meeting of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Development Authority.

Continue reading →

Sabal Trail violations FDEP assured us would not happen are happening

Already under the Withlacoochee River in Georgia there’s been a frac-out and a sinkhole at a drilling site, upstream from the Suwannee River in Florida, under which FDEP told us it couldn’t happen:

Lisa Prather, sole FDEP witness “ Well, the Suwannee River crossing doesn’t, in fact, have any impacts to an outstanding Florida water….”

“Well, any work within, or could have adverse effects on OFW, is considered. In this case, we determine that there would be no impacts to the OFW.”

Apparently not only FDEP’s sole witness Lisa Prather believed Sabal Trail; according to a video yesterday by Cody Suggs at the Suwannee River, Sabal Trail’s own workers seem to believe their company’s propaganda.

Much more about WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP is on the WWALS website, including videos and transcripts of the landowners who also tried to warn FDEP that sinkholes happen like they already have including under at least two public roads in Suwannee County, Florida. And more about what already happened is on the WWALS website, plus things you can do to stop this $3 billion dollar fracked methane boondoggle.

For example, you may want to ask the permitting agencies some of the questions WWALS asked, including this one:

Which of FERC, FDEP, GA-EPD, USACE, SRWMD are working to protect the health, welfare and safety of the communities surrounding this pipeline and how are they doing that?

Given that I asked them for a prompt answer and two weeks later have gotten no answer at all, it sure looks like we the people will have to find and report violations and use other methods to stop this pipeline.

The transcript questions quoted below are Continue reading →