Valdosta had one spill at a lift station that lost power during Tropical Storm Irma, said David Frost, Interim Utilities Director, City of Valdosta, when I called him just now. I asked him if there were any others, and he said there was just that one.
He said it was a small spill. I asked how small. He said Continue reading
Hurricane Irma caused a sinkhole that destroyed the entrance to a subdivision less than half a mile from an FPL pipeline to the sea, about two miles from Floridian Natural Gas (FlING), and about seven miles from the end of Florida Southeast Connection (FSC). What other sinkholes appeared, and were any under that pipeline, FSC, Sabal Trail, or Transco?
Sinkhole, FPL pipeline, FLiNG, FSC; map by John S. Quarterman for WWALS.
Click on
this link for the interactive google map.
Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post, 12:39 a.m. Monday, Sept. 11, 2017, Hurricane Irma: Storm creates sinkhole in western Martin community, Continue reading
More Tropical Storm Irma effect. Received today, 12 September 2017:
Good morning, the meeting for the Regional Plan Workshop has been rescheduled from the 14th to:
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21st, 2017
9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
SGRC Office
327 W Savannah, Ave.
Valdosta, GaSherry H. Davidson
Local Government Services Director
FullLogo
229-333-5277 ext.124
229-300-0923 cell
For suggestions from WWALS so far and more Continue reading
Update 2017-09-12: But one small lift station spill.
William “Ricky” Cornelius, Plant Superintendent, Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), said when I called him this morning there were no spills from WWTP nor from Valdosta’s Mud Creek Treatment Plant (MCWTP).
“I don’t think Mud Creek even lost power. We were on generator power here at the Withlacoochee plant, and our people had to work extra hours, but they were on top of it. We were prepared and had no spills.”
I have left a message at Valdosta Utilities about any manhole cover leaks. We shall see about those, and about other cities and counties and private wastewater facilities up and down the Suwannee River Basin.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Update 2017-09-15: On the seventh day.
Hurricane Irma is bringing flood levels on on most of the rivers in the Suwannee River Basin. Here are the gages with projections from downstream to upstream, since Irma is coming from the south. The images here are static to show this moment, but click on any image to go through to the live gage.
Don’t spill, Valdosta. Don’t leak, Sabal Trail. Hurricane Irma is bad enough already.
Valdosta announced its WWTP would be “manned around the clock”, so I called down there before 8AM this Saturday morning, and somebody did answer immediately. I told him as Suwannee Riverkeeper I was concerned for people downstream who don’t want any spills during the upcoming rains, so I was glad to see it was true they were there. I asked him if they had backup generators. He said yes. Of course, that doesn’t handle every manhole cover. We shall see. Don’t spill, Valdosta! (Or Lowndes County, or Tifton, or anybody else.)
Currently expecting somewhere between 4 and 10 inches of rain on Valdosta.
Map from National Hurricane Center, 2017-09-09 8AM.
City of Valdosta, PR, 8 September 2017, Valdosta-Lowndes County Hurricane Irma Update, Continue reading
Everyone is a bit preoccupied right now tying things down for the most powerful Atlantic hurricane ever observed, so the Outings Committee has canceled this Sunday’s Rivers Alive Cleanup and Paddle Outing on the Alapaha River at Pafford’s Landing. Hurricane Irma may still decide to go east or west, but for a hurricane, better safe than sorry. Depending on the aftermath, we may reschedule for next weekend; stay tuned.
These maps are details from
New York Times, UPDATED 12:45 PM ET, SEPT. 8, 2017,
Maps: Tracking Hurricane Irma’s Path.
Four days ago Florida governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency in all 67 Florida counties, and Monroe County, including Key West, was evacuating.
Irma is currently predicted to drop from Continue reading
More about this in Live Oak this Thursday. Harriet Heywood, Citrus County Chronicle, 4 September 2017, Sierra Club Sabal Trail victory
On June 14, fracked gas from the Marcellus Shale began flowing through the Sabal Trail Pipeline despite a pending lawsuit Sierra Club had against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Seems the agency had failed to conduct an environmental impact study to consider the climate impacts of the project.
WWALS members Harriet Heywood and Maxine Connor holding the Suwannee Riverkeeper banner, Dunnellon, Florida, 28 January 2017. Picture by John S. Quarterman for WWALS.On Aug. 22, a federal appeals court denied the Southeast Market pipeline and Sabal Trail project approval, since FERC did not do the requisite climate study.
Turns out there are still Continue reading
To see Sabal Fail in inaction at Dunnellon, jump to The Dunnellon odorant leaks, where the pipeline stooges wrapped it in towels, sprayed a deodorant, and waited until morning. Really, according to the incident report from Marion County Fire Rescue. It doesn’t get better in this summary: none of the state or federal permitting or safety agencies did anything, leaving Marion County to deal with the situation unassisted.
If you want to know some background, see also Continue reading
