Monthly Archives: December 2020

Plastic free 2020-12-08

Want to stop Nestlé from sucking up Floridan Aquifer water and selling it in plastic bottles? Tired of picking up plastic from rivers and springs, and futile recycling? Stop disposable plastic at the source by stopping single-use plastic.

[Plastic Free: WWALS, Suwannee Riverkeeper]
Plastic Free: WWALS, Suwannee Riverkeeper

WWALS and Suwannee Riverkeeper are among the more than 550 signatories on this Presidential Plastics Action Plan. You’ll recognize many Georgia, Florida, Alabama, and South Carolina Waterkeepers, as well as Waterkeeper Alliance, plus Our Santa Fe River.

For the Plan, see the online summary or the PDF. The first action alone could have a massive effect: stop the federal government from buying single-use plastic.

Individuals can sign a petition. Please help.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Valdosta catching illegal dumpers, and some new management

Valdosta is actively pursuing the culprits ditching trash and dumping fecal waste into the Withlacoochee River, causing repeated spikes at GA 133.

They say they have even caught some.

And Valdosta has promoted two people: Catherine Ammons of Human Resources to Deputy City Manager of Administration, and Richard Hardy of Public Works to Deputy City Manager of Operations. Hardy is still Director of Public Works, but now he’s also over Engineering and Utilities, which also still retain their same Directors.

We don’t know whether these two news items are related. We do know we’re glad Valdosta recognizes that people downstream will continue to think they’re the cause of every Withlacoochee River contamination incident unless they actively find the real culprits.

Don’t worry: we post positive news about Valdosta when there is some, but we continue to watch them and other possible contamination sources like a hawk.

[Cleanups, Deputy City Managers]
Cleanups, Deputy City Managers

Pursuing dumping culprits

Valdosta PR, December 2, 2020, City Stresses Importance of Reporting Illegal Dumping in Local Waterways (see also Valdosta Today), Continue reading →

Bad GA 133 for a week, yet good downstream, Withlacoochee River 2020-12-03

Update 2020-12-12: Clean downstream, Withlacoochee River 2020-12-10; odd Gibson Park, Suwannee River 2020-12-05.

Thanks to Madison Health and WWALS testers Josh and Angela Duncan, we have good bacterial water quality results for Thursday at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps, as well as at Sullivan Launch and FL 6.

This is mysterious, since Valdosta has gotten very high bacterial results at GA 133 for Friday, Monday, and Wednesday. Yet Valdosta got acceptable results downstream at US 84 those same days.

It appears that somebody is still dumping into the Withlacoochee River at or upstream from GA 133. Valdosta says it’s on the case and they’re encouraging everybody else to help find the culprits. Yes, please help.

[Chart and KF Plates]
Chart and KF Plates

Despite all that, according to the water quality results from US 84 downstream all the way to FL 6, I’ve marked all the WWALS “beaches” on Swim Guide Continue reading →

At-water metal sign drafts, ARWT and WLRWT

Thanks to a generous Educational Recreational Trails Program grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, on the WWALS website are images of new metal signs to go near the water along the WWALS water trails:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-26–drafts-metal-signs

They have all gone to the metal sign printer.

You can still help defray the cash match, and yes, we will sell you a pair of signs if you like.

If you click on any small image, you will see a larger image. Click again and get a still larger image. Or click on the word PDF to get a PDF version.

These signs go in pairs on each signpost:

  • The top sign is about the entire water trail.
  • The bottom sign is about the specific access point.

Here are three examples, for Statenville Boat Ramp on the Alapaha River, in the Alapaha River Water Trail, and for the two rivers in the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail, for Red Roberts Landing on the Little River, and for Langdale Park Boat Ramp on the Withlacoochee River.

[ARWT and WLRWT signposts]
ARWT and WLRWT signposts

As part of the grant, we ordered extra copies of eight of these signs as spares and for educational display and demonstration purposes.

Also included for reference, Continue reading →

Valdosta: Catch Basin finished

Valdosta has completed the long-awaited catch basin at the entrance to the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP). That won’t stop spills that happen elsewhere, such as the big one in December 2019, but it might have stopped 2/3 of the December 2018 sewage spill gallons. And Valdosta’s press release also emphasizes further fixes elsewhere.

Valdosta WWTP Catch Basin

First proposed December 6, 2018, by by City Council Tim Carroll, just as Valdosta had its third major sewage spill episode of 2018, including eighteen locations, followed by five more on December 14 and 15. Only three of those spills came from the WWTP, but those three did account for most of the gallons spilled. However, the record December 2019 spill did not come from the WWTP at all.

Valdosta got a permit for the catch basin from GA-EPD in December 2019, before it was required to dig it in a new GA-EPD Consent Order. Valdosta held a groundbreaking July 21, 2020.

Now the catch basin is finished, after only a year and a half. It should decrease the likelihood of spills from the WWTP. December is the traditional Valdosta sewage spill season, and so far there have been none. Meanwhile, sanitary sewer work continues elsewhere in Valdosta.

Valdosta PR, November 19, 2020, Equalization Basin at Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Completed, Continue reading →

Light Parade at Banks Lake, Okefenokee Swamp, Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest on Steve Nichols radio 2020-12-08

Update 2020-12-10: video.

We’re proud to announce that Steve Nichols has accepted our invitation to be the Master of Ceremonies at the Fourth Annual Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest, Saturday evening, August 2021, at the Turner Center Art Park in Valdosta, GA.
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-08-21–songwriting/

He and I will talk about that on his radio show at 8:30 AM Tuesday, December 8, 2020, on 105.9 FM WVGA.

We’ll also discuss the WWALS Solstice Light Parade, Saturday, December 19, 2020, at Banks Lake, just west of Lakeland, GA.
https://wwals.net/pictures/2020-12-19–light-parade/

And how Georgia is all that stands between some strip miners from Alabama and the Okefenokee Swamp, and how you can help.
https://wwals.net/?p=54187

Suwannee Riverkeeper on Steve Nichols radio, 2020-10-06

WVGA FM says:

The top rated morning talk show in south Georgia, Steve Nichols offers both sides of every story from Berrien County to the Beltway, and everywhere in between.

When: 8:30 AM, Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Where: 105.9 FM WVGA

or the WVGA Live apps,
through ValdostaToday.com (link on front page),
on Alexa devices,
or you can stream in-studio video at the official Morning Drive Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/TheMorningDriveWithSteveNichols/ Continue reading →

Pre-Holiday Auction until 2020-12-12

Until December 12, 2020, you can get a chance at a kayak or some smaller merchandise two ways, also helping WWALS with outings, cleanups, water quality testing, and advocacy.

Pre-Holiday Auction

Expedition, paintings, archery, racks, fit, fleece, and cake!

[Pre-Holiday Auction through 2020-12-12]
Pre-Holiday Auction through 2020-12-12

The auction is online:
https://www.betterunite.com/WWALS-wwals2020pre-holidayauction/auction

Kayak Raffle

[Kayak Raffle Poster, drawing 2020-12-12]
Kayak Raffle Poster, drawing 2020-12-12
PDF

Suggested Donation $5.00 for one ticket; $20.00 for five tickets:
https://wwals.net/?p=53215 Continue reading →

Sulak’s Defeat at Jennings Defeat 2020-08-26

Explorer Dr. Ken Sulak has solved an Alapaha River rapids naming mystery. He recounts:

So in 1797, Samuel Taylor Coleridge wrote a poem inspired by a dream.

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran
Through caverns measureless to man
   Down to a sunless sea.

So twice five miles of fertile ground
With walls and towers were girdled round:
And there were gardens bright with sinuous rills,
Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;
And here were forests ancient as the hills,
Enfolding sunny spots of greenery.

Insert three ‘A” and the dreamscape river becomes the Alapaha, and appropriately so. Yesterday, I embarked on the foolish idea of a solo kayak journey up 3 miles of the Alapaha from Sasser Landing (just below the confluence of the Alapaha and the Alapahoochee rivers) to the site of the 1800s Roebucks Ferry and later Roebucks Bridge.

[Jennings Defeat Rapids, Ogeechee Gum, GS&F RR trestle below CR 150]
Jennings Defeat Rapids, Ogeechee Gum, GS&F RR trestle below CR 150

That crossing brought settlers and other travelers from Jacksonville and Fernandina along the GA/FL border across the Alapaha to Miccotown, the old Seminole Indian town in the triangle of land protected by the two flanking rivers. The road/trail (gone now on both sides) continued west across the Alapahoochee at the site of the early 1900s Beatty Bridge (undoubtedly preceded in the mid-1800s by an undocumented ferry), and on to Hickstown in Madison County and westward. Miccotown became the first county seat of Hamilton County as the settlers suppressed the Seminoles and the old Indian town faded into obscurity in 1839. Continue reading →

Strom LNG reports late to FE: reverse merger expected 2020-11-01

Update 2021-04-04: Late again: Strom Inc. semi-annual report to DoE FE about Crystal River LNG 2021-04-04.

Apparently Strom Inc. of the long-touted future LNG export operation in Crystal River, Florida, thinks some public company is so desperate for cash that it will let Strom take over its board for money.

“Additionally, Strom, Inc. is actively in early stage negotiations with a third-party entity regarding a reverse-merger and anticipate filing a report upon completion.”

What money? From a “term-sheet agreement” from un-named financiers that Strom has been claiming since at least April 2020. Lots of big talk, little LNG export action. Which is good news for Crystal River and Tampa, since the most likely export route for Strom would be by truck to Port of Tampa.

[Report, Map]
Report, Map

Strom also has big plans for exporting to “China, Latin America, and several Caribbean countries.”

“Specifically, Strom has received specific interest from LNG users in the Bahamas, China, Belize, Panama, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Honduras and is pursuing all qualified leads. These requests for LNG will far exceed Strom’s authorized capacity, and we will explore our options as we execute agreements. In accordance with Ordering Paragraph D of the Order, Strom will file any such long—term contracts with the DOE/FE following their execution.”

Specifically, interest is not a contract.

This is interesting:

“Strom has secured certain preliminary agreements for equipment and has selected AECOM to fill the role of our EPCM for the Project. AECOM is well versed in Oil and Gas and has been involved in a myriad of FERC approved Oil and Gas projects.”

Yes, AECOM was involved in for instance Elba Island LNG in Georgia.

But Strom LNG in Crystal River, FL, is not a FERC-approved project. Back in 2014 when Strom still planned to locate in Starke, FL, Strom filed with FERC for a Notice of Petition for Declaratory Order re Strom, Inc. under CP14-121. But FERC dismissed that request for lack of fee payment. No other FERC docket for Strom has appeared, so apparently Strom has neither FERC approval nor a declaratory order for Strom’s “mobile liquefaction unit be eligible to export LNG with exemption from FERC’s jurisdiction under the Natural Gas Act.”

As usual, Strom’s report was late. At least, unlike most of its earlier reports, it arrived before a WWALS member had to ask FE where it was.

Strom, Inc., Semi-Annual Report for October 2020

Here’s is Strom’s report, for FE Docket # 14-56-LNG, Order No. 3537. See also the PDF. Continue reading →

Langdale Park open and upgraded –Bobby McKenzie 2020-11-29

Bobby McKenzie says:

I drove by Langdale Park yesterday and it was open.

[Driveway, pavillion, streetlight, logjam, sandbar (rotated)]
Driveway, pavillion, streetlight, logjam, sandbar (rotated)

VLPRA did a great job cleaning up the road back there. There wasn’t a single rut to be seen, all filled in nice and smooth the whole way. Continue reading →