Update 2021-07-23: Bad Upstream, Good Downstream, Withlacoochee River 2021-07-22.
Not just two, but seven Valdosta July 7th sewage spills finally showed up in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report yesterday.
That’s ten working days later, or almost two calendar weeks after they happened during Tropical Storm Elsa. Even Quitman is usually only one week late filing such reports.
However, unlike the vague “800 block” verbiage in Valdosta’s press release of July 8th, these reports have precise street addresses.
And these reports say which waterbody was affected. The “800 Block of E Brookwood Dr.”, from which I could not tell whether it went west into Onemile Branch, Sugar Creek, and the Withlacoochee River, turns out to be “836 E. Brookwood Dr”, and it went into “Knights Creek”, which runs into Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River.
So I’ll go back and revise our WWALS map. Maybe from now on Valdosta will report spills with this kind of precision and save everybody trouble.
![[Seven Valdosta Spills, GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report parsed by WWALS]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2021-07-20--valdosta-spills-ga-epd/spills.jpg)
Seven Valdosta Spills, GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report parsed by WWALS,
see
the WWALS website.
Also maybe Valdosta will finally do something to repair the 1212 Wainwright Drive spill location, which has spilled 355,875 gallons of raw sewage since 2015. Maybe Valdosta will add that location to its Manhole Rehabilitation list, which it is required to update by the GA-EPD Consent Order. Maybe then we won’t have any more spills from Wainwright Drive, so there will be less E. coli in the Withlacoochee River.
Meanwhile, here are those reports from yesterday. “Mudd Swamp” is pretty amusing for Mud Swamp Creek. I did not know Harcourt Fenton Mudd, like Doc Holliday, started his career in Valdosta.
| FACILITY NAME | BEGIN DATE | COUNTY | CITY | OVERFLOW LOCATION | QUANTITY GALLONS | OVERFLOW TYPE | PERMIT NUMBER | SPILL SOURCE | SPILL PRIMARY CAUSE | RIVER BASIN | WATERWAY IMPACTED |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1c1 | |||||||||||
| Valdosta, City of (Withlacoochee WPCP) | 2021-07-07 | Lowndes | valdosta | 1248 Lee St (2) | 2,733 | Raw Sewage | GA0033235 | Collection System | Wet weather | Suwannee | 1 Mile Branch |
| Valdosta, City of (Withlacoochee WPCP) | 2021-07-07 | Lowndes | valdosta | 1212 Wainwright Dr | 37,500 | Raw Sewage | GA0033235 | Collection System | Wet weather | Suwannee | 1 Mile Branch |
| Valdosta, City of (Withlacoochee WPCP) | 2021-07-07 | Lowndes | valdosta | 1248 Lee St (A) | 4,125 | Raw Sewage | GA0033235 | Collection System | Wet weather | Suwannee | 1 Mile Branch |
| Valdosta, City of (Withlacoochee WPCP) | 2021-07-07 | Lowndes | Valdosta | 817 Gornto Rd | 43,350 | Raw Sewage | GA0033235 | Collection System | Wet weather | Suwannee | 2 Mile Branch |
| Valdosta, City of (Withlacoochee WPCP) | 2021-07-07 | Lowndes | valdosta | 2701 Berkley Dr | 2,182 | Raw Sewage | GA0033235 | Collection System | Wet weather | Suwannee | 2 Mile Branch |
| 30a47,50 | |||||||||||
| Valdosta, City of (Withlacoochee WPCP) | 2021-07-07 | Lowndes | Valdosta | 836 E. Brookwood Dr | 90 | Raw Sewage | GA0033235 | Collection System | Wet weather | Suwannee | Knights Creek |
| Valdosta, City of (Withlacoochee WPCP) | 2021-07-07 | Lowndes | Valdosta | 216 MLK Dr | 320 | Raw Sewage | GA0033235 | Collection System | Wet weather | Suwannee | Mudd Swamp |
In case you’re wondering, yes, I asked GA-EPD when Valdosta’s spills were going to show up, and why Valdosta couldn’t supply precise street addresses or waterbodies in its reports. No, I don’t know whether that was what got Valdosta finally to turn in reports with those more precise details. Doesn’t really matter whether it was me, as long as they do it.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
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-jsq
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