Monthly Archives: November 2023

Mostly clean Withlacoochee River 2023-11-16

Update 2023-11-25 Clean Rivers 2023-11-23.

There was some rain in the past few days, but apparently not enough to wash contamination into the Withlacoochee River. Even famously filthy Crawford Branch was clean. However, Langdale Park Boat Ramp tested dirty, but that is probably because the water is so low it is stagnant there.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-16]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-16

Most of the usual WWALS testers are off for the holiday.

Russ Tatum got clean results for Wednesday for the Withlacoochee River at Holly Point, between Allen Ramp and the Suwannee River.

Cindy Vedas very got good results for Thursday for the Withlacoochee River at Franklinville, Crawford Branch, and Staten Road, but too -high at Langdale Park.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall provided sage advice.

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman delivered testing supplies to several testers.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

The most recent Valdosta results we have are for Monday upstream, which were good. As usual, Valdosta’s last week upstream results corroborated what WWALS saw Thursday last week.

As previously noted, Valdosta’s last downstream tests were September 1, 2023. Continue reading →

Exploring the Santa Fe River: Origins –Joanne Tremblay 2023-11-03

Joanne Tremblay says, “I was inspired to create a visual of the river’s path so folks could get a better understanding of its changes it goes through before it becomes the spring-laden stretch that most are familiar with. All my own footage, paddles are a composite from my own at different times.”

[Cover]
Cover

My favorite is this slide, “I will not repeat this journey”, about Worthington to Bible Camp Road: “Seven miles through tangled woods”. Continue reading →

LNG by Rail suspended by PHMSA and FRA 2023-08-31

Update 2023-11-18: Liquefied natural gas issue on Brightline railroad –Cecile Scofield in TCPalm 2023-11-12.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has suspended authorization without a special permit of “liquefied natural gas (LNG) transportation in rail tank cars pursuant to a final rule published on July 24, 2020, pending the earlier of either completion of a companion rulemaking evaluating potential modifications to requirements governing rail tank car transportation of LNG, or June 30, 2025.”

WWALS has opposed such authorization since before PHMSA approved it, on numerous grounds, including safety (potential leaks or explosions, lack of city, county, or state LNG risk management plans, lack of safety studies), rail running through densely populated areas, promotion of fracking, environmental concerns (LNG is 80 times more harmful than CO2 in the near term as a greenhouse gas), and shortsightedness: solar, wind, and batteries are exponentially taking over from LNG.

We do not yet know how this suspension will affect LNG by rail in Florida; more on that later.

[Florida, PA, and NJ LNG by rail maps]
Florida, PA, and NJ LNG by rail maps

It is also not clear how this decision will affect New Fortress Energy’s other LNG by rail project from Wyalusing, PA, to an export terminal in Gibbstown, NJ, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.

Still, we agree with NRDC that “This is a huge victory for the planet and for communities living in the potential blast zones of these rail lines.”

See also Continue reading →

Scotti and Sara Jay discovered One Mile Branch fish kill, leading to GA-EPD Consent Order 2023-09-23

Update 2024-02-22: Slight update on this Consent Order in Valdosta Boone Drive and Knob Hill small sewage spills 2024-02-20.

Thanks to Scotti Jay Jones for discovering and photographing a fish kill on One Mile Branch a year ago, and for taking water quality samples. Thanks to Sara Jay Jones for plating those samples. Suwannee Riverkeeper reported all that to GA-EPD.

One year later, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD), levied a Consent Order on the City of Valdosta for that fish kill and various sewage spills.

[IG: Sara and Scotti Jay Jones, the GA-EPD Consent Order, location map, and fish kill]
IG: Sara and Scotti Jay Jones, the GA-EPD Consent Order, location map, and fish kill

Maybe that Consent Order and its requirements for Standard Operating Procedures will help prevent sewage spills from getting into One Mile Branch, Hightower Creek, and Sugar Creek and the Withlacoochee River, as well as into Knights Creek into Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River. There have also been many personnel changes in the Valdosta City government, and the current Acting Utilities Director so far seems like a big improvement.

And you can join Scotti and Sara and WWALS at Iche Nippy Dip Day Swim and Paddle, Ichetucknee River, Ichetucknee Headspring, 2024-01-06.

Below are links and snippets for previous WWALS blog posts during that year. Continue reading →

Valdosta Standard Operating Procedures as conditions on Consent Order EPD-WP-9424 2023-11-13

Update 2023-11-14: Scotti and Sara Jay discovered One Mile Branch fish kill, leading to GA-EPD Consent Order 2023-09-22.

Valdosta has sent GA-EPD a check for the $56,139.30 fine and the information required by the other four conditions of the September 15, 2023, Consent Order on Valdosta for the One Mile Branch fish kill and various sewage spills.

Maybe these Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) will help further reduce Valdosta sewage into creeks and the Alapaha, Alapahoochee, and Withlacoochee Rivers.

[SOPs]
SOPs

Here is the City of Valdosta’s summary of its responses to the conditions in the Consent Order. I haved added links to the referenced documents. Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2023-11-09

Update 2023-11-17: Mostly clean Withlacoochee River 2023-11-16.

The rivers were still clean, in yet another week with no rain: the Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee Rivers. Even famously filthy Crawford Branch was clean. However, notoriously dirty Sugar Creek was dirty, but it did not seem to affect the Withlacoochee River much.

No rain is predicted for this weekend.

In the last week, no new sewage spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida.

So happy swimming, boating, and fishing this weekend!

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-09]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide Map 2023-11-09

Heather Brasell got good results for Continue reading →

Georgia Conservationists meet in Waycross to protect the Okefenokee from mining 2023-11-10

“Beyond Trail Ridge, cities and counties in the Suwannee River Basin value the Okefenokee Swamp and the Suwannee River, and are passing resolutions supporting the Okefenokee Swamp and legislation protecting it, including the City of Valdosta and Clinch and Echols Counties,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

Douglas Now, November 10, 2023, GEORGIA CONSERVATIONISTS MEET IN WAYCROSS TO PROTECT THE OKEFENOKEE FROM MINING,

The Georgia Water Coalition hosted its Fall Member meeting in Waycross November 8—10, 2023. Conservationists from around the state learned more about the Okefenokee and how to protect it from risky mining operations.

Attendees toured the Okefenokee Swamp Park, the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, and the St. Marys River. During the member meeting at South Georgia State College, Georgia Water Coalition members learned about how mining proposals along Trail Ridge threaten the Okefenokee.

[Boats and inside]
Mike Worley, CEO, Georgia Wildlife Federation welcomes Georgia Water Coalition members at the Okefenokee Swamp Park, and inside Okefenokee NWR Manager Michael Lusk, Alice Keys of One Hundred Miles, St. Marys Riverkeeper Emily Floore, Local resident Charlene McIntosh Carter of Okefenokee Pastimes Cabins and Campground, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman. Photo: Southwings.

“The Okefenokee touches everyone that touches its dark waters,” Continue reading →

Eddyline kayak raffle tickets for each $100 in WWALS Day of Giving this month 2023-11-10

Update 2024-04-01: Done: Eddyline Kayak Raffle 2024-04-01.

Each $100 donated to the WWALS Day of Giving 2023 gets a kayak raffle ticket:
https://www.gagives.org/story/Wwals-Gagives2023

[Eddyline kayak in Hahira Honeybee Parade, and WWALS Day of Giving this month]
Eddyline kayak in Hahira Honeybee Parade, and WWALS Day of Giving this month

That’s until all 30 tickets are taken for the Eddyline Sandpiper kayak with paddle, PFD, lock, and straps.

It’s slightly used. New, it retails for $1,749.00.

So donate to WWALS in #GAGIVES!

This is in addition to the other kayak raffle of a Vibe Sea Ghost 130, for which tickets are $10 and the drawing will be November 27, 2023.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can help with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable, water in the 10,000-square-mile Suwannee River Basin in Florida and Georgia by becoming a WWALS member today!
https://wwals.net/donations/

Rainbow shiners 2023-10-14

This story is amusing enough to publish (with permission), even though it is about goings-on outside the Suwannee River Basin.

Various Notropis species form unusual spawning aggregations. For example, here is a spawning aggregation of the noble Notropis chrosomus AKA the Rainbow shiner, arguably the most colorful fish in North America. This aggregation was photographed in Marshall creek near Monroeville Alabama north of Mobile.

[Rainbow shiners spawning in the air]
Rainbow shiners spawning in the air

What? Fish that spawn upside down in the air above waterfalls in a part of the country that can’t possible have waterfalls? OK, I owe you an explanation.

Once upon a time, and a long ago time it was, I was Continue reading →

GA-EPD Consent Order on Valdosta for One Mile Branch fish kill and sewage spills 2023-09-15

Update 2023-11-13: Valdosta Standard Operating Procedures as conditions on Consent Order EPD-WP-9424 2023-11-13.

That One Mile Branch fish kill back on September 23, 2022, was not just from a fuel spill by VSU.

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) found contamination and dead fish upstream of that alleged fuel spill. GA-EPD also cited numerous other Valdosta sewage spills, not only into One Mile Branch, but also into Hightower Creek (also draining through Sugar Creek into the Withlacoochee River), and spillsinto Knights Creek (which drains into Mud Swamp Creek, then the Alaphoochee River, and the Alapaha River).

Result? A new Consent Order on Valdosta, including a hefty fine as one of five conditions, the rest of which have sixty (60) day deadlines.

[$56,139.30 fine on Valdosta for One Mile Branch Fish Kill and other spills --GA-EPD 2023-09-15]
$56,139.30 fine on Valdosta for One Mile Branch Fish Kill and other spills –GA-EPD 2023-09-15

$56,139.30 may not sound like much as a fine, but it is huge compared to typical GA-EPD fines of maybe $10,000, and it is almost half of the $122,000 of the 2020 Consent Order after the huge December 2019 Valdosta sewage spill.

Please note that the Valdosta Utilities Department is under new management since all this happened.

Acting Utilities Manager Jason Barnes now has the task of cleaning up the physical and regulatory mess, even though he had nothing to do with causing it.

The City’s explanation for the One Mile Branch fish kill at the time did not pass muster with GA-EPD: Continue reading →