Category Archives: Aquifer

The Floridan Aquifer is our main drinking water source under our entire WWALS watershed, east to south Carolina, west through Alabama to Mississippi, and under all of Florida.

Proposed HPSII phosphate mine in Union and Bradford Counties, Florida

Update 2017-08-31: More maps and other information in the Phosphate Mining page.

The proposed HPSII phosphate mine on the New River in Bradford and Union Counties, Florida, features in Dave Wilson’s talk from April. HPSII would be upstream from the Santa Fe River, and thus upstream from the Suwannee River.


slide 27 by David Wilson

WWALS Watershed Coalition opposes the HPSII phosphate mine. We see no benefit in Union and Bradford Counties suffering effects such as those outlined in Dave Wilson’s slides, and looking like Hamilton County in these aerials: Continue reading →

PotashCorp Field Trip Summary –David Wilson 2017-04-13

The moonscape that seems to go on forever while flying over Hamilton County, Florida in a small plane is the PCS phosphate mine, as seen in some WWALS aerials in these slides that David Wilson presented at a Santa Fe River Springs Protection Forum April 13, 2017 at Otter Springs, Florida. Dave is Treasurer of the Board of Florida Springs Institute, and a WWALS member. His slides are published on the WWALS website with his permission.


Slide 14

According to the slides, perhaps JEA is responsible for the low water levels at White Sulfur Springs, formerly a famous resort, now bone dry: Continue reading →

WiLFest, Gainesville, FL 2017-06-17

Today in Gainesville, FL, Jim Gross of Florida Defenders of the Environment and John S. Quarterman, Suwannee Riverkeeper, will be speaking at Water is Life Fest. With music!

When: 6PM Saturday 17 June 2017

Where: Civic Media Center
433 S Main St, Gainesville, Florida 32601

Event: facebook

Part Deux

“WiLFest features: Continue reading →

If we hear about a sinkhole or a leak, we’ll be there –WWALS @ WCTV 2017-06-15

It’s not over just because the gas is flowing through Sabal Trail. We’ll be watching, and we’re escalating.

Noelani Mathews, WCTV, June 15, 2017, Local environmentalist groups prepare for Sabal Trail Pipeline to go online,

“We’ve always did a lot online and through legal angles and we’re going to continue doing a lot of that,” says John Quarterman, WWALS President. “If we hear about a sink hole or a leak, we’ll be there taking pictures.”

At the Withlacoochee River @ GA 122

Sabal Trail Transmission spokeswoman Andrea Grover said, Continue reading →

Sabal Trail in-service: keep watching them 2017-06-14

There are still many things you can do, from permit violations to FERC reform, after FPL gloated yesterday about starting the gas through Transco, Sabal Trail, and FSC. Pipelines leak, and another pipeline’s go-ahead just got slapped down by a federal court, plus we need to change the whole legal game. Meanwhile, continuing the rocketing rise of solar power in the Sunshine State and everywhere else is the best way to pry the clammy grip of the fossil fuel industry off our political system.

FSC spill
Photo: Mitch Allen

Susan Salisbury, Palm Beach Post, 14 June 2017, Sabal Trail, Florida SE Connection are now piping fuel to FPL,

“The start of Florida Southeast Connection and Sabal Trail Transmission natural gas pipeline operations is an important milestone for FPL customers and Florida’s economy,” FPL president and CEO Eric Silagy said.

It may indeed be a milestone of the last pipeline ever built into Florida or through Georgia.

It may even be a milestone of Continue reading →

Same day FERC lets Sabal Trail turn on gas, Waterkeeper Alliance passes resolution to oppose FERC 2017-06-09

FOR IMMEDIATE-RELEASE

Salt Lake City, Utah, May June 9, 2017 — Friday morning, FERC staff granted Sabal Trail’s request to turn on the gas, saying it trusted the pipeline company to handle remaining landowner issues and “punch-list” items, despite objections from WWALS, Sierra Club, Flint Riverkeeper, and many others. Before noon, the worldwide Waterkeeper Alliance passed a resolution to join the effort to reform FERC; a resolution written by WWALS and Flint Riverkeeper.

All in favor raise your hand

Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers made the motion and Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman seconded; they also wrote the resolution.

Quarterman explained:

“While the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is a U.S. agency, its actions affect the whole world, because much of the gas in the interstate natural gas pipelines FERC rubberstamps is for export.

“Even with Sabal Trail, the fight is not over. The case brought against FERC by Continue reading →

Florida on front lines against Sabal Trail –Truthout 2017-06-08

Includes details of a demonstration tomorrow morning organized by Sabal Trail Resistance.

Alexis Bonogofsky, Truthout, 8 June 2017, “This State Is on the Front Lines”: Floridians Mobilize Against Sabal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline,

Pete Ackerman, 66, and Kaithleen Hernandez, 21, sit together in a small house in Dunnellon, Florida, with maps and documents splayed out on the walls and the tables around them. They are planning a demonstration for June 9, 2017, which will take place at a large industrial gas compression facility called the Central Florida Hub Compression Station, in Davenport, Florida, 100 miles south of Dunnellon. Ackerman rented the house to serve as an “action center” for those organizing against the large natural gas pipelines being constructed through the southeast United States. They call it the Water is Life House.


Sabal Trail Reunion Compressor Station
Photo: Mark Skogman for WWALS on Southwings flight, 2 February 2017

“The location of the demonstration on Friday is symbolic,” Hernandez tells Truthout. “It’s where the Sabal Trail pipeline hooks into the Florida Southeast Connection pipeline. It’s where they are going to turn the gas on. This compression station is the biggest one along the route. You can hear it for miles away.”

When: 10AM – 4PM, Friday, June 9, 2017

Where: 6525 Osceola Polk Line Rd, Davenport, FL 33896-9315

Event: facebook, hosted by Sabal Trail Resistance (STR)

Later in the article:

John Quarterman, head of the WWALS Watershed Coalition Continue reading →

WWALS adds evidence, again asks FERC to stay Sabal Trail, revoke its permit, plus do a SEIS 2017-06-05

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 5, 2017, Hahira, GA — Citing the sea change of solar power overtaking natural gas in new U.S. electricity last year, and generational damage to the fields of farmers such as Randy Dowdy, WWALS Watershed Coalition today filed more evidence and reasons to stop the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline from going into service and to revoke its permit. WWALS filed the same Monday that Sabal Trail Friday asked FERC to authorize turning on the gas. Plus WWALS explicitly requested FERC do a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) to take into account LNG export from Sabal Trail, copious environmental permit violations, and especially new scientific evidence about the Floridan Aquifer.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman said: “Such irreparable harm outweighs a few billion dollars spent in error by a few companies.”


And that’s without even getting into risks to education, such as Sabal Trail only a mile from Clyattville Elementary School.

WWALS filed the document today with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). The WWALS cover letter is included below in this message, and the FERC filing is available online.

WWALS wrote in Attachment 1:

“Solar power has actually more than doubled every two years since 2013. Yet FERC only counts utility-scale solar power. Adding rooftop and community solar panels, already a sea change has occurred.

Continue reading →

Suwannee-Satilla RWPC meeting, Fitzgerald, GA 2017-06-05

NOTICE:
SUWANNEE-SATILLA
REGIONAL WATER PLANNING COUNCIL MEETING

Announcement Date: May 8, 2017

TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS AND PARTIES:

The Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council is holding its next meeting for the
Review and Revision of the Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Plan
at the following date, time, and location:

Monday, June 5, 2017
Registration: 10:00 A.M. – 10:30 A.M.
Meeting: 10:00 A.M. – 1:00 P.M.

Fitzgerald-Ben Hill
Chamber of Commerce
121 E. Pine Street
Fitzgerald, GA 31750

For additional information about the Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council, please contact: Cliff Lewis, Georgia EPD Watershed Protection Branch, (229) 391-2410 or cliff.lewis@dnr.ga.gov

Here is the agenda: Continue reading →

Call U.S. Senate Energy Committee about Sabal Trail and FERC violations

Update 2017-08-03: The Senate already confirmed those two nominees. But there are more nominations to oppose and other things you can do.

Update 2017-06-15: On 6 June 2017 the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee forwarded two FERC nominees, but the full Senate has not voted on them, so you can lobby your Senators to vote no.

You can follow up after five people were arrested Thursday protesting confirmation hearings for FERC nominees in the U.S. Senate Energy Committee. The committee hasn’t made any decisions yet, so there’s still time to tell your Senator or members of that committee what FERC or its rubberstamped pipelines have done, so they can refuse to confirm any nominee who does not vow to turn FERC away from more pipelines and towards sun, wind, and a smart grid.


Photo: Energy and Natural Resources Committee. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee considered the nominations of (left to right) Dan Brouillette to be deputy Energy secretary and Neil Chatterjee and Robert Powelson to fill vacancies on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

They’re also considering a nominee for deputy Secretary of the Department of Energy, which department’s Office of Fossil Energy rubberstamped half a dozen LNG export operations in Florida. You can tell the Senators that you don’t want him, either, unless he will turn to the sun.

You can ask the Senate Energy Committee to go beyond that: it can Continue reading →