Come learn about coal ash and
bills in the Georgia legislature right now.
Rev. Deacon Leeann Culbreath
of
Georgia Interfaith Power & Light (GIPL)
has organized two meetings,
in Tifton and Valdosta.
WWALS will be speaking at each of these meetings.
Category Archives: Aquifer
Cooperative Coalition for Change in Winter Park, Florida
Tomorrow in Winter Park near Orlando, the Cooperative Coalition for Change (CCC),
a new group formed by Alaina Marshall, will have its first semi-annual meeting.
I’ll be talking about
how solar power is here right now, even FPL admits
Sabal Trail is not needed, and how working together about this and much
bigger problems with our waters in the Floridan Aquifer, rivers, springs, and swamps
is much better than everybody trying to go it alone.
When: 6:30-9PM Monday February 20, 2017
Where: 116 S Semoran Blvd, Winter Park, Florida 32792
Event: facebook
CCC member organizations, affliate organizations, and all members of the community are welcome. This is Continue reading
Five water items at Lowndes County Commmision + a board appointment @ LCC 2017-02-14
If you care about water and sewage and water quality in wells and rivers,
many county commission and city council decisions affect all of those.
Here are some examples this week from the Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
which represents the most populous county in the Suwannee River Basin,
upstream from Florida.
Also, WWALS board member Phil Hubbard was appointed to Continue reading
Only Valdosta and Tifton spilled sewage in Georgia in Suwannee River Basin in January 2017
GA-EPD’s Atlanta office sent
their entire sewage spill database for January 2017 in response to an open records request from WWALS.
For the Suwannee River Basin,
I see only the known ones by Valdosta, plus a spill from Moultrie’s
Carlton Woods Lift Station into the Ocholockonee River,
with 36000 gallons, which matches
the amount we got directly from Moultrie.
That Ochlockonee spill is still not in the Suwannee River Basin.
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) Southwest office in Albany handles the other sewage treatment operations in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia, and that Albany office already told us by telephone that they had no reported spills other than the Tifton spill into the New River which I had gotten directly from Tifton. So I think we can conclude there were no other sewage spills into the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia in January 2017 other than the ones from Valdosta and Tifton.
Interestingly, Valdosta with its 2.2 million gallon Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) leak (and three manhole spills) was not the winner. Continue reading
On the Suwannee River, Sabal Trail drill path 2017-02-12
Pipe
apparently not connected at Suwannee County HDD (only
two caterpillars there, and
many odd markings on pipe),
pipe
apparently already buried at Hamilton County HDD,
paddling
on the Suwannee River in between, and
a guard at Sabal Trail’s CR 141 access even after dark, Sunday February 12, 2017 to show a visiting videographer.
For where these pictures were taken, see the Google map.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
Continue readingWide-ranging Sabal Trail opposition article by Molly Minta in The Fine Print
Molly Minta, The Fine Print, 5 February 2017, Rise Against the Machine: In 2013, Marion County residents began to receive letters from Sabal Trail Transmission. Now, they’ve made it their mission to save their land, and stop Sabal Trail.
Photo: Molly Minta.
An oak tree is felled by Sabal Trail construction workers.…
Months before the town considered bankruptcy in 2013, residents of Dunnellon began to receive letters from a company called Sabal Trail Transmission. The letters were an introduction and explained why the company was coming to the area: to build a natural gas pipeline and compressor station. The letters were part of the first step in the process of getting a pipeline approved.
Only landowners within 600 feet of the pipeline received a letter, so not many people in Dunnellon are aware of it. But the ones who are fear it could completely disrupt their way of life.
The pipeline will pass within a mile of the Rainbow River; residents fear Continue reading
Brooks County Comprehensive Plan Workshop
More about that in a previous post.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Workshop, Greater Brooks 2030 Comprehensive Plan, 2017-02-07
First on the list of Areas Requiring Special Attention in Brooks County, Georgia:
- Areas of significant natural or cultural resources, particularly where they are likely to be intruded upon or otherwise impacted by development; such as wetlands, groundwater recharge areas and river corridors.
![/pictures/2007-01-01--brooks-compplan/[Map D-4 Water Resource Protection Districts]](/pictures/2007-01-01--brooks-compplan/small/Brooks_County_Community_Assessment-0091.jpg)
Map D-4 Water Resource Protection Districts
The next workshop for the Brooks County Comprehensive Plan will be:
Thursday, February 7th, 2017
9:30 a.m
Brooks County Commission Offices
610 South Highland Street, QuitmanIn this workshop we will work on the Land Use Maps and Character Areas.
We are inviting you to participate to ensure Continue reading
Quarterman: Sabal Trail pipeline already damaging our area
Op-ed Tallahassee Democrat, today, Sunday 29 January 2017:
Floridians are withdrawing money from banks backing the Sabal “Sinkhole” Trail pipeline, and demonstrating daily from Miami to Jacksonville and Tallahassee, sometimes physically blocking pipeline destruction. Fossil fuel profits do not justify eminent domain takings of local lands nor any risk to our waters. Solar power is cheaper, faster, and far safer.
Image: Electric power generation employment by technology,
U.S. Department of Energy
The solar industry provides more jobs than coal, oil, and natural gas combined. Sabal Trail’s own figures show Continue reading
Coal ash protection legislation pending in Georgia legislature
The Georgia Water Coalition (of which WWALS is a partner) notes the city of Brunswick, Georgia passed a resolution agaionst coal ash 21 September 2016, and legislation is about to appear in the Georgia House of Representatives. There is already TVA and JEA coal ash in the Pecan Row Landfill in Lowndes County, just outside Valdosta, and in WWALS watersheds other landfills likely to be targetted are in Cook, Tift, Atkinson, Ben Hill, and Crisp Counties (see GWC map), all upstream of the Withlacoochee or Alapaha Rivers, and all upstream of the Suwannee River, all above the Floridan Aquifer from which we all drink. We don’t want the utility company coal ash problem exported to our landfills. The companies that produced this toxic pollutant should be responsible for disposing of it safely at their expense without foisting it on the rest of us.
Coal Ash in Your District — Ash Ponds & Municipal Solid Waste, Published by the GA Water Coalition
See also the GWC position on coal ash.
WWALS recommends all Georgia legislators, especially those in WWALS watersheds, join in to prevent further coal ash contamination. See as an example the PR below by Rep. Jeff Jones of Brunswick, which concludes: Continue reading