More speakers against FERC here.
Category Archives: Aquifer
Water and family farms more precious than Sabal Trail Sinkhole Pipeline: citizens to FERC in Moultrie 2015-09-29
“Water is our most precious commodity, not pipelines, not Sabal Trail,”, said
WWALS member
Alton Burns, and both
he and WWALS president
John S. Quarterman spoke twice, about safety, water, conflicts of interest, the Floridan Aquifer, lack of transparency, Okapilco Creek, the Withlacoochee River, and the Suwannee River, all of which Sabal Trail is trying to drill under.
Local landowners were the most blunt: the FERC process is
a farce
and
a hoax,
they said.
See for yourself in these
LAKE videos from Moultrie last night.
But it’s still important for you to come speak up, to be on the record, so the news media will hear, and so your neighbors will hear. The FERC meetings continue tonight in Valdosta and Continue reading
WWALS on Chris Beckham radio show 105.9 FM Wednesday 2015-09-30
The FERC circus in Valdosta Wednesday, Kayaktivism on the Withlacoochee River Saturday, reprinting Alapaha River Water Trail brochures,
the new Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail, and
WWALS v. Sabal Trail & FL-DEP in Jasper (or Live Oak) 19-22 October 2015:
these are some of the topics WWALS president John S. Quarterman will talk about on the air.
When: 8AM Wednesday October 30th 2015
Where: Continue reading
Florida Well Salinity Study
Update 2017-05-18: Salt water intrusion inland is worse than you think, including the “Apalachicola salinity feature” up to the GA-FL line and east through Lowndes County, with a special additional brackish Valdosta feature. See Revised Hydrogeologic Framework of the Floridan Aquifer System 2016-03.
Update 2016-02-22: Fixed URLs for DEP files.
Salt water and other solids are coming up in Florida wells far inland from the sea,
right up to the state line, and it probably doesn’t stop there.
The problem is worse on the coasts and in south Florida, but
north central Florida is not immune, judging by these
preliminary maps by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
Likely culprits would seem to include overpumping. Continue reading
Sabal Trail exposed in Jasper News
The closest FERC meeting is actually in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 30 September 2015. And remember, sinkholes don’t matter, says FERC.
Amber Vann, Jasper News, 24 September 2015,
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Sabal’s proposed pipeline impact ‘less than significant’ on environment,
According to the EIS, “constructing and operating the Sabal Trail Project in South Georgia/North Florida could induce sinkhole development, alter spring characteristics and impact local groundwater flow and quality.” However, the study finds that Sabal Trail’s proposed impact minimization measures and construction methods would cause the project to not “significantly impact karst terrain, springs or the Floridian aquifer.”
The EIS goes on to state the Floridian aquifer is the “most productive aquifer Continue reading
Soon down to the wire to oppose Sabal Trail invasion
The fracking that drives new pipelines was a crime until ten years ago, and it should be again: injecting poisons into the ground under our water supply was always a bad idea.
Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson and Jim Tatum, Suwannee Democrat, 14 September 2015,
The FERC flexes its muscles on Sabal Trail,
The time frame is coming down to the wire as to Sabal Trail and its invasion of our riverbeds and springs systems. They have met with nothing but negative comments throughout Georgia and Florida. People have turned out in droves to express their dissent. In spite of this, they move onward with their plan to install a 36” pipeline under the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers, and through the center of this fragile spring system. Our springs heartland is a regional identity unlike any in the world, but vulnerable to developers and oil and gas companies.
Many environmental groups have been active in resisting. Our Santa Fe River Inc. was consistently Continue reading
GA-EPD plans to certify Sabal Trail within 30 days unless public comments; ditto USACE
People can request a hearing by the state of Georgia or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
to stop GA-EPD or the USACE
from rubberstamping
Sabal Trail’s use of wetlands within 30 days from Friday.
USACE explicitly asks for public comments on
“cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest”,
unlike
FL-DEP’s attempts to narrow the issue.
Presumably this includes crossings of the Chattahoochee, Flint, Ochlockonee, and Withlacoochee Rivers in Georgia (and the Suwannee, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee (south) Rivers in Florida and other rivers in Alabama), although
this USACE Jacksonville office public notice
about the Clean Waters Act and the
Rivers and Harbors Act
doesn’t specify.
It was released Friday September 11th
just like the one USACE Mobile District released that same day on
Proposed Discharge of Sabal Trail Fill Material.
Apparently you can ask for a public hearing by USACE in Alabama or Florida
as well as in Georgia.
Here’s the Jacksonville USACE public notice: Continue reading
Sabal Trail right in the middle of the most vulnerable area of the Floridan Aquifer –John S. Quarterman for WWALS on Chris Beckham radio show 2015-08-31
The main point:
“I’ve got an independent route: let’s cancel this pipeline, and the Sunshine State should go directly to solar power.”
Here’s the video: Continue reading
Sabal Trail in most vulnerable area of the Floridan Aquifer –Orlando Sentinel
Orlando is just as affected as the Suwannee River by risks of the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline proposed by Spectra Energy of Houston, Texas. You can protest to FL-DEP, FERC, and your local, state, and federal elected and appointed officials, and to the news media.
Mary Shanklin, Orlando Sentinel, 9 September 2015, Natural-gas pipeline to Florida draws environmental concerns,
The Sabal Trail Pipeline has drawn opposition from a Florida group affiliated with WWALS Watershed Coalition Inc., which is based in Georgia. A chief concern is that the pipeline could impact Florida waterways and the drinking-water supply, said John S. Quarterman, director of the Florida and Georgia WWALS groups.
This is according to evidence FL-DEP itself sent to FERC in March 2014, showing the proposed pipeline path going through the most vulnerable area of the Floridan Aquifer, which as you can see on the map they included continues down to Orlando. Continue reading
WWALS cites dangers to environment and conflict of interest against Sabal Trail –Miami Herald via Florida Bulldog
A major Miami newspaper picked up a Florida Bulldog story after a week. Meanwhile, CBS Miami covered FL-DEP asking for an administrative law judge. And see previous post for what’s safer than any pipeline: solar power, ready now for the Sunshine State.
Dan Christensen, Miami Herald, 6 September 2015, Pipeline foes ask DEP to deny key permit, cite ‘conflict of interest’ by Gov. Rick Scott,
Opponents of a proposed natural gas pipeline in North Florida are asking Florida regulators to reject the project, citing both dangers to the environment and a “conflict of interest” by the regulators’ boss, Gov. Rick Scott.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced in July its intention to award a crucial environmental permit and rights to drill beneath riverbeds that would allow Houston-based Spectra Energy to construct the controversial, $3 billion Sabal Trail Transmission.
State records show Spectra Energy’s investors have included Scott.
Continue reading