Last in before FERC closed 5PM Wednesday for the holidays was
local geologist Don Thieme, commenting about our Withlacoochee
River and the fragile karst limestone that underlies it, among other concerns.
It’s likely that FERC will continue accepting comments and motions
to intervene after yesterday’s deadline.
Filed with FERC 24 December 2014 as
Accession Number: 20141224-5109
“Comment of Donald M. Thieme in Docket(s)/Project(s) CP15-17-000 Submission Date: 12/24/2014”,
Donald M. Thieme, Valdosta, GA.
As a local resident and head of household in Lowndes County, I have
concerns about the rights of landowners to continue agriculture and
other economically productive uses which may be incompatible with
the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline. I have also heard many concerns
voiced regarding loss of property value, particularly where new pipe
may be laid on land which presently has no existing line. As a
professional geologist, however, Continue reading →
The project’s stated purpose in the EA is “economic development,” as part of the Governor’s Road Improvement Program created in the 1980s. See EA at 4. The NEPA regulations promulgated by the Council on Environmental Quality (“CEQ”) require agencies to examine the indirect impacts of projects — those growth-inducing impacts caused by a project, such as changes in land use and development patterns. 40 C.F.R. § 1508.8(b). Yet over and over, when purporting to examine the project’s potential for indirect impacts on various natural resources, the EA repeats, “The proposed project is not expected to precipitate substantial development along the corridor.”
