Category Archives: Law

SWFWMD ERP 43046299.000 for 3RT Sand Mine, Levy County, FL 2023-04-19

Update 2024-01-16: SWFWMD and 3RT Sand Mine, Levy County, Rainbow Springs springshed 2024-01-04.

It makes no mention of the Rainbow Springs springshed or its Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) issued by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP).

Collage, SWFWMD ERP 43046299.000 for 3RT Sand Mine, Levy County, FL 2023-04-19

That’s Environmental Resource Permit (ERP) No. 43046299.000 issued to Ryan Thomas for the 3RT Sand Mine on April 19, 2023, by FDEP’s Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD).

Maybe you’d like to mention that to the Levy County Commission before or at its February 6 Levy County Commission meeting.

Before then, maybe you’d like to ask about that ERP at FDEP’s meeting about Outstanding Florida Springs Basin Management Plans 2024-01-23. Sure, such meetings are usually public tellings at which the state ignores what citizens say. But you can use it to build your case for the Levy BOCC.

You can find that ERP in http://www18.swfwmd.state.fl.us/erp/erp/search/ERPSearch.aspx or on the WWALS website.

For more, see SWFWMD and 3RT Sand Mine, Levy County, Rainbow Springs springshed 2024-01-04.

-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/

Chant for the Okefenokee –Jane Ross Fallon 2024-01-04

As Jane Fallon sings,

There is no right way
To do the wrong thing.

Movie: Chant for the Okefenokee –Jane Ross Fallon

You can help stop a strip mine too near the Okefenokee Swamp for titanium dioxide for white paint:
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining

Georgians, ask your statehouse delegation to pass HB 71 to stop further such mines on Trail Ridge east of the Swamp.
https://protectgeorgia.org/okefenokee/#/366/

Floridians, ask your friends and relatives in Georgia to do this, and ask the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) to ask the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to deny the permits for this single point source of pollution upstream of Florida.

Jane Ross Fallon wrote, “I recently won the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. The contest video of my performance did not turn out, and it was suggested I film one myself. John S. Quarterman, Suwannee Riverkeeper, sent me a banner to use. So I made a video with my cell in my house. I didn’t think the sonic quality of the phone was adequate, so I recorded the song on my computer, overdubbing the video. Never done that before. Then I decided, it’s not about me, it’s about the song and its purpose. So I made a more elaborate presentation. Let me know if it works.😏”

Lyrics

Here is Jane’s video of her Chant for the Okefenokee.
https://youtu.be/UQx9eEWbEcI Continue reading →

Meeting: Outstanding Florida Springs Basin Management Plans 2024-01-23

Update 2024-01-16: SWFWMD ERP 43046299.000 for 3RT Sand Mine, Levy County, FL 2023-04-19.

Maybe you’d like to ask FDEP some questions about the springsheds of Rainbow Springs, Ichetucknee Springs, or Madison Blue Spring, among many others.

What does it mean for a spring to be declared an Outstanding Florida Water and a Basin Management Plan (BMAP) issued for it if that springshed is not protected from, for example, a sand mine?

OFS Updates Agenda and Rainbow Springs Springshed

Public Notice

Notice: 27937666
Notice of Meeting/Workshop Hearing
Department: DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announces a public meeting to which all persons are invited.

DATE AND TIME: January 23, 2024 10 AM EDT
PLACE: Webinar: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/240858353506612832
Subject: This is an Outstanding Florida Springs Basin Management Action Plans (BMAP) update meeting to which the public is invited. The BMAPs are the means for implementation of the adopted Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL). The primary purpose of this meeting is to provide information on the nitrogen source inventory loading tool (NSILT) updates, as well as an overview of the 2025 BMAP updates.
Continue reading →

Valdosta city trash, parking lots, ordinances, WaterGoat, and cleanups –WTXL TV 2023-12-18

Update 2024-03-06: WTXL TV report and Pictures: Valdosta WWTP water quality lab ribbon cutting 2024-03-05.

Valdosta is the main waterway trash problem in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida. Which gives the City government an opportunity to fix that problem.

Valdosta trash is not like other cities

Malia Thomas, WTXL, December 18, 2023, Area group pushes code enforcement for dealing with Valdosta’s trash,

WWALS Watershed Coalition is pushing the City of Valdosta to strictly enforce ordinances as a means of keeping the streets clean.

The video starts with WTXL Reporter Malia Thomas pointing at trash in a parking lot. Continue reading →

Fishing Access in Georgia: House Committee Report 2023-12-01

Update 2024-02-28: Navigability in HB 1397 in GA House Natural Resources & Environment Quality Subcommittee 2024-02-26.

Here is the Final Report with Recommendations after four public input meetings and a decision meeting of the Georgia House Study Committee on Fishing Access to Freshwater Resources.

Chair Rep. James Burchett and GA House Fishing Access Study Committee 2023-11-30, plus fishing, fish, boating, and trash

Basically, they want to preserve both fishing rights (and private property rights) while preserving boating right of passage. The Study Committee found right of passage tied to navigability, so its key recommendations are to determine and delineate which parts of which rivers and streams are navigable.

If you know Committee Chair Rep. James Burchett or any of the committee members, please contact them asking for maximum navigability while preserving private property rights. Or contact your Georgia state house member.
http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/ 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

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.”

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

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 →

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.

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 →

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 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 →

DeKalb County, GA, resolution requesting protection for the Okefenokee Swamp 2023-10-24

Congratulations to DeKalb County for passing a resolution supporting the Okefenokee Swamp.

You can encourage your city council or county commission to pass such a resolutin. Local government resolutions help encourage state legislatures to pass bills.

And you can still ask GA-EPD to reject the permit applications for that strip mine for titanium dioxide for white paint.
https://wwals.net/issues/titanium-mining/

You can help save the Okefenokee Swamp, the headwaters of the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers.

DeKalb County Okefenokee Resolution 2023-10-24
PDF

Thanks to all those who got it done. I would name them, but I’m not sure who they all were. Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.