Category Archives: Pipeline

19 Questions from WWALS about Leak at Sabal Trail Dunnellon Compressor Station Site

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dunnellon, Florida, July 27, 2017 — Following up member reports of a very strong smell of natural gas on Florida 200 next to the site of Sabal Trail’s planned Dunnellon Compressor Station, which apparently was leaking, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman and several WWALS members took pictures of the site and related locations from the ground and from the air. Today Suwannee Riverkeeper sent nineteen questions to the agencies that permitted the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline, all of whom assured us that pipeline would be safe, even though it appears it developed a leak less than a week after saying it had gone into service. These questions range from what did Sabal Trail report to the agencies to who asked for the smell to be put into the gas to what were the local counties and cities or the public told?

Tree berm

While this apparent leak was in Florida, Continue reading →

Kaithleen Hernandez waiting for her case

Starts at 9am, Suwanee County Courthouse

Rescheduled; details here.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Kaithleen Hernandez case in Suwannee County Courthouse 8AM Thursday 2817-07-27

While many Sabal Trail pipeline protesters’ charges have been dropped, at least one, Kaithleen Hernandez, has a court date this Thursday morning, 8AM, at Suwannee County Courthouse in Live Oak, Florida. She says, “We are not outnumbered, we are just outorganized.”

When: 8AM Thursday, July 27, 2017

Where: Suwannee County Courthouse, 200 S Ohio Ave, Live Oak, FL

Event: Probation case against Kaithleen Hernandez

Suwannee County Courthouse
Photo: Ebyabe, Dual-licensed under the GFDL and CC-By-SA-2.5

Kaithleen Hernandez was arrested in 16 January 2017 at Continue reading →

News coverage of charges dropped against Sabal Trail protesters

From Martin County, FL to Charlotte, NC, news stories related to the WWALS PR of 16 July 2017. Some protesters still have court cases pending; more on that later.

Bruce Ritchie, Politico, 17 July 2017,

Charges dropped against some North Florida gas pipeline protesters,

On Monday, the State Attorney’s Office in Gainesville said charges had been dropped against 11 and that one case remained pending while two others entered pleas of no contest. The charges were dropped because of insufficient evidence to sustain a conviction, said Jeanne M. Singer, chief assistant state attorney.

The WWALS Watershed Coalition, which opposed the pipeline, issued a news release announcing that the charges had been dropped and criticizing police for the arrests.

“These exaggerated charges were intended to Continue reading →

Dunnellon Compressor Station leak Monday 2017-07-16

What was that strong gas smell on FL 200 Sunday? Several people reported seeing multiple emergency vehicles at the Sabal Trail Dunnellon Compressor Station just west of FL 200, near the Citrus County line, which is the Withlacoochee (South) River.

Dunnellon Compressor Station, 13544 SW State Rd 200, Dunnellon, FL 34432,
Dunnellon Compressor Station, 13544 SW State Rd 200, Dunnellon, FL 34432,

After some time calling various numbers in Marion County (emergency management, Sheriff, Fire, dispatch), the answer is: Continue reading →

Florida Drops All Charges Against the 14 Gilchrist County Sabal Trail Protesters

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Florida Drops All Charges Against the 14 Gilchrist County Sabal Trail Protesters

Valdosta, July 17, 2017 — Eight months after she and a dozen other people were unnecessarily arrested for holding signs on a public road, WWALS member Cindy Noel reports:

“All charges against those who protested the Sabal Trail Pipeline in Gilchrist County, Florida, on November, 12, 2016, have now been dropped, except for those who were intimidated into accepting plea bargains. Karrie Ford, Jodi Wheeler, Panagioti Tsolkas, Cindy Noel, Allie McDaniel, Alayna Erhard, Felicia Sobieski, Jordan Lacie, Josh Weber, and Nicole Williams were all facing Felony Trespassing on a Construction Site and Disorderly Conduct charges for speaking out against the Sabal Trail Pipeline. The reason cited by the State of Florida when it filed its NOLLE PROSEQUI action was “Insufficient Evidence to Sustain a Prosecution.”

Standing protesters and water truck
Photo: Cindy Noel. Left to right: David Hensley, Josh Birmingham, Michael Roth (not arrested, left early), Jodi Wheeler, Alayna Erhard, Stephan Barron, Karrie Ford, Felicia Sobieski, Allie McDaniel, Josh Weber, Jordan Lacie, Nicole Williams

“These exaggerated charges were intended to Continue reading →

Charges dropped against Gilchrist County Sabal Trail protestors 2017-07-14

Eight months after she was arrested for holding a sign on a public road right of way, Cindy Noel learned today the charges have been dropped by the state for “INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE TO SUSTAIN A CONVICTION”:

Case Action Report: Nole Prosequi

I asked Cindy if she minded if I blog this. She answered: Continue reading →

Sabal Trail starts stagecoach line in an electric car world 2017-07-05

Let me fix some typos in Sabal Trail’s PR of yesterday, Sabal Trail Transmission Project Placed In-Service: New Pipeline System Increases the Reliability and Diversity of the Southeast U.S. Natural Gas Infrastructure.

Corrected headline: Sabal Trail starts stagecoach line in an electric car world.


Apologies to the 1877 Omaha Herald and True West.

Adding a third natural gas pipeline merely makes Florida even more than 60% dependant on natural gas, as Sierra Club Alabama, Georgia, and Florida pointed out three years ago. The people of Florida voted for solar power twice last year. Yet Sabal Trail is wasting $3 or $4 billion on Continue reading →

FERC down to 1 Commissioner, and you can help keep it without a quorum

On the way out before her last day at FERC Friday, Collete D. Honorable said “Bring on more renewables”. So why didn’t she do anything in the 2.5 years she was a FERC Commissioner? Oh, right, that’s forbidden at FERC; witness former FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff who predicted in 2013 that more U.S. electricity would come from solar power than any other source within a decade, and he got pushed out the door. Nevermind he was right.


Honorable at an EBA event in 2016 | © RTO Insider
Michael Brooks, RTO Insider, 28 April 2017, No 2nd Term for FERC’s Colette Honorable

You can help keep FERC without a quorum by calling your U.S. Senator to oppose the two nominees so far.

And how about you, the one remaining Commissioner, Acting Chairman Cheryl A. LaFleur? Continue reading →

Support the Clean Water Act for our rivers and aquifer

This Fourth of July holiday, you can help promote continued independence of clean water by opposing the EPA’s attempt to repeal the Clean Water Rule and then undermine the Clean Water Act. FLoridians in the seven counties that have asked the EPA to do something about Valdosta’s wastewater: here’s your chance to make sure the EPA can still do anything. Georgians who don’t want coal ash in landfills or industrial waste in our waters: you can help save the Clean Water Act. Everybody in the Suwannee River Basin: the water we drink from the Floridan Aquifer interchanges with surface waters, and we need the EPA to help protect all those waters.

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