It’s the Ides of March for Sabal Trail 6PM tomorrow in Hamilton County, Florida!
All are invited to come hear and possibly speak about
Sabal Trail, which is number 6 on this agenda,
not yet posted on the
Hamilton County, Florida Board of Commissioners website:
AGENDA
Continue reading
BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS, HAMILTON COUNTY, FLORIDA
Room 112 — Courthouse 207 Northeast First Street
Jasper, Florida
MEETING DATE: MARCH 15, 2016
Update 2016-03-17: Your calls are working! Please keep calling: details.
You can help stop Georgia eminent domain easements for Sabal Trail from passing the statehouse! (PDF handout)
Photo: TONY CASSADY, 31 May 2015, in Arkansas River pipeline blowout occurred on Sunday morning, cause still unknown, by Benjamin Hardy, Arkansas Blog, 3 June 2015
Sabal Trail (a project of Houston-based Spectra Energy) is a methane frack-gas pipeline that would run from east central Alabama to south-central Florida. Multiple route choices exist. The company has chosen one, despite massive amounts of public objection, that maximizes the public and private impact. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted a permit for the particular one the company wants, one which that places a large number of Georgian’s private property under threat of (federal) eminent domain, for private profit. The FERC permit process is under appeal by property owners and advocacy groups. The pipeline still does not have several major state and federal permits (water quality, air, and wetlands).
Yet the Deal Administration seeks Continue reading
Sinkholes, springs, and caves abound where Spectra Energy wants to gouge
its yard-wide Sabal Trail pipeline
through the heart of the Florida Springs Heartland, wrote a Practicing Geologist WWALS member to FERC, following up on his
testimony in WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP.
Here is the text of the report by Dennis Price, followed by the images (PDF in FERC accession number 20151027-5034), all about the same area where WWALS board member Chris Mericle recently guided Hamilton and Suwannee County Commissioners to see for themselves. -jsq
Continue readingKMI was already trying to sell off its Palmetto petroleum products pipeline project across coastal Georgia before:
Friday
the South Carolina Senate passed a five-year moratorium on
“private, for-profit pipeline companies’ potential ability to
purchase land against property owners’ wishes”,
That’s two strikes in Georgia, and another in South Carolina. Three strikes, KMI!
But Florida, watch out. Continue reading
Despite being on FDEP’s permit announcement list,
I never got anything about a Sabal Trail permit.
After much digging, the other day I found that
FDEP went ahead and issued the Sabal Trail permit 22 January 2016
(PDF),
conveniently before
FERC issued certificates 2 February 2016.
That FDEP permit was also before the appeal deadline of 15 February 2016 in WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP. They did not copy the petitioner in that case, namely WWALS. They did copy Audubon Florida, which, as you may recall back in October sent FERC a letter supporting Sabal Trail (and then tried to walk back part of it). A letter that EPA chose to mention by name to the Army Corps of Engineers, while not naming Sierra Club or WWALS in opposition. Apparently if you go along with FDEP you get preferential notification.
And that, that’s nothing. FDEP issued Continue reading
Here are WWALS videos of Chris Mericle (WWALS board member) explaining
the sinkholes in the path of the proposed Sabal Trail fracked methane
crossing of the Suwannee River under Suwannee River State Park.
Commissioners and staff from Suwannee and Hamilton Counties attended,
along with many other interested parties.
Both Commissions have regular meetings tomorrow, Tuesday March 1st,
Hamilton County at 9AM, and Suwannee County at 6PM.
See
previous post for locations, pictures, and more names of participants in the hike.
Sabal Trail declined to send anyone to this well-announced hike,
although Spectra has been holding one-on-one meetings with individual county commissioners, or, rather six to one, just like they did
in their “Open Houses” where they surrounded each landowner with six pipeline blueshirts.
Here are links to each of the WWALS videos, followed by a video playlist. Can you spot the Sabal Trail marker stakes, and the sinkholes? Continue reading
Commissioners from counties on both sides of the Suwannee River saw the sinkholes and big oaks and pines directly above and near where
Sabal Trail proposes to bore under Suwannee River State Park and the River,
led by WWALS board member and Hamilton County resident Chris Mericle,
assisted by Debra Johnson of SpectraBusters, Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson of Our Santa Fe River (OSFR), and others from as far away as south Florida.
All but one of the Suwannee County Commissioners were there, and he had a good excuse.
They also saw Falmouth Spring, which is part of a cave system which Sabal Trail claims is 100 feet deep. Both county commissions meet Tuesday March 1st; see below for details.
WWALS videos to come now posted.
You can see Continue reading
On the hike to the Sabal Trail pipeline path on the Suwannee River.
More pictures and video to come. Meanwhile, see previous expeditions to that site,
Following up on
the invitation I gave them in person last week,
I sent this to the Lowndes County Commissioners just now,
addressed to
all five voting Commissioners, the Chairman, and the County Clerk:
Subject: Workshop at VSU, Outings, Movie, and Hike to the Suwannee River
Dear Commissioners,
Thanks again for the continued work on the Alapaha Boat Ramp, which will contribute to the quality of life recommended in the Comprehensive Plan.
As I mentioned at your Regular Session last week, you are invited to several WWALS events coming up soon, especially this one, which requires no boats: Continue reading
Deadfalls on this creek,
backing up flood waters onto Skipper Bridge Road forcing a bridge to close in 2009,
were one reason for the formation of WWALS.
Here are some pictures and a very brief movie.
In a typical day for a Waterkeeper®, starting slow after a road trip to Atlanta the previous day with several Riverkeepers and other environmental organizations, I was preparing for the movie in Live Oak Friday evening when I got a message from Noelani Mathews wanting an interview about the pipeline movie. As I threw a kayak in the truck, the Yellow Dog hopped in, and Continue reading