Category Archives: Politics

FERC makes Hamilton BOCC filing illegible

Does FERC actually look at what counties and other people send it?

Figure 2: LiDAR Map, Suwannee River --Dennis Price to FERC (5 of 8) FERC made the figures illegible in its posting of Dennis Price’s geology report that Hamilton BOCC appended when it forwarded to FERC its site visit request to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

This reminds me of when FERC lost half of Dougherty County’s Sabal Trail resolution and just happened to lose page 3 of Bill Kendall’s letter, the page about lack of need, false pretense, and duress. Does FERC actually care what anybody thinks, other than the industries it “regulates” while they pay all its costs?

FERC Filing 28 March 2016, Accession Number 20160328-0091, “Correspondence from Board of County Commissioners of Hamilton, FL to U.S. Army Corp of Engineers re the Environmental Geology report under CP15-17.” Continue reading →

It’s the most votes I’ve ever gotten on anything. –Neill Herring, about GA House against Sabal Trail easements

Pipeline invaders go home to Houston, signed, Georgia legislature.


Georgia Sierra Club’s Neill Herring and Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers at WWALS Watershed Conference in Tifton, 24 August 2013.

Kristi E. Swartz, EEnews, 28 March 2016, PIPELINES: Ga. lawmakers move to block 2 interstate projects,

ATLANTA — Georgia may be friendly to its own electric utility and natural gas companies, but the state Legislature sent a strong message last week to outside corporations that their pipelines are not welcome here.

Continue reading →

Urgent call against fracking by Sierra Club Florida

Received today.

URGENT! — CALLS NEEDED TO STOP FRACKING BILL — SB 318

The fracking bill—SB 318—is scheduled for a vote in the Senate Appropriation Committee this Thursday, February 25.

We expect a close vote and need your help to stop the bill in this Committee.

If your State Senator is one of the 19 members of the Senate Appropriations Committee on the list below, please call him/her on now. Say that you live in the Senator’s district, and that you vote. Continue reading →

Workshop at VSU, Outings, Movie, and Hike to the Suwannee River –WWALS to Lowndes County Commissioners

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 →

Lowndes County Commission should represent people, not pipeline –WWALS to WCTV

Is less than 50 cents per person in Lowndes County enough to risk drinking water for all?

Noelani Mathews, 27 January 2016, Lowndes County Leaders Vote 4-1 for Sabal Trail,

Interviewing John S. Quarterma, president of WWALS A 4-1 vote Tuesday night has paved the way for the pipeline to run through part of Lowndes County, but some are upset about the Board’s decision.

“They’re suppose[d] to represent the people of the County, not the salesman for a pipeline company from Houston, Texas”, says John Quarterman, president of WWALS Watershed Coalition.

Continue reading →

We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality -MLK

Our rivers, creeks, swamps, lakes, and the Floridan Aquifer are part of that web of mutuality described on the north wall of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in DC:


Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
tied in a single garment of destiny.
Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.

It was the Alabama River they sought to cross on the Edmund Pettus Bridge when John Lewis, Continue reading →

WWALS, Sierra Club and Spectrabusters Partner to Fight Sabal Trail Pipeline

Maryvonne Devensky, Chair of Suwannee-St. Johns Group of the Florida Sierra Club Chapter, organized a “plan of action” meeting held yesterday, 01-16-2016 at Suwannee River State Park, to fight the Sabal Trail pipeline.  Maryvonne said it is time for Sierra Club to partner with organizations like WWALS and Spectrabusters, who have been in this fight from the beginning, in order to have a united front.
Sabal Trail pipeline meeting pavilion at SRSP

Sabal Trail pipeline meeting pavilion at SRSP

Approximately 40 people came out to get more information about the pipeline and to help strategize what steps to take to stop the pipeline.  Attendees included people from as far away as Continue reading →

The future of energy and Sabal Trail pipeline at Suwannee Cuonty Commission –Jasper News

Several Suwannee County Commissioners are studying the difficult and constantly-changing subject of energy, although the Chairman said he had already made up his mind,
Carl McKinney’s droll legend refers on his picture refers to Chris Mericle as “Jasper man”. The map shows sinkholes near the proposed pipeline path across the Suwannee River and the Falmouth Cathedral Cave System. at the Suwannee County Board of Commissioners meeting last night. They did nothing about a further resolution against Sabal Trail, although numerous citizens (many of them WWALS members) from Suwannee County and nearby counties helped discuss the situation.

Carl McKinney, Suwannee Democrat, 16 December 2015, The future of energy: Debate takes over Suwannee commission meeting,

Following the Suwannee County Commission’s decision last week not to formally oppose the Sabal Trail pipeline entering its jurisdiction, the public engaged commissioners in a debate over the future of energy.

At Tuesday evening’s commission meeting, several members of the public discussed with commissioners the advantages of solar power, Florida’s energy needs and environmental stewardship.

During public comment, local resident Debra Johnson asked Continue reading →

EPA chooses to believe Sabal Trail’s intent over Sierra Club and WWALS warnings

It looks awful strange when EPA chooses to name and believe Florida Audubon, which agrees with Sabal Trail, but doesn’t even name Sierra Club, when discounting SC’s much larger concerns. Why should EPA, or we, believe Sabal Trail’s “intent” when Sabal Trail’s parent company, Spectra Energy, has repeatedly not even followed federal law or its own corporate procedures?

Addresses Bruce Ritchie, Politico, 16 December 2015, EPA reverses course on several Sabal Trail pipeline issues,

TALLAHASSEE — The U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has reversed itself on numerous points in opposition to a proposed natural gas pipeline that would extend from Alabama across Southwest Georgia and North Florida.

In October, the EPA said in a letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that it had “very significant concerns” that the proposed route posed a threat to the Floridan Aquifer, the drinking water supply for much of the region. The agency also raised concerns about the pipeline’s impact on wetlands, conservation lands, and minority communities in the region.

But in a Dec. 11 letter sent to the Army Corps of Engineers, the EPA’s James D. Giattina said the agency had met with representatives of Sabal Trail Transmission LLC and reviewed the company’s comments sent to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. As a result, the EPA has come to different conclusions on several issues.

The EPA’s change of heart raises suspicions for Frank Jackalone, senior organizing manager for the Sierra Club in Florida.

Continue reading →