Gators, herons, hawks, and a very hard-to-see bittern, all before
Billy’s Island in the Okefenokee Swamp,
on a WWALS monthly outing, 10 December 2016.
A few WWALS videos and many pictures and a google map below: Continue reading
Category Archives: River
Stop Sabal Trail pipeline –Harriet Heywood, Citrus County Chronicle 2017-02-03
Harriet Heywood, Op-ed, Citrus County Chronicle, 2017-02-03, Stop Sabal Trail pipeline
Today Sabal Trail Inc. is pounding a 36-inch pipe under the Withlacoochee River to force-feed us Marcellus Shale fracked gas. The powers who own decision-makers have made sure laws and regulations designed to protect the planet don’t apply to themselves. Twentieth century mindset — 21st century reality notwithstanding, they’ll offer a few hundred temporary jobs, conduct corporate social responsibility PR programs before moving on to other ventures, enabled by government agencies and politicians eager to board the fracked-gas crony capitalist bullet train, while the people, our waters and health are classified acceptable risks.
Mission accomplished while taking land through eminent domain with an unknown (by the public) quantity for export — unsurprising since there are Continue reading
Workshop, Greater Brooks 2030 Comprehensive Plan, 2017-02-07
First on the list of Areas Requiring Special Attention in Brooks County, Georgia:
- Areas of significant natural or cultural resources, particularly where they are likely to be intruded upon or otherwise impacted by development; such as wetlands, groundwater recharge areas and river corridors.
![/pictures/2007-01-01--brooks-compplan/[Map D-4 Water Resource Protection Districts]](/pictures/2007-01-01--brooks-compplan/small/Brooks_County_Community_Assessment-0091.jpg)
Map D-4 Water Resource Protection Districts
The next workshop for the Brooks County Comprehensive Plan will be:
Thursday, February 7th, 2017
9:30 a.m
Brooks County Commission Offices
610 South Highland Street, QuitmanIn this workshop we will work on the Land Use Maps and Character Areas.
We are inviting you to participate to ensure Continue reading
5th Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race with grilling and silent auction 2017-04-29
Update 2017-06-04: And the winners!
Update 2017-04-30: Summary of news coverage.
Update 2017-04-29: Pictures and videos.
Update 2017-04-27: Paddle or Race, Scott James Talk 92.1 FM radio 2017-04-27
Update 2017-04-26: River radio videos: Charlie Walker dried off in time on KIX 99.5 FM for the BIG Little River Paddle Race 2017-04-26 and Video: BLPR and Neighbor Steve Nichols, WVGA 105.9 FM 2017-04-26.
Update 2017-04-25: More river radio: BLPR on The Morning Drive with Steve Nichols, 105.9 FM, 8:15 AM Wednesday April 26, 2017, and you can get a kayak raffle ticket online or at the paddle race.
Update 2017-04-24: Hear about it on the Scott James Talk 92.1 FM radio show 8AM Thursday April 27th.
Back by popular demand! This year plus lunch grilling and a silent auction afterwards: the fifth annual BIG Little River Paddle Race, a fundraiser for WWALS and Friends of Reed Bingham (FORB). Last year we had 34 paddlers, and the traditional winner almost lost! Come on down and you can be a winner, if not first place, in one of many categories.
Where: Red Roberts Landing
31°11’32.0″N 83°31’13.2″W
Rountree Bridge Road
Between Moultrie and Adel, GA
I-75 Exit 41 (at Sparks) to Rountree Bridge Road
When:
8AM-9AM Registration
9:30 AM Mass Start
What:
Canoes or Kayaks Only
Life jackets required of all participants.
Let people know:
facebook event or the Meetup event.
But remember to register.
Registration: Register on-line Continue reading
Quarterman: Sabal Trail pipeline already damaging our area
Op-ed Tallahassee Democrat, today, Sunday 29 January 2017:
Floridians are withdrawing money from banks backing the Sabal “Sinkhole” Trail pipeline, and demonstrating daily from Miami to Jacksonville and Tallahassee, sometimes physically blocking pipeline destruction. Fossil fuel profits do not justify eminent domain takings of local lands nor any risk to our waters. Solar power is cheaper, faster, and far safer.
Image: Electric power generation employment by technology,
U.S. Department of Energy
The solar industry provides more jobs than coal, oil, and natural gas combined. Sabal Trail’s own figures show Continue reading
Walk for Water and Speak for Springs, Dunnellon, FL 2017-01-28
A hundred and fifty people came to Dunnellon, Florida
to walk and speak for
the most important thing to Florida and south Georgia: water.
Her local school board refused to listen to Megan.
We listened. They should, too.
This event was organized by Our Santa Fe River.
These are just a few android phone pictures and videos I took. Stay tuned for WWALS video of all the speakers.
Videos of the water protectors and of the invading Sabal Trail pipeline. Continue reading
Valdosta attempts to come clean about sewage, and how you can help
People keep asking me what can be done to prevent this from happening again?
Valdosta has already built an entirely new Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) uphill out of the flood plain,
and a force main to reroute sewage
around most of the manholes that previously were leaking:
see their extensive writeups on those and other improvements.
This recent event was due to equipment failure at the new WWTP,
and they have the contractors out there redoing that under warranty.
What can you do? Continue reading
Coal ash protection legislation pending in Georgia legislature
The Georgia Water Coalition (of which WWALS is a partner) notes the city of Brunswick, Georgia passed a resolution agaionst coal ash 21 September 2016, and legislation is about to appear in the Georgia House of Representatives. There is already TVA and JEA coal ash in the Pecan Row Landfill in Lowndes County, just outside Valdosta, and in WWALS watersheds other landfills likely to be targetted are in Cook, Tift, Atkinson, Ben Hill, and Crisp Counties (see GWC map), all upstream of the Withlacoochee or Alapaha Rivers, and all upstream of the Suwannee River, all above the Floridan Aquifer from which we all drink. We don’t want the utility company coal ash problem exported to our landfills. The companies that produced this toxic pollutant should be responsible for disposing of it safely at their expense without foisting it on the rest of us.
Coal Ash in Your District — Ash Ponds & Municipal Solid Waste, Published by the GA Water Coalition
See also the GWC position on coal ash.
WWALS recommends all Georgia legislators, especially those in WWALS watersheds, join in to prevent further coal ash contamination. See as an example the PR below by Rep. Jeff Jones of Brunswick, which concludes: Continue reading
SRWMD says FDEP has confirmed river contamination possibly from Valdosta sewage 2017-01-26
Enteric bacteria have been confirmed in the Withlacoochee River,
and in the Suwannee River downstream of the confluence,
say SRWMD and FDEP, while there’s
still no update on the City of Valdosta website
about
the 2.2 million gallons of sewage
Valdosta leaked into the Withlacoochee River and didn’t tell the public about for two days.
Valdosta wasn’t the only city to spill into the Withlacoochee during the recent storms. Tifton did, too, but Valdosta’s spill was more than 230 times bigger than Tifton’s. And city sewage is not the only source of contamination in the rivers: wildlife, agricultural animals, and septic tanks add to it. Baseline monitoring would help disentangle which is which. But nobody is going to believe this contamination this time came from any place but Valdosta.
SRWMD, News Flash, 2017-01-26 (no time given), Health Officials Confirm Wastewater Contamination In The Withlacoochee And Suwannee Rivers,
Madison, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health in Hamilton, Madison and Suwannee today issued a joint health advisory extending the previous advisory for the Withlacoochee River to include a portion of the Suwannee River. The health advisory is now in effect for residents and visitors on the Withlachoochee River and on a portion of the Suwannee River from the point where the two rivers meet, downstream along the border of Madison and Suwannee County to the Lafayette County line just above Dowling Park. The river waters are not safe for contact during recreational use at this time.
Test results from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection water sampling in the area have confirmed high levels of enteric bacteria possibly due to a large spill of untreated sewage reported by the City of Valdosta, Georgia.
People are urged to avoid contact with water in the Withlacoochee River and the impacted areas of the Suwannee River. Water contaminated with wastewater overflow presents several health risks to humans. Untreated human sewage with microbes can cause gastrointestinal issues, disease, infections or rashes.
Anyone who comes in contact with the river water should wash thoroughly, especially hands, and before eating and drinking. Children and older adults, as well as people with weakened immune systems, are particularly vulnerable to disease so every precaution should be taken to avoid contact with river water.
Additional sampling will take place to determine when the river water is safe for recreational use.
Individuals with questions about the spillage should contact Valdosta Environmental Manager Scott Fowler at 229-259-3592 or by email at sfowler@valdostacity.com.
Individual with questions for Florida DEP should contact wastewater coordinator Jim Mayer at the NE District office in Jacksonville at 904-256-1700.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Norman Bay resigns, leaving FERC without a quorum 2017-01-26
After
Trump bumped LaFleur over his head today,
former FERC Chairman Norman Bay resigned from the Commission this same day.
That leaves FERC with only 2 out of five Commission slots occupied.
I would guess that means no quorum, although what does it matter?
The FERC Commissioners only ever rejected one pipeline in thirty years.
His resignation letter is a six-page pat on his own back that never once mentions solar power, eminent domain, landowners, water, river, aquifer, or environment. His biggest brag is: Continue reading