What if a sinkhole develops years later under the proposed pipeline
in south Georgia or north Florida,
and Sabal Trail declares force majeure and doesn’t pay, like FGT
did in Louisiana in 2013?
Numerous news stories are linked in the LAKE blog post, but let’s pick just one.
Winnie Wright, WCTV, 5 August 2015, 150-Foot Sinkhole Opens in Lowndes County Residential Area, Continue reading
Lowndes County Chairman Bill Slaughter says the Naylor Boat Ramp is
on schedule for completion this fall, provided the Georgia Department
of Natural Resources returns the appropriate permits.
At last night’s Lowndes County Commission Regular Sesssion, WWALS president John S. Quarterman displayed the Alapaha River Water Trail brochures, pointing out the Naylor Boat Ramp on the map. He, ok, I, asked what was the status of that project that Lowndes County is building with SPLOST funds.
Nobody answered in the public meeting, but afterwards Continue reading
Update 2015-08-14: Now plus Five Holes caves at Suwannee River State Park!
This flag marks where Sabal Trail plans to drill under the Suwannee River,
pictured today by Chris Mericle, who also pictured
a number spraypainted on a tree and remarked:
I know it is a small thing but, it is this lack of respect for nature that we will be forced to endure if this pipeline is permitted.
With FL DEP proposing to issue a permit for Sabal Trail, let’s go investigate, and have some fun at the same time.
First we’ll look at the
Alapaha Rise, which is where some of the water that disappears from the Alapaha River at its
sinks comes back up out of the Floridan Aquifer.
To get to the Rise we paddle upstream on the Suwannee River,
then Continue reading
The Upper Suwannee River is new to the
WWALS Mission.
WWALS Watershed Coalition, a WATERKEEPER® Affiliate,
applied in July to WATERKEEPER® Alliance to add that new
territory, which was approved 15 July 2015.
Three years ago when WWALS was forming, we decided not to include the Upper Suwannee at that time, because we wanted time to solidify WWALS as an organization in its smaller territory of the watersheds of the Withlacoochee and Alapaha Rivers and all their tributaries. Even then, we put the S in WWALS so it could be redefined to mean Suwannee, so our acronym would expand to Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, and Suwannee River watersheds.
WWALS now asks Waterkeeper to add Upper Suwannee HUC 03110201 to WWALS territory.
HUC is United States Geological Survey (USGS) jargon for Hydrologic Unit Code. Upper Suwannee HUC 03110201 is everything from the Withlacoochee Confluence upstream that drains into the Suwannee River. This 2720 square miles: Continue reading
Most people are opposed to the Sabal Trail pipeline, as the Colquitt County landowner says.
Drilling in our fragile karst limestone
“could potentially carry any contamination down into our groundwater source”,
as VSU Geology Prof. Don Thieme says.
Why should we risk that for profit for companies from somewhere else and no benefit for here?
Atlanta Journal Constitution, Proposed Natural Gas Pipeline Through 9 Counties, Continue reading
The Florida Department of Greenways and Trails now
links to WWALS
for the
Alapaha River Water Trail.
Chris Mericle, who negotiated this for WWALS, says:
This action will shine a brighter and wider light on WWALS, anyone searching the Greenways and Trails website and clicks on the ARWT will be directed to WWALS.
Follow the link to see.
We’re also looking for pictures Continue reading
Canada’s National Energy Board just ordered Spectra Energy to fix chronic
corrosion and leak problems after numerous fines, as did U.S. PHMSA before, yet
Florida’s DEP plans to trust Spectra to build the Sabal Trail pipeline
on top of our Floridan Aquifer, drilling under the Suwannee and Santa Fe
Rivers.
This in the Notice of Intent to Issue Sabal Trail Transmission of 10 July 2015 sounds good without that context: Continue reading
This letter is for today’s Monday 20 July 2015 SSRWPC meeting, at Aniston’s Restaurant, 1404 W. Baker Highway, Douglas, GA. See also the LAKE videos of last month’s SSRWPC meeting. -jsq
Dear Suwannee-Satilla Regional Water Planning Council,
WWALS Watershed Coalition is the WATERKEEPER® Affiliate
representing the watersheds of the Withlacoochee and Little Rivers,
which are in the proposed paths of the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline
through Lowndes, Brooks, and Colquitt Counties Georgia.
WWALS has long opposed that pipeline from Alabama to Florida, which is funded by NextEra Energy of Florida and Duke Energy of North Carolina for construction by Spectra Energy of Houston, Texas. WWALS is an intervenor against it with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on docket CP15-17.
Thirty-day comment periods closing 12 August 2015 to comment on
the US 84 widening project, say
two Public Advisories from GA-EPD Watershed Protection Branch.
One is in
the Satilla River watershed, about
“two existing open water ponds
(outflowing into jusrisdictional[sic] wetlands associated with Lees Branch)”:
those ponds are next to the groundwater-contaminating CSX railyard in Waycross.
One is in
the Upper Suwannee River watershed, about
“three existing open water ponds
(outflowing into jusrisdictional[sic] waters associated with Greasy Creek and the CSX railroad)”.
Maybe the
Southern Environmental Law Center letter
to GDOT and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers got some results,
although these advisories are from a different state agency.
The Upper Suwannee one starts at Continue reading
In April the WWALS board approved a dozen goals for 2015,
reviewed upcoming outings and the since-approved
WATERKEEPER® Affiliate application, as well as the
Valdosta Wastewater and
pipeline situations,
and moved ahead on planning for the since-solidified
Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail Committee,
while adding to a couple of committees.
Here are the Minutes of the 8 April 2015 WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting
approved at last night’s Board Meeting, and videos of that April meeting.
Here’s a video playlist:
Adopted 2015 Goals, WATERKEEPER, Valdosta Wastewater:
WWALS Board Videos and Minutes 2015-04-08
Videos by Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS),
IHOP, Adel, Cook County County, Georgia.
-jsq