Update 2026-10-03: Clean Alapaha, Withlacoochee, Santa Fe Rivers before rains 2026-10-02.

Update 2026-09-27: Why spoiled milk into Lakeland oxidation pond? 2026-06-12.

Two days after the dirty milk water spill on US 84 into the Bowen Mill Pond branch of Pride Branch, the downstream landowner wrote on September 25, 2026:

I have kept a close eye on this branch, the deep Purdue Sinks, pond at River of Hope all fed from Pride branch and so far I’ve not noticed any physical impact on these waters from the dirty milk spill.

Apparently no effect 2026-09-25, of dirty milk water spill 2026-09-23, downstream to Pride Branch, upstream of Piscola and Okapilco Creeks

Of course there could be effects that are not visible. Milk could change the dissolved oxygen (DO) in the water, but apparently it did not do that enough to cause a fish kill, which would be noticeable.

Bob Gufford owns the property outlined in yellow in the map above from the Brooks County Tax Assessors.

The spill was on US 84 at Refuge of Hope, seen in the left of the map, into the pond Bob mentions, then through the branch that runs along his south property line, into Pride Branch proper, which is on the right of the map.

I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing the Purdue Sinks are the depressions south of the triangle property, even more visible in this Google Earth Pro map from March 11, 2026, when water levels were even lower than now.

Notice what appears to be another sinkhole in the field north of US 84, on the left of the map. Continue reading →