Items 2 (new catch basin proposed for Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, WWTP) and 3 (zero lift station spills) have not been published elsewhere. Received Thursday, December 6, 2018. -jsq
From: Tim Carroll
Hey John,
I just wanted to follow up from our conversation the other day. I had a very good conversation with [Utilities Director] Darryl Muse and [City Manager] Mark Barber Tuesday. Here are the highlights:
- We are still seeing way to[o] much Continue reading
WWALS is holding Florida water quality testing training, thanks to trainer Savanna Barry of the Nature Coast Biological Station.
When: Noon (12PM), Monday, January 21, 2019
Where: Pavillion 2, Suwannee River State Park, 3631 201st Path, Live Oak, FL 32060
Event: facebook, meetup; don’t forget to RSVP.
RSVP: If you want to be trained, please let us know in advance so we can be sure to have enough materials; please use this google form.
Fee: No fee. But SRSP does charge a $5 entrance fee. Feel free to make a donation to WWALS or to join, to support our activities and our advocacy such as our Water Quality Testing Program.
If you have been trained in Georgia, Continue reading
In the middle of our Okefenokee Campout and Paddle, we stopped at Griffis Fish Camp, with the Suwannee River behind us, to pick the long awaited winner of the fall 2018 WWALS kayak raffle, who is….
Sebrina Mack, of Nashville, Georgia!
Sebrina Mack wins a Sundolphin Trek 10 Kayak, contributed by WWALS board member Bret Wagenhorst at the Berrien County Harvest Festival, in Nashville, Georgia.
We thank everyone who got a raffle ticket. All the proceeds go to supporting the activities and advocacy of WWALS Watershed Coalition.
Here’s the video: Continue reading
Tifton spilled at three locations, adding up to 105,100 gallons of raw sewage into the Little River watershed from the Agrirama Lift Station and from TC Gordon Road, and into the New River watershed at 26th St. & Ridge Ave., upstream from the Withlacoochee River.
GA-EPD data through Sunday, 9 December 2018; see also raw data obtained by WWALS via GORA request.
Thomasville spilled 9,000 gallons into the Ochlockonee River watershed. Macon spilled 2,400 gallons into the Ocmulgee River watershed. Columbus spilled 9,260 gallons into the Chattahoochee River watershed, although exactly when seems hard to determine.
The big winners were Atlanta, still ongoing, and Dekalb County, with a total of 42,260 gallons of raw sewage.
Valdosta, Lowndes County, and Quitman reported no new spills, although many of Valdosta’s spills are still listed as ongoing.
Prominently missing is Albany, Georgia, which Continue reading
The local TV station is keeping Lowndes County and Valdosta on their toes about sewage, while WWALS starts testing and continues urging GA-EPD to tell everybody when anybody spills.
Emma Wheeler, WCTV, 6 December 2018, Heavy rain causes sewage spill in Lowndes County, Continue reading
Another mysterious rise of bacterial counts at Horn Bridge, at Mozell Spells, near State Line Ramp, Withlacoochee River, in the latest data from Valdosta, from Wednesday, December 5, 2018, obtained as usual through open records request.
Yesterday I left a message for Lowndes County Utilities asking if they had any spills. They never called back. But they did report to GA-EPD 35,000 gallons of raw sewage spilled from Madison Highway near exit 11. I hear they sent out a press release which said it was into Bevel Creek, which flows into the Withlacoochee River near the Georgia-Florida state line.
Quitman, Lowndes County, and Valdosta spills, December 2-3, 2018, as reported to GA-EPD Atlanta.
See also the raw data.
Just now I received this from Lowndes County:
Public Notice
December 4, 2017The Lowndes County Utility Department experienced a sanitary sewage spill on December 3, 2018 on Madison Highway at exit 11 near I-75. Untreated sewage entered into a drainage ditch that flows to Bevel Creek. It has been estimated that approximately 35,000 gallons of untreated sewage entered into the ditch during the event and the duration of the spill lasted approximately six hours. The spill was caused due to excessive rainfall. The County is monitoring this situation and is performing all reporting requirements as required by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division and the County’s NPDES Permit. Anyone having questions or comments may contact The Lowndes County Utilities Department at 229-671-2500.
Also, in addition to the WWTP spill Valdosta told the public about, they had 13 other spills, most, like that WWTP spill, still ongoing. Merely the total raw sewage spilled from the ones they have stopped totals 126,500 gallons.
These Suwannee River Basin spills from Quitman, Lowndes County, and Valdosta were not the only spills in this time period: Continue reading
Maybe you’d like to come compliment Valdosta on the sewer system items on their agenda for tonight (see below), and ask them what they’re doing to prevent WWTP spills, in Citizens to be Heard. That’s 5:30 PM, today, Thursday, December 6, 2018, at Valdosta City Hall, 216 East Central Avenue, Valdosta, Georgia.
Nothing is on the agenda about the recent major spill at the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant for tonight’s Valdosta City Council meeting.
However, there are three other sewage-related items: Continue reading
Thanks again to GA-EPD Atlanta for rapid response to a request for an update on spills reported to them. They note that some spills due to the recent rains, including Valdosta’s weekend multi-million-gallon spill, have not yet been reported to Atlanta.
This update does include a spill of raw sewage by the city of Quitman. I wonder, though, was it really 2 gallons? Or did they mean in units of thousands or millions? Also, Quitman is in the Suwannee River Basin, not the Ochlockonee River Basin.
The past two weeks extracted from the GA-EPD update,
sorted by begin date, and with the River Basin column shifted left for visibility.
Posting this data enables some debugging of the data such as Continue reading
When I shared their press release on facebook last night, the best thing I could think of to say was: at least Valdosta told us as it is happening.
But why, Valdosta, why? Seriously, you’re not prepared for rain?
After Hurricane Michael barely missed Valdosta?
After only two months ago Valdosta Utilities assured us all they were prepared?
Map: WWALS, Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.
And in a rain that submerged US 84 near the Withlacoochee River Bridge and washed out Old Lake Park Road you’re telling us nothing washed from the WWTP down the creek that goes directly to the Withlacoochee River? Continue reading