Sabal Trail gas into Gulfstream, 2018-01-1-6

It’s a shell game: much of Sabal Trail’s early January burst to maximum capacity went back out through the Gulfstream pipeline in Osceola County, which sent it to a Duke Energy Florida peaker plant in Intercession City and to Florida Gas Transmission (FGT). Presumably some of Sabal Trail’s peak went directly to FPL, but some of it apparently went through Gulfstream to get there. Yet apparently none of it was needed, since in the coldest week of the winter so far, Sabal Trail went back down to almost zero.

100% above ave: IN Sabal Trail Osceola, out Duke Intercession City and FGT Hardee, Charts

Using data from the various pipeline’s own FERC-required daily information postings, Gulfstream shows “SABAL TRAIL – OSCEOLA IN MP 60.25” suddenly bumping up Continue reading →

Manatee Springs State Park Public Meeting 2018-01-09

Received from FDEP yesterday afternoon (not much notice), Manatee Springs State Park to Host Public Meeting,

CALENDAR ANNOUNCEMENT

CONTACT: DEP Press Office, 850.245.2112, DEPNews@dep.state.fl.us

Manatee Springs State Park to Host Public Meeting
~The public is invited to provide comments on the draft plan~

WHAT: Public Meeting

WHEN: Jan. 9, 2018
5:30 — 7:30 p.m.

WHERE: Chiefland Women’s Club
825 E. Park Ave.
Chiefland, FL 32626

DEP’s Florida Park Service is in the process of updating the unit management plan for Manatee Springs State Park. Citizens are invited to attend a public meeting to learn about the proposed plans for the state park and provide their comments.

Manatee Spring Run

Continue reading →

Flash in the pan, Sabal Trail? 2018-01-06

Where did that gas go for that one day, Sabal Trail? You didn’t do a very good job of demonstrating customers by dropping back to less than 2% Nom/Cap today. Did you break something? Again? Explain to us, FERC: why is this pipeline needed?

January 2018, Operational Capacity
January 2018

Also, FERC, if you did your job, we wouldn’t have to draw graphs like this. The best way to do your job would be to shut down Sabal Trail. Continue reading →

Dead River Sink and Iche Nippy Dip Day 2018-01-06

Reminder: the first leg of the Alapaha Quest has been rescheduled for Saturday, January 27, 2018, so see you at Sheboggy Landing then, not tomorrow.

However, if you want to get out in the cold this Saturday, January 6, 2018, other groups have two outings scheduled in the Suwannee River Basin: Alapaha Dead River Hike and Iche Nippy Dip Day.

Iche Nippy Dip Day

Ichetucknee Springs State Park says: Continue reading →

Informational Postings: Transco, Sabal Trail, FSC, FGT, Gulfstream

Here are links to the FERC-required daily informational postings of the parts of the Southeast Markets Pipeline Project (SMPP), Transco, Sabal Trail, and FSC, plus the other two big natural gas pipelines into Florida: FGT and Gulfstream. Can somebody point me at any Duke Energy Florida (DEF) power plant that is not being fed by FGT or Gulfstream, now that DEF is no longer listed by Sabal Trail as a customer? And since FSC only lists its Martin County power plant, where are all those coal plants supposedly already- or to-be-modernized?

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has a web page for Required Filers, which has a spreadsheet of Interstate Pipelines under the Natural Gas Act XLS updated 11/28/2017, but it’s incorrect, with the listing for Florida Southeast Connection going to the home page for NextEra Energy Resources. So, as usual, it’s necessary to do FERC’s job.

Transcontinental Pipeline Company (Transco)

Informational Postings and map.

Transco, Maps

Operationally Available. Perhaps most interesting is Continue reading →

Sabal Trail admits Duke not customer, ramps up gas anyway 2018-01-04

Duke Energy Florida is no longer in the Customer Index in Sabal Trail’s FERC-required Informational Postings, as of January 1, 2018. Only Florida Power & Light is listed, still for 400,000 dekatherms per day. So what we’ve been saying since November appears to be true: Duke Energy Florida is no longer a Sabal Trail customer, which means there’s no excuse for Sabal Trail to have a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity, and FERC (or the D.C. Circuit Court) should revoke that permit.

Update 2018-01-05: Duke previously said it did NOT need Sabal Trail for the Crystal River power plant Duke is building, and in any case it could get the gas from Gulfstream or FGT if Sabal Trail failed, then Duke bought part of Sabal Trail, then Sabal Trail’s uncommitted capacity dropped by the same amount Duke was supposedly wanting, and now Duke is missing from Sabal Trail’s customer list. Plus most of Duke Energy Florida’s operational gas-fired power plants are being fed by FGT or Gulfstream, and apparently none from Sabal Trail.

Recent ramp in Sabal Trail gas, Postings

Yet Sabal Trail today just ramped up nominated capacity above operationally available capacity. Where’s that gas going, Sabal Trail? Continue reading →

WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting 2018-01-14

Event: facebook.

Meeting Notice
WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting
2-4PM, Sunday, 14 January 2018
Wooden Nickel, 3269 Inner Perimeter Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602

Alapaha Quest, BIG Little River Paddle Race, songwriting contest, festivals, water trails, water quality monitoring, pipelines, phosphate mines, and more.

All WWALS members, especially committee members, are invited to attend, as is the general public.

All WWALS Board Members are expected to attend in person or by telephone.
The more done on the board list, the less time we’ll have to spend on them in this meeting.

Board Members:

* Executive Committee

The agenda will follow closer to the date. If you’ve got something you want us to discuss or vote on, let us know. And come on down! The more the merrier.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Kayak Snowmageddon 2018-01-03

I-10 is closed in Florida, Georgia has declared a state of emergency, overpasses are closed, and a train derailed in Valdosta. Since nobody is used to it, this very unusual snow storm Grayson in south Georgia and north Florida is actually a big problem. Good thing we don’t have an outing scheduled for today, since the Suwannee Riverkeeper vessel is iced up.

Suwannee Riverkeeper Ice, Boats

Viewed from Gainesville, the storm stops at the state line, nevermind what the maps show: Continue reading →

Manatee Springs to Fowlers Bluff, Suwannee River, 2018-02-24

The manatees come in from the cold in February, to Manatee Springs; we’ll paddle from there 8.3 miles down the very wide Suwannee River to Fowlers Bluff, where we plan a water quality testing demo and possibly an oyster roast.

When: 9 AM, Saturday, February 24, 2018

Put In: Manatee Springs State Park, 11650 NW 115 St, Chiefland, FL 32626

Directions: at the end of S.R. 320, off U.S. 98, six miles west of Chiefland.

GPS: 29.4894572,-82.9769455

Take Out: Fowlers Bluff Ramp, 15597 NW 46th Lane, Chiefland, FL 32626. 29.396410, -83.026030

Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Manatee, Manatee Springs
Photo: Scotti Jay

Continue reading →

Staten Road to Langdale Park, Withlacoochee River, 2018-03-03

A leisurely five mile paddle in about two and a half hours through a surprisingly wild section of the Withlacoochee River, much of it actually inside Valdosta, the biggest city in the Suwannee River Basin, on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

When: 9 AM, Saturday, March 3, 2018

Put In: Staten Road Landing, 4556 Staten Road, Valdosta, GA 31605, Lowndes County, GA. 7.1 miles north of downtown Valdosta. Beware: it’s a long rough dirt road access, then a scramble down the riverbank.

GPS: 30.9328, -83.28227

Take Out: Langdale Park Boat Ramp, 3781 N. Valdosta Rd., Valdosta, GA 31602, Lowndes County, GA.

Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

VALORGIS, Route
Map: VALORGIS. White is Valdosta inside grey city limits, yellow is recharge zones for the Floridan Aquifer, green is Langdale Park.

We start in Lowndes County, cross over the county’s expanded sewer and water lines at Bay Branch (those lines head for Stafford-Wright Road). Then the City of Valdosta is on our left briefly before back to county both sides, and Sermons Branch (is that its real name?). Into a Floridan Aquifer recharge zone, passing on our right the Shadrick Sink, notorious for Continue reading →