Sierra Club Sabal Trail victory –Harriet Heywood in Citrus County Chronicle
More about this in Live Oak this Thursday. Harriet Heywood, Citrus County Chronicle, 4 September 2017, Sierra Club Sabal Trail victory
On June 14, fracked gas from the Marcellus Shale began flowing through the Sabal Trail Pipeline despite a pending lawsuit Sierra Club had against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Seems the agency had failed to conduct an environmental impact study to consider the climate impacts of the project.
WWALS members Harriet Heywood and Maxine Connor holding the Suwannee Riverkeeper banner, Dunnellon, Florida, 28 January 2017. Picture by John S. Quarterman for WWALS.On Aug. 22, a federal appeals court denied the Southeast Market pipeline and Sabal Trail project approval, since FERC did not do the requisite climate study.
Turns out there are still Continue reading
The Three Stooges Greatest Sabal Fails at Dunnellon
To see Sabal Fail in inaction at Dunnellon, jump to The Dunnellon odorant leaks, where the pipeline stooges wrapped it in towels, sprayed a deodorant, and waited until morning. Really, according to the incident report from Marion County Fire Rescue. It doesn’t get better in this summary: none of the state or federal permitting or safety agencies did anything, leaving Marion County to deal with the situation unassisted.
If you want to know some background, see also Continue reading
Bradford County, FL Comprehensive Plan 2012-04-19
Apparently you can mine almost anywhere in Bradford County, Florida, according to the Bradford County Comprehensive Plan:
Illustration A-X Bradford County MINING AREAS
That map is about as bad as the one in Continue reading
One Mile Branch Cleanup, Valdosta, GA 2017-11-11
Update 2017-10-29: Meet at VSU CORE.
A first for WWALS: an urban cleanup! One Mile Branch runs right through the heart of the biggest city in the Suwannee River Basin (Valdosta) and through the biggest educational institution in the Basin (Valdosta State University). It has some trash, and you can help WWALS come get it!
When: 10AM, Saturday, November 11, 2017
Where: One Mile Branch, through the heart of Valdosta and VSU.
Meet:
VSU CORE, 1300 Sustella Ave., Valdosta, GA
31698
(This is a WWALS event; we’re just meeting in CORE’s parking lot.)
Map: Brookdale Drive and VSU parking lot
Hosts: Scotti Jay and Dan Phillips
Contact: Continue reading
GA coal ash committee might consider more safeguards
Georgia Power (and Florida Power & Light and Jacksonville Electric Authority) created the coal ash; they can find ways to dispose of it safely on their own land. And if FPL is shutting down coal plants, how about shutting down its Unit 4 at Plant Scherer, which sends mercury into our Alapaha River. FPL bought into that unit decades ago with the same excuses it’s using for the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline now: shutting down a different generating plant, and alleged (now admitted false) need for more electricity.
The Georgia Power coal ash pond at Plant Scherer, seen here in this undated company photo, will be closed over the next three years. Fabian, Liz – Macon
Special to The [Macon] Telegraph
Kristina Torres, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, More safeguards could be considered for coal ash ponds in Georgia, Continue reading
Old Coffee Road, Georgia
The Google map of locations on Old Coffee Road was used by many of the early settlers of south central Georgia, including in the watersheds of the Willacoochee, Alapaha, Withlacoochee, and Little Rivers and Okapilco Creek. It crossed all those and other waterways by ford or private ferry: there were no bridges back then.
Follow
this link for the interactive google map.
The Georgia Historical Commission erected markers at half a dozen locations in the 1950s and 1960, reading: Continue reading
Valdosta has a new Utilities Director
The good news: no wastewater spills from Valdosta since January.
And Valdosta has a new Utilities Director: Darryl Muse, formerly of Ocala, Marion County, Florida.
While at Ocala, Muse handled converting septic tanks to city sewer
and a wastewater plant upgrade,
both to protect springs.
Maybe he will be more sympathetic to people downstream in Florida than
certain officials still with the City of Valdosta.
Having completed the installation of the new Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant and the the force main at the Y on Gornto, Continue reading
#StopETP National Day of Action one day early in Live Oak 2017-09-07
Let’s add #StopETP National Day of Action to our Not so Fast, Sabal Trail: Suwannee and Flint Riverkeepers in Live Oak 2017-09-07.
#NoDAPL #NoSabal canoe by Bill Sagues; picture by Julie Bowand
on the Suwannee River 13 September 2017.
StopETP Coalition, National Day of Action,
Enough is enough. On September 8th and 9th we’re taking action across the country to #StopETP and defend indigenous rights and our water, land, air, and climate.
Sabal Trail is a partnership of Spectra Energy, NextEra, and Duke Energy. Remember who now owns the pipeline company part of that partnership, Spectra Energy: Continue reading
Not so Fast, Sabal Trail: Suwannee and Flint Riverkeepers in Live Oak 2017-09-07
Update 2017-09-01: Add #StopETP Day of Action one day early to the same event in Live Oak.
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman will show four years of Sabal Fail, and the Three Stooges plumbing in Dunellon. WWALS member Cecile Scofield will talk about LNG export all over Florida. Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers will explain what the fossil fuel industry calls the Great Major Victory by Sierra Club, Flint Riverkeeper, and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, and what it means (so far as anyone knows). WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman will lay out what you can do to help stop Sabal Trail and reform FERC. Plus videos.
When: 6:30 PM, Thursday, September 7, 2017
Where: Live Oak Woman’s Club, 1308 11th St SW, Live Oak, FL 32064
Free: There is no admission fee and you do not have to be a member of WWALS to attend. Naturally, we do encourage you to join WWALS today. https://wwals.net/blog/donations/
Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper and Gretchen Quarterman, WWALS Executive Director