
WWALS at The Happening at VSU, Tomorrow, August 25th 2016
WWALS will have a booth at The Happening tomorrow (Thursday, August 25th) at which new and returning students to Valdosta State University (VSU) have an opportunity to learn about both the local community and campus clubs. We will be sharing a booth with Students Against Violating the Environment (S.A.V.E) and look forward to collaborating with them on projects throughout the year.
The Happening is open to the community and we invite you to come an visit us from 1-4 on the front lawn at VSU.
-gretchen
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
WWALS and Sierra Club
WWALS and Suwannee-St Johns Group of Sierra Club Florida are cooperating on outings now, and Sierra Club Florida is holding a Rural Office opening in October.
Continue readingFlorida Springs Restoration Summit 2016-09-30 thru 2016-10-02
In two days in Ocala, FL
learn how to make meaningful springs restoration a reality
in a series of
plenary sessions about current springs science and management
and that delve into the agency, advocacy, legal, media, and legislative
remedies that can generate meaningful springs restoration and long-term
protection.
When: Sept. 30th thru Oct. 2nd 2016
Where: Harvey R. Klein Conference Center
3001 Southwest College Road
Ocala, FL 34474
Who: Organized by the Florida Springs Council, of which WWALS is a member
Register: Continue reading
What WWALS Does: watershed advocacy from outings and water trails to wastewater and pipelines
Water trails, wastewater, corporate agriculture, solar power, fracking, and pipelines: WWALS works with many issues in many ways,
as part of our advocacy for conservation and stewardship through education, awareness, environmental monitoring and activities such as our monthly paddle outings.
Here’s an introduction to WWALS for the many new members and even more people following WWALS on facebook and twitter.
WWALS Watershed Coalition, or WWALS for short, is an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation about everything related to water in the watersheds Continue reading
Judge Gives Sabal Trail Withlacoochee River Easement 2016-07-29
0.03 acres under the Withlacoochee River sold by the State of Georgia to Sabal Trail, operated by Spectra Energy of Houston, Texas, for $5,000, or $166666.66/acre.
That easement must be very valuable to Sabal Trail.
But it’s more valuable to us who live here and swim, fish, and boat on that river
and drink from the Floridan Aquifer.
If we’d known this was going on, some of us might have filed other documents in this case.
Also, I would have thought 666 once would have been enough.
Here are some things you can do to help stop this boondoggle, and background about why this pipeline is a bad idea when there are already more solar jobs than in oil and gas extraction, and Georgia is the fastest-growing U.S. solar market.
Here’s the judge’s final order (PDF), followed by the other court documents in this case: Continue reading
Sierra Club protest at Lake City today 2016-08-18
Sierra Club Campaign Organizer Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson has taken the Lake City pipe yard ball and run with it. Monday she got TV coverage at that illicit Sabal Trail storage yard for 36-inch fracked gas pipe, and today she’s called a press conference and protest there. Plus Sierra Club has filed two legal actions. Here’s how you can help.
Haley Wade, WCJB-TV, Gainesville, Florida, 15 August 2016, New pipeline has protestors,
Continue readingThere is something you can do: you can say no.
Federal permits inflame opposition to Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline boondoggle WWALS PR 2016-08-16
PDF FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hahira, Georgia, August 16th 2016 — There is no excuse for $3
billion down this rathole of a 20th century dying fossil fuel
industry now that there are more solar power jobs than in all of oil
and gas extraction. One federal permit Friday and another federal
go-ahead impending for the Sabal Trail invasion of private property
and wetlands in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama stiffens the resolve
of the rapidly expanding opposition. WWALS Watershed Coalition
(WWALS) has revealed
apparent wetlands violations and
federal rule violations by Spectra Energy, the Houston, Texas pipeline company
that wants
to gouge under our Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers,
risking our water supply for its profit. Sierra Club has vowed to
use
“all legal means necessary to stop this fracked gas
pipeline.” Opposition across Georgia continues as dozens of new
groups joined the fight
a week ago in Gainesville, Florida. News
Friday
of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) wetlands permit has
inflamed opposition across the country to this latest fossil fuel
land and water grab.
Last month WWALS reported to USACE and to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) that Sabal Trail already has Continue reading
Literature boxes for water trail landings
Eventually we want kiosks like at state parks, but we’re toying with these
as temporary measures for
the dozen landings of the
Alapaha River Water Trail and the two dozen landings of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.
That’s a realtor information box that holds 8.5×11″ paper, bought for $13 at Lowe’s, on a plain old 5-foot steel electric fence post, about $3.50 from various sources such as Tractor Supply, easily installable with a bazooka, er, I mean a $25 Post Driver.
Smaller boxes, such as 5.5″ wide, are available for $6 each or less. So that’s a total of $10-20 for each sign and post. WWALS has money to pay for some of these to start
Now we could use permission from the various county and state agencies to install the signs.
Or funding from counties, chambers, or the like for building and installing kiosks. Those are more expensive, more like $1,000 each. However, with local labor (school class project?) they could cost a lot less, and even less if parts were donated.
Fortunately, many of the landings in Florida already have kiosks supplied by their local counties. But most of the landings are in Georgia, and few of them have kiosks.
-jsq
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
USACE refuses Madison County’s request for a Sabal Trail SEIS 2016-07-29
They didn’t even bother to fill in the year on the date, and “File with original letter”. Here’s what the Corps wrote (PDF) in response to Madison County’s request for a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS) about Sabal Trail.
File with
original letterDEPARTMENT or THE ARMY
JACKSONVILLE DISTRICT CORPS 0F ENGINEERS
POST OFFICE BOX 4970
JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA 32232-0019July 29, 201
Reply to attention of
Regulatory Division
North Permits Branch
Jacksonville Permits Section
SAJ-2013-03030Madison Board of County Commissioners
Attn: Mr. Brian Kauffman, County Coordinator
Post Office Box 539
Madison, Florida 32341Dear Mr. Kauffman:
Please accept this correspondence as Continue reading