WWALS files fresh challenge to Sabal Trail with FL-DEP –Gainesville Sun

Yep, we created a Florida subsidiary, and lots of new members joined WWALS in order to get listed in the amended petition (PDF).

Chris Curry, Gainesville Sun (also Ocala StarBanner, and Energy Global World Pipelines), 1 September 2015, Natural gas pipeline permit challenged,

Two weeks after the Florida Department of Environmental Protection rejected a Georgia group’s petition to challenge a DEP permit for the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline, the WWALS Watershed Coalition — an advocacy group focused on the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little and Upper Suwannee rivers in Georgia and Florida — has filed another petition.

The DEP general counsel will now review this petition and decide whether to allow it to proceed to the state Division of Administrative Hearings.

The story notes DEP claimed WWALS hadn’t dotted enough is and crossed enough ts, but now we have: Continue reading →

Valdosta rains sewage down Sugar Creek into Withlacoochee River 2015-08-28

Valdosta can’t blame this one on rain upstream: it fell directly on Valdosta, and once again the same Meadowbrook Drive neighborhood that’s been getting doused in sewage since 2009 saw it surging out of a manhole, after three other streets got it. Valdosta says it reported all this to GA-EPD, but good luck finding it (or anything else) on EPD’s website. Once again Valdosta on its own website didn’t even say which river Sugar Creek dumps into, US 41 (North Valdosta Road), Withlacoochee River but Florida figured it out, and ain’t happy. The Florida Department of Health advisory is findable, and news media and SRWMD picked that up. Maybe Valdosta’s ongoing force main project will fix these overflows: bids were requested earlier that same month for more parts of that project. Maybe Valdosta could try to explain itself better in its own press releases?

Valdosta News, 29 August 2015, Update: Overflows Stopped, Continue reading →

No need for this pipeline. Solar power is what we should be doing. –WWALS on WCTV 2015-08-28

As we prepared to put in at US 84 to paddle up the Withlacoochee River to the proposed Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline crossing, WCTV interviewed us, and indeed she picked out the main point.

Update 2015-08-31: I’m told people did see this story live on air on WCTV.

Winnie Wright, WCTV, 28 August 2015, WWALS Watershed Coalition Files Petition Against Pipeline,

Hamilton County, FL—WWALS Watershed Coalition filed an amended petition Friday, opposing the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s intent to issue a building permit for a 36-inch natural pipeline under the Suwannee River in Florida.

“The combination of all this opposition, what we of course want to do is to stop the pipeline”, says John Quarterman, with WWALS. “There’s no need for this pipeline. Solar power is what we should be doing.”

Some of the other opposition I referred to was Continue reading →

Pictures: Withlacoochee River and Sabal Trail @ US 84 2015-08-28

A paddle so brief we went past and had to float back WWALS at the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline crossing 30.7955398, -83.4526749 down the Withlacoochee River to where the Sabal Trail pipeline proposes to cross.

Winnie Wright of WCTV interviewed us at the US 84 bridge median while we were preparing to put in; don’t know if it aired.

Update 2015-08-28: WCTV story online.

See previous post for pictures of the put-in. It has everything: steep rocks, thorny Smilax vines, poison ivy, and wasp stings! Yes, this is Continue reading →

FSI Requests comprehensive groundwater nitrate sampling in Alachua and Gilchrist Counties

Not sure why FSI didn’t put this on their website, but here it is, both PDF and HTML below.

-jsq

FLORIDA SPRINGS INSTITUTE REQUESTS COMPREHENSIVE GROUNDWATER NITRATE SAMPLING IN ALACHUA AND GILCHRIST COUNTIES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FSI requests page 1 Contact: Dr. Robert Knight
Director,
Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute
386-462-1003

August 28, 2015, GAINESVILLE, FL — On Thursday, Dr. Robert Knight, Director of the Howard T. Odum Florida Springs Institute called for a comprehensive, area-wide groundwater nitrate sampling effort by state and local governments, especially in the karst areas of Alachua and Gilchrist counties. Dr. Knight’s call for action comes after Continue reading →

Rained out: Banks Lake Outing cancelled 2015-08-29

Expedition leader Chris Mericle conferred with John at Banks Lake Outdoors, Intellicast: South Georgia and they agree nobody wants boaters on Banks Lake in a thunderstorm, so tonight’s outing is cancelled. You probably figured that out already anyway, what with rain for an hour or more now and a 70% chance of thundersshowers at 7PM.

Chris would like to reschedule for Continue reading →

test post

300x223 WWALS Logo 2015, in WWALS Logo, by Scott Beasley, for WWALS.net, 27 August 2015

300×223 WWALS Logo 2015, in WWALS Logo, by Scott Beasley, for WWALS.net, 27 August 2015,
Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, upper Suwannee

Will it go to facebook and twitter?