WWALS at Suwannee River Roots Revival 2016-10-15

Music and advocacy on the banks of the iconic Suwannee River!

Gretchen Quarterman and Dave Hetzel by Leeann Drabenstott Culbreath WWALS outings, rivers, Valdosta wastewater, agricultural runoff, and the issue half the people wanted to talk about was the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline: nobody wants it.

Thanks to Leeann Drabenstott Culbreath for the great picture of WWALS Treasurer Gretchen Quarterman and Ambassador Dave Hetzel, who engages everybody who walks past. Thanks to WWALS member Bret Huntley for camping overnight last night and setting up this morning. Gretchen took the other pictures of Dave and Bret. WWALS president John S. Quarterman took the one of the Shook Twins on the Amphitheater Stage in Spirit of Suwannee Music Park at Suwannee River Roots Revival on the banks of the Suwannee River.

Come on down to these upcoming WWALS events and outings: Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River at Camp Tygart 2016-10-15

KIMG7418 Downstream framed by trees Bring a rope for your boat on the Withlacoochee Trickle in Berrien County, GA at Camp Tygart.

-jsq

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

KIMG7417 Downstream

Continue reading →

WWALS at Suwannee River Roots Festival

At Wanee

More about that. We’ll be there today, Saturday, and Sunday, too. Come on down!

-jsq

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

FSC Alignment Maps from May 2016

Small, big, huge, and PDF versions of each and every one of the 144 alignment maps FSC filed with FERC in May 2016 are available online courtesy of Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

[21040-510-ALS-00132 STA: 6250+00 TO 6300+00, MARTIN COUNTY, FLORIDA]
21040-510-ALS-00132 STA: 6250+00 TO 6300+00, MARTIN COUNTY, FLORIDA
PDF

The map shown here is where FSC crosses SW Martin Highway (FL 141) between Okeechobee City and Juno Beach, Florida. There will be a rally against this pipeline in Juno Beach at FPL HQ Friday and another in Okeechobee City Saturday.

Follow the link for details of what, and how you can help.

For maps of the rest of the Southeast Market Pipelines Project (SMPP), see SMPP.

-jsq

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

Rush Hour Rally at FPL HQ to Stop Sabal Trail Pipeline 2016-10-14

Taking it to the source: the headquarters of FPL, whose ratepayers are on the hook for $3 billion for the Transco → Sabal Trail → FSC fracked methane pipeline boondoggle through Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, Sierra Club and Indian Riverkeeper are holding a Rush Hour Rally this Friday, October 14th 2016 in Juno Beach, Florida; see press release for details. If you can’t get there, there are other events all over Florida and beyond. Remember, FPL admits no need for new electricity until 2024, so there’s no more excuse for Sabal Trail.

At FPL HQ, Juno Beach, FL

The facebook page Protect Florida Against Sabal Trail attempts to keep track of upcoming rallies against Sabal Trail or its ugly stepsisters, which are popping up practically daily. Here are some events scheduled starting this weekend: Continue reading →

WWALS at Suwannee River Roots Revival this week

WWALS Watershed Coalition, the Waterkeeper® Alliance Affiliate for the upper Suwannee River, will have a table at the Suwannee River Roots Revival at Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, 13-16 October 2016. That’s starting 4PM tomorrow, Thursday October 13th.

This is the festival we wrote has roots going back to the 1950s in the Suwannee River Jamboree radio show.

If you’d like to help with the WWALS table, Continue reading →

Naylor Boat Ramp bid twice; probably instead in-house by Lowndes County

All bids for the Naylor Boat Ramp were overbudget even though it went out for bids twice, so now Lowndes County is working with GA-DNR on doing most of the work in-house with county personnel, said Project Manager Chad McLeod at Monday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session.

They have to finish it eventually, because it was in the SPLOST VII ballot referendum approved by the voters of Lowndes County.

WWALS has the Naylor Boat Ramp listed on the Alapaha River Water Trail and we’re already Continue reading →

All 527 Sabal Trail alignment maps from April 2016

Courtesy of Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange, you can now see small, big, huge, and PDF versions of all 527 alignment maps Sabal Trail filed with FERC in April 2016: follow this link.

[STA. 11870+00 TO STA. 11923+00, (UT OKAPILCO CREEK), 11881+44 CL SPAIN ROAD, 11871+70 CL GOLDING ROAD, BROOKS COUNTY, GEORGIA]

Having these maps online like this makes it easier to see what’s in them. Sabal Trail told FERC Okapilco Creek was not among the streams for which the Georgia legislature denied river-drilling easements (and for which Sabal Trail got the easements later anyway by suing the state in county Superior Courts). Yet Sabal Trail’s alignment maps from April 2016 seem to say that fracked methane pipeline crosses Okapilco Creek a couple of times in Brooks County, Georgia.

Here’s one of those times, in which the road names don’t match Continue reading →

Valdosta wastewater and flood prevention public meeting by WWALS 2016-10-27

New WWTP, 30.8327808, -83.3283234 Update 2016-10-23: Seen from the air.

Update 2016-10-19: PDF flyer.

Come hear about the $60 million in wastewater fixes Valdosta just finished, what remains to be done, and what they’re doing about flood prevention for the entire Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida. You can ask questions in this first of a new WWALS Quarterly Speaker Series, and the people organizing this work will be there to answer:

  • Henry Hicks, Utilities Director, about wastewater
  • Emily Davenport, Assistant Director of Engineering, about flooding, and
  • Tim Carroll, Valdosta City Council, about solar power for utilities.

When: 6PM Thursday October 27th

Where: Valdosta City Hall Annex
Multipurpose Room
300 N Lee St.
Valdosta, GA 31601 Continue reading →

WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, IHOP, Adel, GA 2016-10-12

Includes planning for Valdosta wastewater and flood prevention meeting, and final review of application to Waterkeeper Alliance for Suwannee Riverkeeper.

Draft Agenda
WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting
7:30 PM Wednesday 12 October 2016
IHOP, 1200 W 4th St, Adel, GA 31620

All WWALS Board Members are expected to attend in person or by telephone. Continue reading →