Tag Archives: Cook County

Biomass plant air quality permit application, Adel, Cook County, GA 2021-10-20

Not the same company or location as Renewable Biomass: another proposed pellet plant in Cook County, Georgia.

In yesterday’s routine weekly GA-EPD public advisory of air quality permit applications were two in the Suwannee River Basin: one probably a good idea, the other not so good.

The OK one is by Packaging Corporation of America (PCA) of Clyattville for “Replacement of the tall oil reactor.” Proactive maintenance sounds like a good idea.

The bad one is an application for “The construction and operation of a new pellet mill.” The advisory doesn’t say what kind of pellet mill, but the application is by “Spectrum Energy Georgia, LLC”, so it sure sounds like another wood pellet plant for export to Europe to burn south Georgia trees.

I have sent GA-EPD a request for the complete permit application.

Green Tree Biomass LLC

The address given in the advisory for the pellet plant is “801 Cook Street, Adel, 31620”. The Cook County Tax Assessors map doesn’t know that address, but the only thing located on Cook Street is four parcels owned by Green Tree Biomass LLC.

The Georgia Secretary of State does not list Continue reading →

Water Trail signs planted 2021-05-21

Bobby McKenzie has been busy planting water trail signs, both road signs and at-water signs. All these signs were paid for by a grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA-DNR). There was a cash match, so if you want to help with that, you can:
https://www.gagives.org/story/Wwalswatertrailsigns

Kinard Bridge Road, Adel-Moultrie, andAntioch Road Landings, Cook County Boat Ramp, Folsom Bridge, Hagan Bridge, and Pafford’s Landings

Little River

Kinard Bridge Road Landing

We bought road signs from the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT). GDOT is planting road signs on state and federal highways, but WWALS has to put them on county roads, like Kinard Bridge Road. There are two sets of road signs for each location, for each direction. In this case, for Kinard Bridge Road Landig, the most upstream landing on the Little River in the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT). Continue reading →

Cancelled due to weather: BIG Little River Paddle Race

Adel, Georgia, April 25, 2021 — Because of predicted water level rise and dirt shuttle roads being too muddy and treacherous to drive, the BIG Little River Paddle Race is cancelled.

Yesterday, due to predicted heavy rain, Bret Wagenhorst postponed BLRPR to this afternoon. But today, after still more rain last night, and despite a nice sunny day today, conditions are still not favorable, as described above.

So Dr. Wagenhorst says: “I am officially and finally cancelling this year’s BIG Little River Paddle Race. I hate to do this but paddler safety is paramount.”

USGS Folsom Bridge Little River gauge near Hahira 2021-04-25 09:15
USGS Folsom Bridge Little River Hahira Gauge 2021-04-25 09:15

I think we can all agree safety first. For next year, WWALS and FORB and the park will be evaluating how best to handle this sort of situation.

However, so decisions can be made, One person is in charge of rescheduling or cancelling BLRPR, and all three organizations involved support his decision.

Tomorrow, Monday, April 26, 2021, WWALS has the Banks Lake Full Pink Moon Paddle, to watch the sun set and the moon rise, and maybe see bats. To join us for this leisurely paddle on a flat lake, please be there by 7:15 PM, at Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635.

Friends of Reed Bingham State Park (FORB) is Continue reading →

Spaces are filling up for the Ninth Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race

Update 2021-04-25: BIG Little River Paddle Race is cancelled due to weather.

Postponed due to weather to 2PM, Sunday, April 25, 2021: BIG Little River Paddle Race.

Adel, Georgia, April 19, 2021 — Southwell Medical of Tifton and Adel has become a sponsor of the annual WWALS and FORB race and leisurely paddle three miles down the scenic blackwater Little River in Reed Bingham State Park between Adel and Moultrie, Georgia.

“Spaces are going fast, with only four heats of ten people, so sign up soon!” said event mastermind Bret Wagenhorst, an eye doctor in Tifton, GA, and a charter board member of WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS). “First Prize is $100, and another $200 if the winner beats the record.”

All tickets are $30 online in advance, and you can also rent a boat online from the park and pick it up at the start at Red Roberts Landing. For tickets, boats, and all event details, including sponsor opportunities, see:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2021-04-24–blrpr/

Photo: Phil Hubbard, of Dan Phillips placing second in BLRPR 2018.

You could win in any of a dozen categories, or up to $300 if you Continue reading →

Hutchinson Mill Pond 2020-12-10

What’s upstream on Hutchinson Mill Creek, which joins the Withlacoochee River just upstream (north) of Hagan Bridge on GA 122 in Lowndes County, Georgia?

Spillway, Hutchinson Pond, 16:22:31, 31.0554820, -83.3514000

Hutchinson Pond, in Cook County on Caulie Harris Road, presumably at the site of Hutchinson Mill Pond. Continue reading →

Fun race or paddle for the whole family: the Ninth Annual BIG Little River Paddle Race

Update 2021-04-25: BIG Little River Paddle Race is cancelled due to weather.

Postponed due to weather to 2PM, Sunday, April 25, 2021.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (PDF)

Adel, Georgia, March 22, 2021 — You could win in any of a dozen categories, or up to $300 if you beat the previous winning record time. But you are not required to race: it’s a nice spring paddle anyway! On Saturday, April 24, 2021, in Reed Bingham State Park, between Adel and Moultrie, Georgia, it’s the ninth annual BIG Little River Paddle Race. There will be lunch and a kayak raffle. You can just paddle along this scenic three-mile stretch of tea-colored river on the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail among cypress trees, turtles, birds, and yes, alligators. (Don’t pet the alligators and they aren’t likely to bother you.) This race also has fierce competitors, with one past winner finishing in barely more than half an hour.

BLRPR mastermind Bret Wagenhorst, an eye doctor in Tifton, GA, and a charter board member of WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. (WWALS), said, “After having to cancel last year’s event due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we found a way this year, with staggered heats and limited boats, to try to keep the event within Covid guidelines for outdoor activities. This is a great opportunity to learn about the joys of paddling canoes and kayaks, to see the natural beauty of our region’s blackwater rivers, and to have fun while getting some outdoor exercise with family and friends.”

There are several categories in which you could win, from fastest paddler, one and two person canoe (male and female), solo or tandem kayak (male and female), youngest paddler, oldest paddler, paddler from furthest away, and slowest paddler.

Photo: Bret Wagenhorst, of 2019 First female tandem kayak: Megan Robinson & Lily Robinson, of Tifton, GA.

Dianne Walters, president of Friends of Reed Bingham State Park (FORB), said, “This is a great community event, with volunteers from all around helping paddlers from everywhere.”

Wagenhorst added, “in 2019, the first woman across the finish in a solo kayak was Nikki York, of Adel, GA. And for the first time, a canoe finished first to win the $100 cash prize. It was a two-person canoe of gentlemen from Gray, GA: Continue reading →

Adel spill, 9,000 gallons, W. 9th St. @ Joy St., into Morrison Creek, Little River 2020-12-07

Adel spilled 9,000 gallons of raw sewage Monday, from its sewage collection system, due to equipment failure. Although downstream from that sewage is the Little River between Cook County Boat Ramp and Folsom Bridge Landing, apparently it had little or no effect on the Withlacoochee River.

Adel Spill to Little River

According to the December 11, 2020, GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report,

Adel spill in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report

the location was Continue reading →

WLRWT Road Signs by GDOT 2020-12-10

Yesterday I picked up some of the signposts for the at-water signs for the water trails. The road signs had just come in, and GDOT let me photograph them. Here are two examples:

Two examples

That’s more or less how they will look once GDOT plants them on signposts along the roadsides for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

Pictures of all these new road signs are on the WWALS website:
https://wwals.net/pictures/2020-12-10–wlrwt-road-signs

There are actually two typos, one for which GDOT is reprinting the signs, and another that is not so serious. Can you spot them?

All of these road signs go on the Little River, except this one, which goes on the Withlacoochee River: Continue reading →

Youngs Mill Creek Landing and Ray City Landing, GA 37, Withlacoochee River 2018-02-18

Stew, Sam, and Dave from south Florida brought fast kayaks to the most upstream put-in on the Withlacoochee River. It was a tad twistier and deadfalled than they expected, but after making only seven miles the first day, they sped up all the way to the Suwannee River.

Boats, Leak, Paddlers, River, Yellow Jessamine

Continue reading →

Victory on Georgia Constitutional Amendment 1, and more voting for clean water

Voters in every county in Georgia approved Amendment 1, to dedicate state fees and taxes to their stated purposes. The statewide victory was 81.6%.

There is more work to do, to get the legislature to use this new law to stop taxes from being diverted to the general fund, so for example counties and cities can get more grants for tire amnesties. But now the mechanism is available.

That wasn’t the only good referendum news, and there is more voting for clean water to do.

Victory: 82%
Special thanks to the Suwannee River Basin cities of Adel, Hahira, and Valdosta, Atkinson, Lanier, and Lowndes Counties, for passing resolutions in support.
See also previous blog post.

The other good clean water news is that Amendment 2 passed with 74.5% Yes, also passing in every county. That’s HR 1023: people may petition for declaratory relief from certain acts of this state or certain local governments or officers or employees.

Dave Williams, Capitol Beat News Service, 4 November 2020, Georgia voters pass three ballot questions by wide margins,

The sovereign immunity amendment stems from a 2014 Georgia Supreme Court decision that essentially granted the state blanket immunity from citizen lawsuits in a case brought by the Center for a Sustainable Coast. The group had filed suit alleging the state Department of Natural Resources was illegally allowing alterations to private property in fragile coastal wetland areas protected by state law.

So that’s two victories for clean water by the people of the state of Georgia.

More voting for clean water to do

As everyone probably knows, there are Georgia runoff elections on January 5, 2021, with the usual early voting and absentee ballots. Both Georgia U.S. Senate seats are in the runoff.

A Public Service Commission runoff that was scheduled earlier will also be on January 5, 2021. WWALS has long advocated for GA-PSC to make responsible decisions on power plants and pipelines that affect all our waters, from water levels to coal ash to mercury.

Once again, we urge you to vote for clean water.

As an IRS 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational charity, WWALS cannot Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.