Tag Archives: FDEP

FGT pipeline noise, Suwannee County 2018-02-25

It sounded like a jet engine Wednesday evening, said a WWALS member as a pipeline let loose in Suwannee County. (Hear it for yourself in WWALS videos four days later.) Was it a leak? A planned release? A road construction break? We get no answers, just runarounds, from the federal and state agencies that permitted all the interstate natural gas pipelines into Florida. They passed the buck to Suwannee County Fire Rescue. At least Suwannee BOCC opposed the Sabal Trail pipeline and approved a solar farm.

Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS 2018-02-25 of FGT at Suwannee Oaks Drive.

Neighbors preparing to evacuate February 21, 2018, confirmed the location: just north of 208th Street, at Continue reading →

FDEP Water Quality Monitoring Plans 2018

Thanks to Jay Bushnell for the heads-up on this FDEP notice of February 6, 2018:

Impaired Waters Rule (IWR) Notification
The department announces the availability of the 2018 Strategic Monitoring Plans. These plans represent the water quality and biological monitoring needs identified by the department in preparation for basin assessments as part of the watershed management approach.

The Watershed Assessment Section developed Continue reading →

Manatee Springs State Park Public Meeting 2018-01-09

Received from FDEP yesterday afternoon (not much notice), Manatee Springs State Park to Host Public Meeting,

CALENDAR ANNOUNCEMENT
CONTACT: DEP Press Office, 850.245.2112, DEPNews@dep.state.fl.us
Manatee Springs State Park to Host Public Meeting
~The public is invited to provide comments on the draft plan~
WHAT: Public Meeting
WHEN: Jan. 9, 2018
5:30 — 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Chiefland Women’s Club
825 E. Park Ave.
Chiefland, FL 32626
DEP’s Florida Park Service is in the process of updating the unit management plan for Manatee Springs State Park. Citizens are invited to attend a public meeting to learn about the proposed plans for the state park and provide their comments.

Continue reading →

A Resolution Against Phosphate Mines in Florida –Florida Waterkeepers 2017-12-18

Update 2018-12-30: The new organization WATERKEEPERS Florida, as one of its first acts, on December 19, 2018, signed the Resolution Against Phosphate Mines in Florida, thus committing all thirteen of its member organizations.

Update 2018-11-13: Miami Waterkeeper has signed, bringing it to a round dozen Florida Waterkeepers.

Update 2018-08-18: Calusa Waterkeeper has also signed, bringing it to 11 of the 14 Waterkeepers in Florida. (See also PDF.)

Update 2018-08-01: Five additional signers: Suncoast Waterkeeper, Tampa Bay Waterkeeper, Indian Riverkeeper, St. Marys Riverkeeper, and Collier County Waterkeeper. Seven of us delivered this resolution in person to FDEP Secretary Noah Valenstein.

Delivered via email as PDF to the Union BOCC before their phosphate mine workshop of Monday, December 18, 2017.

A Resolution
Against Phosphate Mines in Florida

WHEREAS, Waterkeeper Alliance Members are obligated and dedicated to protect the water resources, citizens’ interests, and related benefits in their jurisdictions; and

WHEREAS, phosphate mines have been shown to threaten and cause actual harm to these resources, interest, and related benefits; and

WHEREAS, there are several phosphate mine projects in various stages of permitting in local, state, and federal agencies including county and city governments, Water Management Districts (WMDs), Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE); and

WHEREAS, there seems to be no public list of current phosphate mines and related facitlities, which include at least

Continue reading →

Pilgrim’s Pride to pay $1.43 million Suwannee River pollution to settle lawsuit by Environment Florida and Sierra Club 2017-11-14

Despite what we heard at the BMAP meeting Tuesday, it turns out Best Management Practices (BMP) are not all that can be done to fix fertilizer nitrate runoff in the Suwannee Rier Basin. “More than $1 million of the Pilgrim’s penalty would fund a program to help nearby farmers reduce their pollution as well.” The Florida Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services (FDACS) could also ask the legislature for further such funding, in addition to recommending BMPs. Congratulations, Environment Florida and Sierra Club, for doing what the state of Florida has not!

Photo: Dominic Gheesling for WWALS on Southwings flight 22 October 2016, Pilgrims Pride, US 90, 30.3648380, -83.1636130

Another chicken breeder is setting up in the Suwannee River Basin, near Quitman in Brooks County Georgia, next to Okapilco Creek, which flows into the Withlacoochee River and then the Suwannee River. We’ll be watching.

Video by Environment Florida, starring Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson (Sierra Club), Jeniffer Rubiello (Environment Florida), and Heather Govern (attorney, National Environmental Law Center), and Whitey Markle (Suwannee-St Johns Group, Sierra Club Florida). Continue reading →

Draft Suwannee River Basin Management Action Plan 2017-11-14

Today, 6PM, in Live Oak, now with draft plan:

To: Suwannee River Basin BMAP Stakeholders
From: Terry Hansen, Basin Coordinator
The Draft BMAP for the Lower and Middle Suwannee River, Withlacoochee River, and associated springs to be discussed at the November 14th, 2017 meeting has been posted to:.

http://publicfiles.dep.state.fl.us/DEAR/BMAP/Suwannee/DRAFT BMAP/
The Department requests that you please submit any comments on the draft document by COB Thursday, November 30th, 2017.

Meeting Reminder:

November 14, 2017, 6:00 PM,
Suwannee River Water Management District,
9225 CR49 Live Oak, FL 32060 Continue reading →

Eric Draper from Audubon Florida to FL State Parks

Noah Valenstein, formerly SRWMD, now FDEP Secretary, has appointed Eric Draper of Audubon Florida to head Florida State Parks. The same Eric Draper who twice endorsed Sabal Trail in writing, and did nothing to stop Sabal Trail from drilling under the Suwannee, Santa Fe, or Withlacoochee (South) Rivers, nor under the Suwannee River State Park that he will now oversee.

Walton Outdoors, Blog, 2 November 2017, Audubon Florida’s former executive director Eric Draper now director of Florida State Parks,

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Noah Valenstein today announced three key appointments to DEP’s leadership team, as part of its continued focus on the protection of Florida’s prized properties through the management of Florida’s world-renowned state park system and land acquisition and conservation. Eric Draper will join the DEP team as the Director of Florida State Parks, effective Nov. 28, and Callie DeHaven will serve as Interim Director of the Division of State Lands effective Nov. 27, subject to Governor and Cabinet confirmation. David Clark, who has previously served as Director of State Lands and has been acting Deputy Secretary of Land and Recreation, has officially been appointed Deputy Secretary.

Aerial west across FL 200, down Withlacoochee (South) River, across Sabal Trail Marion County drill site, and Halpata Tastanaki Preserve. Photo by Jim Tatum on WWALS Southwings flight 7 February 2017.

As Florida State Parks Director, Draper will Continue reading →

Alabama sends email for sewage spills 2017-09-01

Florida does it. Alabama does it. Maybe Georgia should do it: post pollution notices online as they are received, and send out email notices to those who have signed up. That way cities and counties would not have to notify anybody but the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD), and Riverkeepers wouldn’t have to poll each and every city and county to find out what is going on.

See below for the interactive map of sewage spills in Alabama in 2016 by Alabama Riverkeepers, and see also the Florida map I drew from Florida’s Pollution Notices.

Alabama also requires reporters to include latitude and longitude in their reports, and to use an electronic reporting system. Both are great improvements on Georgia’s current methods of telephoning in a number and responding to open records requests with records that do not have GPS coordinates.

Dennis Pillion, AL.com, 1 September 2017, ADEM rolls out email notifications for sewage spills, Continue reading →

Cleanup and Outing: Nankin Landing to Madison Highway: Withlacoochee River 2017-10-14

Now also a Rivers Alive cleanup in conjunction with Keep Lowndes-Valdosta Beautiful (KLVB). You can clean up, or clean up and paddle! Best to bring a rope for your boat: the Withlacoochee River is low, and there may be a few spots of dragging over shoals.

Through KLVB: Call (229)671-3698 to be assigned to Nankin Landing or another location.

Through WWALS: Come on down to Nankin Boat Ramp 9AM Saturday October 14, 2017!

Where: 6899 Clyattville-Nankin Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601, in Lowndes County, 30.675192, -83.394143

Details: See Continue reading →

Florida Public Notice of Pollution

While Alabama is thinking about it (actually, Alabama already does it) and Georgia requires an open records request with slow response (since 2018-12-21 Georgia now posts spills),

Florida has already required and is publishing timely notices of spills, and more recently a map of the most recent 30 days of spills!

Among them, surprisingly few in the Suwannee River Basin from Hurricane Irma: three in Baker and Bradford Counties from The Chemours Company, and two from Camp Blanding.

Follow this link for the interactive google map.

Daniel H. Thompson, Lexology, 4 May 2017, Florida Legislature Passes “Public Notice of Pollution Act” Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

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