There’s been an outcry for the EPA to intervene, from people
downstream of Valdosta on the Withlacoochee and
Suwannee Rivers.
Representing Hamilton, Suwannee, Columbia, and Baker Counties
in the Florida statehouse,
FL Rep. Elizabeth Porter [R-10]
has taken up that cry.
In the current political climate of the EPA being downsized after it already was underfunded, Continue reading
People keep asking me what can be done to prevent this from happening again?
Valdosta has already built an entirely new Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) uphill out of the flood plain,
and a force main to reroute sewage
around most of the manholes that previously were leaking:
see their extensive writeups on those and other improvements.
This recent event was due to equipment failure at the new WWTP,
and they have the contractors out there redoing that under warranty.
What can you do? Continue reading
Enteric bacteria have been confirmed in the Withlacoochee River,
and in the Suwannee River downstream of the confluence,
say SRWMD and FDEP, while there’s
still no update on the City of Valdosta website
about
the 2.2 million gallons of sewage
Valdosta leaked into the Withlacoochee River and didn’t tell the public about for two days.
Valdosta wasn’t the only city to spill into the Withlacoochee during the recent storms. Tifton did, too, but Valdosta’s spill was more than 230 times bigger than Tifton’s. And city sewage is not the only source of contamination in the rivers: wildlife, agricultural animals, and septic tanks add to it. Baseline monitoring would help disentangle which is which. But nobody is going to believe this contamination this time came from any place but Valdosta.
SRWMD, News Flash, 2017-01-26 (no time given), Health Officials Confirm Wastewater Contamination In The Withlacoochee And Suwannee Rivers,
Madison, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health in Hamilton, Madison and Suwannee today issued a joint health advisory extending the previous advisory for the Withlacoochee River to include a portion of the Suwannee River. The health advisory is now in effect for residents and visitors on the Withlachoochee River and on a portion of the Suwannee River from the point where the two rivers meet, downstream along the border of Madison and Suwannee County to the Lafayette County line just above Dowling Park. The river waters are not safe for contact during recreational use at this time.
Test results from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection water sampling in the area have confirmed high levels of enteric bacteria possibly due to a large spill of untreated sewage reported by the City of Valdosta, Georgia.
People are urged to avoid contact with water in the Withlacoochee River and the impacted areas of the Suwannee River. Water contaminated with wastewater overflow presents several health risks to humans. Untreated human sewage with microbes can cause gastrointestinal issues, disease, infections or rashes.
Anyone who comes in contact with the river water should wash thoroughly, especially hands, and before eating and drinking. Children and older adults, as well as people with weakened immune systems, are particularly vulnerable to disease so every precaution should be taken to avoid contact with river water.
Additional sampling will take place to determine when the river water is safe for recreational use.
Individuals with questions about the spillage should contact Valdosta Environmental Manager Scott Fowler at 229-259-3592 or by email at sfowler@valdostacity.com.
Individual with questions for Florida DEP should contact wastewater coordinator Jim Mayer at the NE District office in Jacksonville at 904-256-1700.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Op-ed, Valdosta Daily Times, today, January 8th 2017:
Sabal Trail and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection assured us there would be no problems drilling a 36-inch natural gas pipeline through the fragile karst limestone under the Suwannee River in Florida, yet already Sabal Trail’s pilot hole under the Withlacoochee River in Georgia caused a frac-out of drilling mud into the river and a sinkhole.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should halt construction and do a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
When I happened to fly over the Withlacoochee River frac-out, I also saw Continue reading
Already under the Withlacoochee River in Georgia there’s been a frac-out and a sinkhole at a drilling site, upstream from the Suwannee River in Florida, under which FDEP told us it couldn’t happen:
“ Well, the Suwannee River crossing doesn’t, in fact, have any impacts to an outstanding Florida water….”
“Well, any work within, or could have adverse effects on OFW, is considered. In this case, we determine that there would be no impacts to the OFW.”
Apparently not only FDEP’s sole witness Lisa Prather believed Sabal Trail; according to a video yesterday by Cody Suggs at the Suwannee River, Sabal Trail’s own workers seem to believe their company’s propaganda.
Much more about WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP is on the WWALS website, including videos and transcripts of the landowners who also tried to warn FDEP that sinkholes happen like they already have including under at least two public roads in Suwannee County, Florida. And more about what already happened is on the WWALS website, plus things you can do to stop this $3 billion dollar fracked methane boondoggle.
For example, you may want to ask the permitting agencies some of the questions WWALS asked, including this one:
Which of FERC, FDEP, GA-EPD, USACE, SRWMD are working to protect the health, welfare and safety of the communities surrounding this pipeline and how are they doing that?
Given that I asked them for a prompt answer and two weeks later have gotten no answer at all, it sure looks like we the people will have to find and report violations and use other methods to stop this pipeline.
The transcript questions quoted below are Continue reading
Some national coverage! Now that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has backed off letting the Dakota Access Pipeline drill under the Missouri River in North Dakota because of concerns of local water users, the Corps, FERC, and FDEP should do the same: stop Sabal Trail from drilling under the Suwannee River.
Larry Buhl, DeSmogBlog, 4 December 2016,
Critics Call $3 Billion Sabal Trail Pipeline
Florida’s Dakota Access Pipeline,
As opposition to the Dakota Access pipeline swells at home and abroad, another pipeline project at the other end of the U.S. is quietly being installed as fast as possible, critics say, displacing residents, threatening water supplies, and racking up alleged construction violations.
And most people in the region — even those in the pipeline’s path — haven’t even heard about it.
Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC, known as Sabal Trail, is using $3 billion of Florida Power and Light (FPL) ratepayer money to build a 515-mile pipeline to transport natural gas obtained via fracking from eastern Alabama to central Florida.
…
Activists Document Construction Violations
Continue reading
Received today from FDEP:
Recreation and Parks Public Hearing
CONTACT: DEP Press Office, 850.245.2112, DEPNews@dep.state.fl.us
DEP’s Florida Park Service is in the process of updating the Unit Management Plan for Suwannee River State Park. Citizens are invited to attend a public hearing to learn more about the proposed plans for the state park and to provide their comments.
Please review the public notice, agenda and draft plan. Copies may also be obtained by emailing Craig.Liney@dep.state.fl.us or calling 386-362-2746. The public is invited to review and submit comments to the Division of Recreation and Parks at FL_StateParkPlanning@dep.state.fl.us until Aug. 10, 2016.
WHAT: Public Hearing
WHEN: July 26, 2016
5-8 p.m.WHERE: Suwannee River Water Management District Complex
9225 County Road 49
Live Oak, FL 32060Continue reading
Update 2023-05-01: Alapaha Swallets Dye Trace Project 2016-10-01.
Tom Greenhalgh started putting the dye in the Dead River Swallet about 11:06 this morning,
with Harley Means observing in this picture, plus a drone also taking pictures.
See below for where to look for the dye coming back up in the next few days.
If you see it, please take a water sample for SRWMD. Continue reading
Thanks to the Hamilton Board of County Commissioners for standing up for its people,
and for all those affected by the invading Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline.
Debra Johnson, SpectraBusters, 15 March 2016, Hamilton County takes exception with Sabal Trail,
Tonight, Tuesday March 15, 2016, Hamilton County unanimously voted to request that the Army Corps of Engineers perform an independent study on site concerning the ommisions and discrepancies contained in the final environmental study that FERC and Florida DEP used to issue the[ir] permit[s] for the Sabal Trail pipeline.
These ommisions in the EIS were discovered by Mr Chris Mericle when Continue reading
Despite being on FDEP’s permit announcement list,
I never got anything about a Sabal Trail permit.
After much digging, the other day I found that
FDEP went ahead and issued the Sabal Trail permit 22 January 2016
(PDF),
conveniently before
FERC issued certificates 2 February 2016.
That FDEP permit was also before the appeal deadline of 15 February 2016 in WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP. They did not copy the petitioner in that case, namely WWALS. They did copy Audubon Florida, which, as you may recall back in October sent FERC a letter supporting Sabal Trail (and then tried to walk back part of it). A letter that EPA chose to mention by name to the Army Corps of Engineers, while not naming Sierra Club or WWALS in opposition. Apparently if you go along with FDEP you get preferential notification.
And that, that’s nothing. FDEP issued Continue reading