Tag Archives: Flint River

Videos: All Georgia Riverkeepers speak to American Fisheries Society 2019-02-06

Possibly for the first time ever, all of the Riverkeepers of Georgia spoke at the same event.

[All Georgia Riverkeepers]
All Georgia Riverkeepers: Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers, Savannah Riverkeeper Tonya Bonitatibus, Ogeechee Riverkeeper Damon Mullis, Altamaha Riverkeeper Jen Hilburn, Upper Coosa Riverkeeper Jesse Demonbreun-Chapman, St Marys Riverkeeper Anna Laws, Satilla Riverkeeper Laura Early, Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman (Chattahoochee had already left).

Below are links to the WWALS video of each talk, followed by a WWALS video playlist. See also the program, and a few more pictures.

All Georgia Riverkeepers speak Wednesday to American Fisheries Society 2019-02-06

Update 2019-02-08: Video.

Apparently for the first time ever, all the Riverkeepers of Georgia will be speaking at the same event. Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers passed on the invitation from the Georgia Chapter of the American Fisheries Society (GA-AFS) to speak at their annual conference.

When: Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Where: Lake Blackshear Resort, 2459-H US Highway 280 West Cordele, GA 31015

What: 2019 GA-AFS Chapter Annual Meeting

Lake Blackshear Resort

Continue reading →
Wednesday (continued), February 6, 2019
SESSION 3: GEORGIA’S RIVERKEEPERS (SYMPOSIA)

Hurricane Michael, Albany to Tifton 2018-10-11

Driving back from a long-scheduled conference in Alabama, from the state line to Tifton was widespread damage from Hurricane Michael. Nothing like the devastation on the Gulf coast, of course, but very unusual for inland Georgia.

[Traffic light repair 15:20:18, 31.6363489, -84.2473075]
Traffic light repair 15:20:18, 31.6363489, -84.2473075

We saw plenty of downed power lines, so don’t be surprised if everybody is power is not back everywhere for a while.

Hurricanes apparently aren’t good at obeying speed limit signs. Continue reading →

Impervious surface from development causes flooding

Could similar development in the Suwannee River watershed have something to do with the 700-year floods in 2009 and 2013?

Georgia State University, PR, December 6, 2017 Researchers Find Urban Development Dramatically Increases Stream Flow,

Fig. 1 watersheds

…Between 1992 and 2011, the amount of developed land in these watersheds also doubled, almost entirely at the expense of forest land.

In both watersheds, this urbanization led to Continue reading →

Videos: Not so Fast, Sabal Trail: Suwannee and Flint Riverkeepers in Live Oak 2017-09-07

Thursday before the storm, Suwannee and Flint Riverkeepers updated on Sabal Trail in Live Oak, about the recent court win against FERC, plus LNG export.

Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper, with Suwannee Riverkeeper

WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman explained Continue reading →

Not so Fast, Sabal Trail: Suwannee and Flint Riverkeepers in Live Oak 2017-09-07

Update 2017-09-01: Add #StopETP Day of Action one day early to the same event in Live Oak.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman will show four years of Sabal Fail, and the Three Stooges plumbing in Dunellon. WWALS member Cecile Scofield will talk about LNG export all over Florida. Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers will explain what the fossil fuel industry calls the Great Major Victory by Sierra Club, Flint Riverkeeper, and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, and what it means (so far as anyone knows). WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman will lay out what you can do to help stop Sabal Trail and reform FERC. Plus videos.

When: 6:30 PM, Thursday, September 7, 2017

Where: Live Oak Woman’s Club, 1308 11th St SW, Live Oak, FL 32064

Free: There is no admission fee and you do not have to be a member of WWALS to attend. Naturally, we do encourage you to join WWALS today. https://wwals.net/blog/donations/

Event: facebook, meetup

Gretchen Quarterman, WWALS Watershed Coalition and Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper
Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper and Gretchen Quarterman, WWALS Executive Director

Videos: Continue reading →

From pipelines to renewable energy and efficiency –Sierra Club 2017-08-29

“Once the court officially returns the matter to FERC, the pipeline should cease operations while FERC undertakes the new analysis,” wrote Elly Benson, lead attorney for the case Sierra Club just won against Sabal Trail.

She summed up: ”Instead of sacrificing our communities and environment to build unnecessary pipelines that “set up surefire profits” for pipeline companies at the expense of captive ratepayers, the focus should be on transitioning to clean renewable energy and energy efficiency—especially in the Sunshine State. Forcing federal agencies to grapple with the true climate impacts of dirty fossil fuel projects is a big step in the right direction.”

She leads off this fourth in a WWALS news roundup series (1, 2, 3) about that case, followed by Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper, another party to the case.

WWALS is not a party to that case and does not speak for the parties, so I can be a cheerleader for them. Shut it down! Let the sun rise!

How many pipelines do we want? None! When do we want it? Never!
How many pipelines do we want? None! When do we want them? Never! —WWALS at the Sabal Trail Suwannee River crossing, 15 August 2015.

This is wind in our sails and could be the end of Sabal Trail –Suwannee Riverkeeper in VDT 2017-08-24

Update 2017-08-29: Fourth news roundup: From pipelines to renewable energy and efficiency –Sierra Club 2017-08-29

“This is wind in our sails and could be the end of Sabal Trail,” Quarterman said, on the front page of the newspaper of record in the largest city in the Suwannee Basin, the Valdosta Daily Times.

Heading downstream
We got sails no one can see.
Suwannee Riverkeeper Vessel on the Suwannee River protesting Sabal Trail 2017-01-14

As Frank Jackalone says (see below), FERC has been getting away with murder. And now maybe they can’t.

Thomas Lynn, Valdosta Daily Times, 23 August 2017, Court decision to impact Sabal Trail pipeline, Continue reading →

Pipeliners spooked by Sierra Club Major Landmark Victory; could shut down Sabal Trail –industry press

Update 2017-08-29: Fourth news roundup: From pipelines to renewable energy and efficiency –Sierra Club 2017-08-29

Update 2017-08-24: Third news roundup: This is wind in our sails and could be the end of Sabal Trail —Suwannee Riverkeeper in VDT 2017-08-24

OilPrice.com calls it “a critical decision yesterday, that could jeopardize the future for pipeline projects across the country”; pipeline companies could be “spooked” and “…the court ruling raises the unsettling possibility that the project may be forced to shut down — after billions were spent putting it in into service.” Other stories say this ‘huge’ win could also affect the Atlantic Sunrise, Penneast, Atlantic Coast, and Rover Pipelines, among others.

Children against Sabal Trail in Juno Beach, 2016-10-14
(L to R) Lea Fox, 4, Finn Ryder Purdy, 4, and Mason Dana, 7, of Lake Worth, sit with gas pipeline protesters outside of Florida Power and Light headquarters on Universe Boulevard in Juno Beach on October 14, 2016. The Sabal Trail Pipeline began supplying FPL’s plants in June. Groups opposed the pipeline that will start in Alabama and bring fracked gas through several counties in Florida’s springs and wetlands. (Richard Graulich / The Palm Beach Post)

Sad for FPL, Duke, Spectra, and all the other pipeline-building purveyors of fracked methane, maybe, but glad for all the landowners whose land was taken, local citizens who don’t want a 500+-mile IED next to their homes, schools, and waterways, and all people who want clean sun and wind energy, not more polluting fossil fuels.

It’s good the industry press agrees with what I told the VDT: “This is wind in our sails and could be the end of Sabal Trail.”

Here’s a news roundup, in addition to Continue reading →

Sabal Trail asks FERC to authorize turning on gas 2017-05-17

Sabal Trail has discovered the southeast has drought! That’s its excuse for not greening up its gouge across what it calls its “greenfield” route. Sabal Trail “will continue to be available” to address landowner concerns, as if they have addressed destroying Randy Dowdy’s world-record soybean fields. They claim they’ve resolved 271 of 279 landowner issues: as near as I can tell mostly by suing the landowners, like they did the Bell Brothers.

Revegetation and drought

Pipeline company chutzpah! Solar power would do this faster, cheaper, and cleaner: “Granting Sabal Trail’s request by May 26 will allow Sabal Trail to commence service promptly to FPL and will significantly increase the available supply of natural gas to the Southeastern United States during the heart of the peak summer cooling season.” More likely Sabal Trail wants to be in-service by the end of May to avoid forfeiting that $200 million bond required by FPL’s RFP.

Sabal Trail’s list of karst features doesn’t match its own Continue reading →