Shoals, creeks, and help us find MacIntyre Spring on the Brooks County side of the Withlacoochee River just before Florida.
When: 8AM Saturday July 9th 2016
facebook event.
Put in: Nankin Boat Ramp, 6899 Clyattville-Nankin Rd, Valdosta, GA 31601, 30.675192, -83.394143.
Take out: Madison Highway Boat Ramp, Madison Highway at the Florida State Line in Lowndes County, Georgia, 30.635933, -83.311103.
Duration: 9.1 miles, about 5 hours.
Shuttle: Continue reading
Thanks to Janet Barrow for this letter approved by the Marion County, Florida BOCC yesterday, 3 May 2016 (PDF). That makes three Florida Counties requesting investigation of Sabal Trail discrepancies by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, after Hamilton County and Suwannee County.
Marion County
Board of County CommissionersDistrict 1 — David Moore, Commissioner
District 2 — Kathy Bryant, Chairman
District 3 — Stan McClain, Commissioner
District 4 — Carl Zalak ill, Vice Chairman
District 5 — Earl Arnett, ConnnissionarMcPherson Governmental Complex
601 SE ZSth Ave.
Ocala, FL 34471
Phone: 352-438-2323
Fax: 352-438-2324May 3, 2016
US. Army Corps of Engineers
Jacksonville District Regulatory Division
Jacksonville Permits Section
Attn: Mr. Mark R. Evans
Post Office Box 4970
Jacksonville, Florida 32232RE: Sabal Trail Transmission and Sabal Trail Citrus County Line projects within Marion County, Florida
Dear Mr. Evans:
Over 30 miles of pipeline are expected to be installed within Marion County, Florida for the Sabal Trail Transmission and Sabal Trail Citrus County Line projects. These pipelines will cross important, sensitive environmental lands, While Continue reading
Congratulations to Madison BOCC for this ordinance Madison passed unanimously last night (PDF):
ORDINANCE NO. 2016-______
AN ORDINANCE OF THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MADISON COUNTY, FLORIDA, AMENDING THE MADISON COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE TO PROHIBIT HIGH INTENSITY PETROLEUM OPERATIONS AND THE STORAGE AND/OR DISPOSAL OF HIGH INTENSITY PETROLEUM OPERATIONS WASTE; PROVIDING CERTAIN FINDINGS; AMENDING THE DEFINITIONS SECTION OF THE MADISON COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE TO DEFINE CERTAIN TERMS WITH REGARD THERETO; CREATING SECTION 6.5 OF THE MADISON COUNTY LAND DEVELOPMENT CODE ENTITLED “REGULATIONS GOVERNING HIGH INTENSITY PETROLEUM OPERATIONS AND HIGH INTENSITY PETROLEUM OPERATIONS WASTE PRODUCTS”; PROVIDING FOR REPEAL OF CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PROVIDING FOR SEVERABILITY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, Continue reading
Update 2016-04-28: The ordinance.
Rachel Walsh reports from the meeting that the fracking ordinance passed the Madison BOCC.
The
agenda item for tonight:
New Business 1. 6:00 p.m. Public Hearing For Possible Enactment of Ordinance Prohibiting Fracking in Madison County.
It’s been discussed in several previous meetings, with a hearing two weeks ago, reported by Morgan Norwood and Megan Vaughn, WTXL, 13 April 2016, Madison County Residents Voice Opinions in Fracking Debate, Continue reading
Mystery finally solved of where is the road over what creek does Lowndes County Georgia want to replace a bridge?
Item
6.b. Replacement of Beatty Creek Bridge on Williams Road,
for
yesterday morning’s Lowndes County Commission Work Session:
where is this for the $634,800 low bid from Southern Concrete Construction of Albany, GA?
There are two Williams Roads in Lowndes County and no Beaty Creek.
In the north end of the county Cat Creek has a tributary Beatty Mill Creek,
with a Williams Road running near it between
Upper New Bethel Road and Beatty Mill Creek Road.
But according to all the maps I can find, Williams Road does not cross
Beatty Mill Creek.
So what exactly is it that the county wants to pay the low bidder $634,800 for? In the 8:30 AM Tuesday 25 April 2016 Work Session, Commissioner Mark Wisenbaker asked, “Where exactly is this?” Continue reading
Update 2016-04-21: Longer report here.
See also Short-term jobs are not worth long-term Sabal Trail risk –Locals to Sabal Trail jobs-seekers at Contractor Fairs, which has a link to the PDF flyer we were passing out. Some of that PR was picked up by ValdostaToday; it begins:
LIVE OAK, Fla. — Local residents and half a dozen environmental organizations want applicants at Sabal Trail pipeline job fairs to know a job for a few weeks isn’t worth risking drinking water for all our families and children and grandchildren.
Opponents of the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline and supporters of solar power include the Suwannee-St Johns Sierra Club Group, St Johns Riverkeeper, WWALS Watershed Coalition, Our Santa Fe River, Earth Ethics, Gulf Restoration Network, and SpectraBusters.
As a group of students said in unison: No Fracking!
-jsq
PS: Hi, Andrea Grover. Good to see you as always, and looking forward to the end of this project.
Valdosta seems serious about finally opening its new force main and uphill Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant: they’re scheduling a ribbon cutting for May, a year ahead of the original schedule. According to both City Council Tim Carroll and Engineering Assistant Director Emily Davenport, the EPA has already pressure-tested the relevant lines and the plant, and approved them.
People downstream are rightly concerned at the many years they’ve endured wastewater from Valdosta. And recent schedule slips haven’t helped their perceptions, which is why actually holding Continue reading
WWALS signed onto a letter asking for Sabal Trail to be examined for LWCF compliance.
Jonathon Berman, Sierra Club Georgia Chapter, 12 April 2016, Conservation groups call for public parks to be put ahead of corporate polluters’ pipeline plans,
Atlanta, GA — Today, seven groups called on the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) state liaison officers for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi to ensure that the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline, a joint venture by Duke Energy, NextEra Energy, Inc., and Spectra Energy Corp, and Magnolia Extension, owned by American Midstream, does not threaten public parks and recreation areas.
The letter highlights the environmental dangers the proposed Sabal Trail and Magnolia Extension projects pose to at least 11 parks and public recreation areas paid for by the LWCF.
Created in 1965, the LWCF is a federal program that provides matching grants and other federal assistance for public parks and recreation areas. The program has safeguards to ensure that lands purchased with its funds are protected for public outdoor recreation. The groups warn that rapidly multiplying planned pipeline projects do not appear to be compliant Continue reading
Here’s the letter the Suwannee County Commissioners voted 4:1 on 5 April 2016 to send to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (PDF), following the one Hamilton County already sent. Other counties in Florida and Georgia can do the same.
SUWANNEE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
(386) 364-3450
FAX (386) 362-1032COUNTY OFFICES
13150 8001 Terrace
Live Oak, Florida 32060In the Heart of the Suwannee River Valley
April 6, 2016
Attn: Mark R, Evans, Senior Project Manager,
Jacksonville Permits Section
US Army Corps of Engineers
Regulatory Division
Post Office Box 4970
Jacksonville, Florida 32232RE: Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC
FERC Document No. CP15-177000Dear Mr. Evans:
The Board of County Commissioners of Suwannee County recently received the Environmental Geology report prepared by Dennis Price and dated 10/25/2015, a copy of which is attached hereto.
If you will note, Continue reading
Not just for compressor station counties, also apparently also for where Sabal Trail has promised side taps, including Moultrie, Georgia, as seen today in the Tifton Gazette and the Valdosta Daily Times.
When: 11AM – 2PM Friday, April 15th 2016
Where: Southern Regional Technical College, Seminar Center, 361 Industrial Drive, Moultrie, GA 31788
This Moultrie job fair is scheduled one month after Colquitt County sent FERC exorbitant claims of benefits in property tax revenue, wildly high and out-of-context construction jobs claims, and discounted safety and environmental concerns, with no mention whatever of agriculture, nevermind Colquitt County’s letter to FERC two years before about agricultural concerns.
The Colquitt letter to FERC made no mention of lowered property values reducing tax revenue, cited no source, just “It is estimated that”. However, in the same paragraph: Continue reading