Sabal Trail is asking for permits for its fracked methane pipeline from
the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
One of them is for our Withlacoochee River.
ERP is Environmental Resource Permit, and here’s a permit found in ERP Exemption Permit applications, FL DEP Northeast Office: Continue reading
6PM Tonight at Albany State University, you can advise GA EPD about a bill that affects the Flint River and could easily affect WWALS rivers in the future.
Advised by Flint Riverkeeper and Niall Herring, and found online at Nochaway Ag Update,
EPD Flint River Drought Protection Act Stakeholder Meeting,
EPD Stakeholder Meeting
Watershed Protection Branch
Discussion of Possible Rule Changes
The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) Watershed Protection Branch will hold a stakeholder meeting to discuss possible changes in the Flint River Drought Protection Act Rule. The meeting will be held on July 24, 2014 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm at the following location:
Albany State University
ACAD Building Auditorium
Continue reading
6-8PM Thursday 17 July 2014
Memorial Stadium, 715 Dewey St., Waycross, GA 31501
The Environmental Protection Agency, GA Environmental Protection
Division, and Georgia Department of Public Health will be present to
discuss sample collection and results from the Seven Out Tank site
in downtown Waycross.
EPD will also be available to address issues and answer questions regarding CSX.
From Satilla Riverkeeper’s facebook event. Here’s a map: Continue reading
It’s a serious situation in Waycross, with people getting sick and dying.
The contamination, whatever it is,
may have crossed into WWALS watersheds, as well.
Good interactions between WWALS, Satilla Riverkeeper,
and silentdisaster.org, plus EPA, GA EPD, and GA Health Dept.
Matthew J. Huyser, EPA (l. standing blue shirt), Jim Brown, GA EPD (c. standing white shirt), Ashby Nix, Satilla Riverkeeper (facing Brown, paper in hand), Joan Martin McNeal, silentdisaster.org (r. in group)
For details, see these posts on Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE): Continue reading
Maybe we need signs like that around here to remind
people that what goes into the ground comes out in our
drinking water.
For example,
San Antonio has its
Edwards Aquifer Protection Program.
Maybe our local governments need to have
Floridan Aquifer Protection Programs.
Georgia state law seems to indicate they should.
GA Secretary of State has GA Code §391-3-16-.02 Criteria For Protection of Groundwater Recharge Areas. (more legible copy on GA EPD website),
(1) Background. Variable levels of recharge area protection can be based upon the State’s hydrogeology (e.g., areas such as the Dougherty Plain where a major aquifer crops out would receive a relatively high degree of protection whereas other areas, such as the shale hills of northwest Georgia, would receive a lower degree of protection). Recharge area protection within the significant recharge areas would be further refined, based upon the local susceptibility or vulnerability to human induced pollution (e.g., high, medium, or low). The significant recharge areas have already been identified and mapped (about 22-23% of the State). Pollution susceptibility mapping is ongoing. Existing statutes are adequate for protecting the remaining recharge areas (about 77-78% of the State).
[…]
(2)(f)3. In the Coastal Plain, the significant recharge areas are Continue reading
So
Georgia state law requires protection for perennial river corridors
and
the major rivers in the WWALS watersheds qualify as perennial rivers.
What are the rules?
Apparently to be a “Qualified Local Government” a comprehensive plan
including River Corridor Protection Plans with
protection for a natural vegetative buffer area
bordering each protected river is required.
Continue reading
(1)(b) The Comprehensive Georgia Planning Act of 1989 provides for the development of coordinated and comprehensive planning by municipal and county governments. Such comprehensive plans shall consider the natural resources, environments, and vital areas within the jurisdiction of the local government. Maintenance of the status as a “Qualified Local Government” is contingent upon the development of such comprehensive plans (O.C.G.A. 50-8-1 et seq.).
