Tag Archives: Georgia Environmental Protection Division

John S. Quarterman: Sewage spills in Georgia affecting Suwannee River basin, Gainesville Sun, 2019-01-31

Online today and in the paper Gainesville Sun this coming Sunday. To paddle the most-affected stretch of the Withlacoochee River, join us this Saturday morning.

A December upsurge of raw sewage spills from the city of Valdosta, Georgia, has a dozen downstream counties organized into a task force, demanding action from Florida state legislators. But what action?

I recommend first getting a grip on the extent of the problem, keeping that picture up to date and then funding fixes.

[Water]
Photo: John S. Quarterman of Sara Jay, Water Temperature, TGroupville Boat Ramp, Little River, 2019-01-06

Valdosta spilled not just twice, but two dozen times in December, totaling more than 6 million gallons of raw sewage. Spills also happened in Tifton, Quitman and Lowndes County, Georgia.

We know this because Continue reading →

Rochelle, GA, spills again 2019-01-24

Back in 2015 and 2016, Rochelle, GA had some sewage spill problems, but they appeared fixed. Until March 2018, and then again in November 2018, and twice now in January 2019.

Table, Spills

The January 10, 2019, Rochelle spill seemed almost negligible at 300 gallons of raw sewage. It took GA-EPD several tries even to figure out Continue reading →

Sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin 2015-2018

Update 2019-01-25: Added an HTML table of all spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia since the beginning of 2015.

WWALS Science Committee Chair Tom Potter made this committee report to the WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting of January 2019:

The Science Committee has focused on monitoring sewage spills from Municipalities in the region. The primary data is the online database provide by the GA EPD. The agency regularly compiles spill volume, date, and, location across the state and posts the information on-line.

2015-2018 Valdosta sewage spills, Spills

WWALS played a central role in convincing EPD to provide this data in a timely manner and has regularly posted spill data on the WWALS website, wwals.net/issues/vww/ga-spills/. This a substantial improvement over prior reporting systems and is contributing to timely reporting of conditions that may adversely impact water quality and recreational uses of streams and rivers.

The following graph summarizes reported spill data in Quitman, Tifton and Valdosta and Continue reading →

Testing for firefighting chemicals in wells and waterways 2019-01-18

Those firefighting chemicals that leaked from Moody Air Force Base are on the front page of the Valdosta Daily Times today:

Moody recommends private well owners contact their county representatives for information on testing personal wells.

Paige Dukes, Lowndes County clerk and public information officer, said this is an opportunity for county residents such as Tann to have their water tested. Not only for PFAS but for any other contaminants that might be there.

Indeed, and Lowndes County operates the Moody AFB wastewater treatment plant that spilled into Beatty Branch and Cat Creek. So it’s an opportunity for Lowndes County to help organize testing for these per- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFASs), because testing for them isn’t nearly as simple or inexpensive as testing for other contaminants.

[Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, nearby resident Debra Tann, VDT reporter Thomas Lynn and photographer Derrek Vaughn, at Beatty Branch, January 7, 2019. Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS.]
Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman, nearby resident Debra Tann, VDT reporter Thomas Lynn and photographer Derrek Vaughn, at Beatty Branch, January 7, 2019. Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS.

Debra Tann and I were back at Beatty Branch on January 7, 2019, this time with the VDT, about the firefighting chemical issue that was in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the first week of January. This time it was for local reporters. Moody neighbor wants water tested, Continue reading →

Tifton * 2, Quitman, Valdosta * 6 2018-12-22

Not just Valdosta: Tifton spilled two places, and Quitman one, in the most recent rains. Those cities were not in the data available online from GA-EPD yesterday, but they are in the online data today.

But Valdosta spilled the most sewage and from the most locations: six places, not just the one Valdosta told the public. Plus we finally have a total for the previous WWTP spill, and all the others from the beginning of December, and those totals are not pretty.

Valdosta Warning Sign, Sign
Photo: Julie Bowland, of Valdosta sewage spill sign at Troupville Boat Ramp, 21 December 2018.

That Valdosta sewage spill sign is stuck loosely into a hole WWALS dug to plant our Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT) signs, which someone has yet again pulled up and thrown into the river, but I digress….

Context wide, Context Maps

Tifton

First let’s look at the city people in Florida ignore: Tifton, Georgia, the second largest city in the Suwannee River Basin (that’s right: in both Georgia and Florida). Tifton had Continue reading →

More rain, more Valdosta WTP spills 2018-12-17

Update 2018-12-18: And a Florida Department of Health warning.

This is the first Valdosta spill press release that mentions the proposed additional catch basin. It still doesn’t acknowledge the other 13 spill locations from last time, nor does it say which, if any, of the previous spills was finally stopped.

I have requested an update from GA-EPD for what reports they have received, and I’ll post their response tomorrow. Meanwhile, you can sign the petition to ask GA-EPD to tell everyone when anyone spills.

Received 3:13 PM, Valdosta PR 17 December 2018, Weekend Storm Results in Sewer Overflow,

Buffer tank, Outside Withlacoochee WTP
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS, of one of four processing units, during WWTP tour, 3 October 2018.

During the past two weeks, The City of Valdosta and surrounding areas have received a combined total of 15 inches of rain during several storm events. Included in that total is the 3 to 4 inches of rain that Valdosta received over the weekend. During the most recent weekend rain event, city infrastructure operated as designed. While the WWTP has a normal average daily flow of 3.5 million gallons (MG), this past weekend, the influent flow peaked at more than 22 MG—nearly seven times the normal rate. As a result of recent rainfall totals into the plant, the structures were overwhelmed. The current system has four processing units, although during normal operations the system only requires one. During this storm event, the Withlacoochee Plant was running all four units plus the excess flow equalization basin. Additionally, the city is working with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division to design and install additional storage capacity at the facility.

On December 15 and 16, the City of Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant identified intermittent sewage spills. The spill was caused by Continue reading →

Ask GA-EPD: tell everyone when anyone spills: petition

Update 2018-12-21: GA-EPD has started publishing online each business day a Sewage Spills Report! So that’s item 1 from the Petition. We thank GA-EPD and we await items 2 and 3.

By popular demand, here is a petition to the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD): Tell everyone when anyone spills.

Ask, Slides

This petition is for individuals. Organizations can still sign the Continue reading →

Tifton, Thomasville, Atlanta, Dekalb County, and Columbus, but no Albany spills 2018-12-09

Tifton spilled at three locations, adding up to 105,100 gallons of raw sewage into the Little River watershed from the Agrirama Lift Station and from TC Gordon Road, and into the New River watershed at 26th St. & Ridge Ave., upstream from the Withlacoochee River.

201809--recent-spills,
GA-EPD data through Sunday, 9 December 2018; see also raw data obtained by WWALS via GORA request.

Thomasville spilled 9,000 gallons into the Ochlockonee River watershed. Macon spilled 2,400 gallons into the Ocmulgee River watershed. Columbus spilled 9,260 gallons into the Chattahoochee River watershed, although exactly when seems hard to determine.

The big winners were Atlanta, still ongoing, and Dekalb County, with a total of 42,260 gallons of raw sewage.

Valdosta, Lowndes County, and Quitman reported no new spills, although many of Valdosta’s spills are still listed as ongoing.

Prominently missing is Albany, Georgia, which Continue reading →

WCTV: Spills, Lowndes County, Valdosta, and WWALS testing and EPD ask 2018-12-06

The local TV station is keeping Lowndes County and Valdosta on their toes about sewage, while WWALS starts testing and continues urging GA-EPD to tell everybody when anybody spills.

Bacteria, WWALS: Suwannee Riverkeeper

Emma Wheeler, WCTV, 6 December 2018, Heavy rain causes sewage spill in Lowndes County, Continue reading →

Seven more Georgia, Three more Florida, plus slides: ask GA-EPD to tell everyone about spills in Georgia; you can, too! 2018-11-15

Update 2018-12-21: GA-EPD daily online Sewage Spill Reports!

Update 2018-12-14: Now plus a petition individuals can sign.

Update 2018-12-12: Four more Georgia groups make 31: Georgia Women (And Those Who Stand With Us), Atlanta Audubon Society, Chattahoochee Parks Conservancy, and No Ash At All—Wayne County.

[More Signatures]

Florida groups: you can sign on, too, like some already have!

Update 2018-11-15: Three more Georgia groups make 27: GARC, Ogeechee Riverkeeper, and SELC. Plus slides: Continue reading →