After the recent storms, water is standing on Sabal Trail’s
exotic invasive planted grasses, and sometimes on bare dirt,
some of it apparently eroded, in Colquitt County, Georgia
west of Moultrie towards Mitchell County.
Remember, that 3-foot fracked methane pipe is only 3 feet under the surface.
It wouldn’t take much erosion to expose it, increasing likelihood of corrosion,
leak, break, explosion, etc.
These pictures were taken Continue reading
The city of Moultrie also had a small wastewater spill Sunday during the storm, but it was tiny compared to Valdosta’s, and Moultrie’s WTP is on the Ochlockonee River, not in the Suwannee River Basin.
Like
Tifton,
Moultrie’s wastewater operator is not listed on Moultrie’s city website,
because its Wastewater Treatment Facility (WWTF) is operated by the same private contractor,
ESG Operations, Inc.
That arrangement was announced in June 2015,
shortly before major Moultrie WWTF improvements by RTD Construction were announced in September 2015.
Pretty quickly I got through to Bryan Roland, Project Manager, who said yes, Continue reading
Update 2017-01-30:
Valdosta also didn’t tell the public all day after the spill stopped, and then posted something that’s flat not true.
I just called Valdosta WWTP Superintendent John Waite,
as it says to do on the city’s PR posted
Wednesday, January 25, 2017 5:09:00 PM,
Withlacoochee Plant Warranty Repairs Underway,
which says “The plant is under warranty and the repairs will be complete by end
of day Jan. 25 at no cost to the city.”
Meanwhile, the Valdosta Daily Times posted yesterday evening
City sewage spill stopped.
I asked Superintendent Waite when the spill stopped.
Answer: Continue reading
After I posted about the three manhole spills, I discovered Valdosta also announced a spill at the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP).
I just called Scott Fowler at Valdosta Utilities, and he explained:
The leak is from the jet mix pipe that comes back from the influence and pushes back to the EQ [Equalization Tank]. When they put the pipe in with its industrial strength rubber seal, they pressure tested it, and it held. But the seal blew this weekend. They have cameras there to watch it.
Fowler said they also going to have a camera at Wainwright Drive, where one of the other three spills, the ones from manhole covers, happened.
I pointed out to Fowler that the Valdosta PR about the WWTP spill says they detected it Sunday January 22nd, yet it wasn’t published on the city’s website until Tuesday January 24th after 6PM. He said that’s due to Continue reading
Update 2017-01-25: And also a spill at the WWTP.
Nobody likes sewer spills, but no, these are not the same as before Valdosta’s
recent wastewater system improvements:
nothing this time came from the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant,
and the amounts were small compared to previous years (10-62%)
and in far fewer locations.
That didn’t stop WTXL from using this title: Amber Lewis, WTXL, 24 January 2017, Major Sewage Spill Reported in Valdosta,
The City of Valdosta has reported that a large amount of untreated sewage has spilled in the area.
The Florida Department of Health reports that Continue reading
Just north of GA 122 in Brooks County, GA
More here.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
It’s time to photograph and report all potential Sabal Trail violations after last night’s storm. Pipeline construction should stop until damage can be independently assessed. I-75 is shut down, and so should Sabal Trail be.
The sky was lit by lightning all night
as a tornado killed two people in Brooks County and more in Cook County, Georgia.
In between is Sabal Trail’s pipeline path across Okapilco Creek.
I-75 is closed. What did that tornado do to the unfinished pipeline?
What will all this water and wind do to all the Sabal Trail pipe exposed
on top of the ground?
What about that frac-out and sinkhole at Sabal Trail’s Withlacoochee River drilling only a short way downstream?
What about Sabal Trail’s pipe going into that now probably waterlogged ream under the Suwannee River, or the Withlacoochee River South?
What about Continue reading
It’s time to photograph and report all potential Sabal Trail violations after last night’s storm. Pipeline construction should stop until damage can be independently assessed. I-75 is shut down, and so should Sabal Trail be.
The sky was lit by lightning all night
as a tornado killed two people in Brooks County and more in Cook County, Georgia.
In between is Sabal Trail’s pipeline path across Okapilco Creek.
I-75 is closed. What did that tornado do to the unfinished pipeline?
What will all this water and wind do to all the Sabal Trail pipe exposed
on top of the ground?
What about that frac-out and sinkhole at Sabal Trail’s Withlacoochee River drilling only a short way downstream?
What about Sabal Trail’s pipe going into that now probably waterlogged ream under the Suwannee River, or the Withlacoochee River South?
What about Continue reading
We all drink from straws into the same Floridan Aquifer,
so we need to keep it clean and full,
said
WWALS acting Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman
at the
Hahira Historical Society, a very influential institution between
the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers in Lowndes County, Georgia.
You can see in this video that she also explained we paddle upstream in the rainy season and downstream in summer, how WWALS added Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®, and what WWALS does and where, including Continue reading
The playwright could have added a bit more suspense.
After listening to almost two dozen public comments, many recommending tabling the North Florida Regional Water Supply Plan (NFRWSP) or a moratorium on new water withdrawal permits,
the boards of the Suwannee River Water Management District and the
St Johns River Water Management District each voted unanimously to approve.
Here are WWALS videos of each of the speakers, with a few notes, followed by video playlist of the whole thing. Continue reading