Tag Archives: Law

Suwannee BOCC votes 4:1 to ask Army Corps of Engineers to investigate Sabal Trail 2016-04-05

Other counties in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama can follow this example from Hamilton County, now emulated by Suwannee County. Coming on the heels of the historic 34 aye to 128 nay defeat of Sabal Trail river easements in the Georgia legislature, this invading Spectra Energy pipeline has run into some hard shoals, with sinkholes ahead.

Commissioner Wesley Wainwright proposed to send the letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Commissioner Wainwright proposes to send the letter asking them to come see for themselves and do an indepedent report, pointedly adding he still supports the pipeline, but he thinks the discrepencies revealed by the gelogical report by local Practicing Geologist Dennis Price were worth asking the Corps to investigate. Wainwright was the only Suwannee County Commissioner who did not go on the 18 Febuary 2016 hike led by Chris Mericle. Nonetheless he reiterated in the meeting, as he had told the Suwannee Democrat, that through his own investigations he had also determined there were sinkholes far closer to Sabal Trail’s proposed pipeline path than Sabal Trail had said.

Wainwright asked for only Commissioners to speak, saying he didn’t want to get into another session like the previous extensive citizen discussion, apparently referring to the December Commission meeting in which the future of energy was discussed.

Speakers Chris Mericle, Jim Tatum, Debra Johnson, Wayne Ellison

Yet Florida law requires citizens to be able to speak, and Continue reading

WWALS to SBOCC about the Corps, site visits, and independent investigation

Sent this morning to the Suwannee Board of County Commissioners. They meet 6PM tonight, 5 April 2016, at the Suwannee County Judicial Annex, 218 Parshley St. SW, Live Oak, FL, and Sabal Trail is on the agenda.

Exhibit F: Compressors and loops; Suwannee, Columbia, and Bradford Counties, Florida, in Jacksonville Expansion Project, by FGT, for SpectraBusters.org, 31 March 2015 Dear Chairman Bashaw and Commissioners,

Thank you for coming to see with your own eyes at Suwannee River State Park and Falmouth Spring some of what Sabal Trail did not tell FERC. As you know, after that site visit, the Hamilton Board of County Commissioners sent a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers inviting them to come see for themselves, as well.

Despite what Sabal Trail and FPL will tell you, pipelines are not inevitable.

As you may be aware, Continue reading

Sinkhole Trail on the agenda, Suwannee BOCC, 2016-04-05

Once again, Suwannee County follows Hamilton County’s lead.

Carl McKinney, Suwannee Democrat, 1 April 2016, Suwannee County Commission to discuss Sabal Trail sinkholes,

At its next meeting, the commission will consider sending a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which must issue a permit for the pipeline project.

The letter would mimic one Hamilton County recently voted to send, said Suwannee County Commissioner Wesley Wainwright.

Wainwright asked Continue reading

It’s the most votes I’ve ever gotten on anything. –Neill Herring, about GA House against Sabal Trail easements

Pipeline invaders go home to Houston, signed, Georgia legislature.


Georgia Sierra Club’s Neill Herring and Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers at WWALS Watershed Conference in Tifton, 24 August 2013.

Kristi E. Swartz, EEnews, 28 March 2016, PIPELINES: Ga. lawmakers move to block 2 interstate projects,

ATLANTA — Georgia may be friendly to its own electric utility and natural gas companies, but the state Legislature sent a strong message last week to outside corporations that their pipelines are not welcome here.

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Georgia legislature overwhelmingly rejects river easements for Sabal “Sinkhole” Trail fracked methane pipeline

Update 2016-03-28: “It’s the most votes I’ve ever gotten on anything.” —Neill Herring of Georgia Sierra Club.

Tuesday and today, Georgia’s elected legislators stood up for the people against a fracked methane pipeline invader:

Y’all! We don’t win votes on the House floor every day, and the effort to keep the state easements for the Sabal Trail pipeline was truly a joy to watch. R’s, D’s, lawyers, community folk, everyone pitched in and it “went down in flames” 34-128 — AJC [Atlanta Journal Constitution] reporter’s words, not mine! Congrats to all the Georgia Water Coalition….

That’s how Georgia Sierra Club’s Colleen Kiernan summed up what happened Tuesday to the river drilling easements for Spectra Energy’s fracked gas Sabal “Sinkhole” Trail pipeline. Yes, the same Spectra of the Algonquin Incremental Market (AIM) Project, PennEast, Atlantic Bridge, South Texas Expansion, the West Coast Pipeline in British Columbia, and far too many other unnecessary pipeline invasions throughout North America.

Georgia Water Coalition organized this excellent result, including Continue reading

Tally of votes smashing Sabal Trail easements in SR 954 2016-03-22

Here’s who voted which way when Sabal Trail lost in a landslide against its easements to drill under our Withlacoochee River and Okapilco Creek and other rivers and creeks in Georgia. SR-954-votes-in-the-House 3.0000000, 0.0000000 Thanks to Bentley, Harden, Houston, Pirkle, Powell, Rynders, Sharper, Shaw, Spencer, and Watson for voting Nay against that pipeline river-drilling boondoggle. And Carter, Corbett, and LaRiccia, well, thanks for listening, I guess.

I’ve added Continue reading

We all won! Sabal Trail SR 954 easements lost in a landslide at GA House 2016-02-22 2016-03-22

Update 2016-03-22 10:30PM: The vote tally.

As reported by Georgia Sierra Club:

Thank you to everyone who contacted a legislator about SR 954 and their concerns about the Sabal Trail pipeline easements. The house voted down the bill 128-34 this afternoon!!! CONGRATULATIONS!

Thanks to everyone, especially Georgia Water Coalition, Georgia Sierra Club, Flint Riverkeeper, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, everybody else who helped, and of course all WWALS members and everyone else who called their state reps.

There still more you can do to stop Sabal Trail. See the op-ed blog post of today. Continue reading

Still possible to keep Sabal Trail out –WWALS in VDT 2016-03-22

Update 2016-02-22: We all won by a landslide in the Georgia House! There’s more to do tomorrow until Sabal Trail is ended for good; see below.

Please call your Georgia state representative and ask them to vote No today on SR 954 that would give Sabal Trail easements to drill under our rivers. Here’s why:

John S. Quarterman, VDT, 2016-03-22, Still possible to keep Sabal Trail out,

WWALS at the proposed Sabal Trail Withlacoochee River crossing just upstream from US 84 After two years going to Sabal Trail open houses and FERC scoping meetings, filing e-comments, guiding them to the river crossings and a legal hearing in Jasper, FERC still tells us customers for Spectra Energy from Houston, Texas, constitute a need that outweighs local property rights, environmental destruction, and hazards to our Withlacoochee and Suwannee rivers and the Floridan Aquifer, and to taxes, life, and limb.

Yet Georgia is the fastest-growing U.S. solar market, while solar Continue reading

Hamilton County, FL formally requests Army Corps site inspection of Sabal Trail Suwannee River crossing 2016-03-18

Here’s the letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that the Hamilton BOCC voted unanimously 15 March 2016 to send. Other counties in Florida, Georgia, and Alabama may want to send similar letters.

BETH BURNAM
District 1 — Jennings
JOSH SMITH
District 2 — Jasper
ROBERT E. BROWN
District 3 — Jasper
RANDY OGBURN
District 4 — White Springs
BUSTER OXENDINE
District 5 — Jasper

HAMILTON COUNTY
FLORIDA
Office of
Board Of County Commissmners

GREG GODWIN
Clerk of Courts
JOHN H. MCCORMICK
County Attorney

207 Northeast First Street
Room 106
Jasper, Florida 32052
(386) 792-1288
FAX (386) 792-3524

Format request for Army Corps site inspection March 18, 2016

Attn: Mark R. Evans, Senior Project Manager,
Jacksonville Permits Section
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Regulatory Division
Post Office Box 4970
Jacksonville, Florida 32232

RE: Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC
FERC Document No. CP15-17-000

Dear Mr. Evans:

The Board of County Commissioners of Hamilton 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, the findings of Mr. Price directly contradict Continue reading

Geological determinations about Sabal Trail and Suwannee River by Dennis Price P.G.

Sinkholes, springs, and caves abound where Spectra Energy wants to gouge its yard-wide Sabal Trail pipeline Figure 1. Location Map of Sabal Trail Pipeline through the heart of the Florida Springs Heartland, wrote a Practicing Geologist WWALS member to FERC, following up on his testimony in WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP.

Here is the text of the report by Dennis Price, followed by the images (PDF in FERC accession number 20151027-5034), all about the same area where WWALS board member Chris Mericle recently guided Hamilton and Suwannee County Commissioners to see for themselves. -jsq

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