Sabal Trail’s 100-foot gouge makes the old pipeline right of way look like nothing, across Lowndes County, Georgia; pictures
by John S. Quarterman for WWALS on 12 December 2016,
with
videos
and
a
google map.
Troy Access signs start on Nankin Road shortly after you come up from Florida.
Rocky Ford Road is the most obvious pipeline crossing. You can see all the way to it from Barrett Coody Road. Continue reading
Update 2023-03-31: Suwannee River Basin is bigger than several states, less populous than any: Suwannee Riverkeeper and WWALS work for fishable, swimmable, drinkable water in all 10,000 square miles of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WWALS becomes Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
Hahira, Georgia; December 30, 2016 — The Waterkeeper Alliance Board of Directors has approved its Affiliate WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. to become a Member. The newly appointed Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®, John S. Quarterman, will work to protect and preserve the Suwannee River Basin by combining his firsthand knowledge of the waterways with an unwavering commitment to the rights of the community and to the rule of law.
![[Detail with creeks]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2017-11-13--suwannee-watersheds/big/basin-creeks-detail.jpg)
Suwannee River Basin and Estuary including Santa Fe River HUC, added 2019-09-26.
“Waterkeeper Alliance is thrilled to have Suwannee RIVERKEEPER® to be the eyes, ears, and voice for this vital watershed and community,” said Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President of Waterkeeper Alliance. “Every community deserves to have swimmable, drinkable and fishable water, and John S. Quarterman is the right leader to fight for clean water in the region.”
The Suwannee RIVERKEEPER® will be a full-time advocate for the Suwannee River and its tributaries, including the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, and Suwannee Rivers in Georgia and Florida, protecting and restoring water quality through community action and enforcement. Quarterman stated, “Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®’s aim is to provide strong advocacy that will result in an improved quality of life for all citizens, whether they rely on it for drinking water or recreation or whether they simply value the Suwannee River Basin’s continued well-being.” Continue reading
Here’s a Christmas present for pipeline opponents and solar power proponents.
John S. Quarterman, Citrus County Chronicle, other voices, 25 December 2016,
Stop gas pipeline; invest in solar,
Sabal Trail and FDEP assured us there would be no problems drilling a 36-inch natural gas pipeline through the fragile karst limestone under the Suwannee River and the Withlacoochee (south) River in Florida, yet already Sabal Trail’s pilot hole under the Withlacoochee (north) River in Georgia caused a frac-out of drilling mud into the river and a sinkhole. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should halt construction and do a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.
When I happened to fly over the Withlacoochee (north) River frac-out, I also saw Continue reading
There’s a rumor that Sabal Trail has some equipment stuck in a sinkhole at the Suwannee River.
Multiple people have gone and videoed and seen nothing like that there, on either side of the Suwannee River.
We’ve also checked the Withlacoochee River at US84:
nothing like that is visible at the visible HDD site in Georgia
(it could be at the Brooks County, GA site that we can’t see).
The drilling equipment formerly at the Martin Lane Withlacoochee HDD site in Lowndes County, Georgia is gone, and the drill truck photographed recently at the Suwannee south bank HDD site looks like the same Southeast Directional Drilling truck with the Arizona address on its side.
Incidentally, unlike some other Sabal Trail contractors, Continue reading
Sabal Trail caused a sinkhole at the HDD site in Lowndes County, in addition to
the frac-out under the Withlacoochee River previously discovered by WWALS,
plus a bunch of other sinkholes or “depressions” they just reported today.
They say they discovered the HDD site sinkhole the day after they told FERC
there was no sinkhole at what appears to be exactly the location they now,
four weeks later, say is a sinkhole.
FERC Accession Number: 20161202-5137, “Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC submits it Continue reading
People and news media turned out from Florida and Georgia at the Withlacoochee River US 84 bridge in cross-state-line solidarity about the Sabal Trail pipeline and its recent drilling mud leak. They heard the Georgia Water Coalition announce that Sabal Trail is, for the third year running, on the Dirty Dozen 2016.
Ashlyn Becton, WALB, 16 November 2016,
Environmentalist raise awareness about Sabal Trail Pipeline,
Folks from North Florida and South Georgia held a protest at the Withlacoochee River Wednesday and listened to a news conference announcing the Georgia Water Coalition’s Dirty Dozen.
The report highlights the worst offenses and greatest threats to Georgia’s bodies of water.
And the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline is on the GWC Dirty Dozen 2016, as Chattahoochee, Flint, Withlacoochee Rivers and Floridan Aquifer: Gas pipeline company, federal agency run roughshod over state, local residents property rights, with this What Must Be Done: Continue reading
Do you think Sabal Trail’s excuse that it was “inadvertent” is enough? Come on down to the US 84 bridge 9:30 this morning, hear more, and have your say.
Nick Evans, WUSF, 14 November 2016,
Drilling Mud Leak In South Georgia Raises New Sabal Trail Pipeline Concerns,
Water activists are raising the alarm over a South Georgia drilling leak in the Withlacoochee River. Sabal Trail is drilling beneath the river to build a more than 500-mile natural gas pipeline stretching from Alabama to Florida.
WWALS Watershed Coalition works to protect Continue reading
In January the water should be up like a year ago at this three-hour tour of the idyllic Little River between Brooks County and Cook and Lowndes Counties, Georgia.
There should be no need to drag boats, like there was in July.
When: 10 AM Saturday January 14th 2017
Put In: Cook County Landing (GA 76) between Adel, Cook County and Barney, Brooks County, Georgia
GPS Coordinates: Continue reading
Update 2016-11-22:
Ashlyn Becton, WALB, 16 November 2016,
Environmentalist raise awareness about Sabal Trail Pipeline (WWALS blog post),
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hahira GA, November 14th 2016 (updated with directions and detail Nov 15th) —
WWALS is holding an in-person press conference at the US 84 Withlacoochee River bridge to hear and participate in the announcement Wednesday morning of the Georgia Water Coalition (GWC) Dirty Dozen 2016: a dozen of the worst threats to Georgia’s waters.
WWALS will then offer a hike up the riverside to the Sabal Trail pipeline crossing location, where Sabal Trail leaked drilling mud leak up into the river.
Please arrive by 9:30 to be ready for the GWC teleconference at 10AM. On the phone call, details of the Dirty Dozen will be announced, with WWALS members assisting for one of them, and another also directly relevant to WWALS watersheds.
After the phone call, people from Florida and Georgia will have an opportunity to speak, because the Withlacoochee flows downstream into Florida, where Sabal Trail also plans to drill under the Suwannee River, as well as the Santa Fe, where 14 people got arrested recently protecting, and the other Withlacoochee (south) River. Let’s see a little cross-state-line solidarity against this unnecessary, destructive, and hazardous fracked methane pipeline boondoggle. Call your local press before you come, and bring signs.
When: 9:30 AM Wednesday November 16th 2016
Where: US 84 bridge, east side, between Quitman and Valdosta, GA, 30.793747, -83.450167
It’s in the median of a busy highway, so be careful.
What:
Press Conference for Georgia Water Coalition Dirty Dozen,
with hike up the river.
It’s a rough hike, so come prepared with sturdy shoes and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.
Or just participate at the bridge. Bring signs if you’ve got them, or make them on the spot.
This is a completely peaceful nonviolent first-amendment press conference.
Event: facebook
Directions: from Live Oak or Gainesville, FL or farther south, or from Albany, Tifton, or Macon, GA or farther north, take I-75 Continue reading
Update 2016-11-22:
Ashlyn Becton, WALB, 16 November 2016,
Environmentalist raise awareness about Sabal Trail Pipeline (WWALS blog post),
Update 2016-11-14: GWC Dirty Dozen Press Conference at US 84 Bridge with tour of Sabal Trail HDD 2016-11-16
Steve Patterson, Jacksonville.com, 14 November 2016, Gas pipeline project headed to Suwannee River leaks into Georgia waterway; sparks environmental worries
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hahira, GA, November 13th 2016 —
Apparently Sabal Trail continues to leak drilling mud into the Withlacoochee River,
three weeks after
it admitted to GA-EPD that its pilot hole under the river had leaked up into the riverbed.
WWALS members Deanna and Chris Mericle went to the US 84 bridge between Quitman and Valdosta, Georgia, and walked up the river to the site, about 2000 feet upstream. You can clearly see the water inside Sabal Trail’s turbidity curtains is not the same color as the river water.
“I am so angry because this is what we said would happen and we were assured the rivers wouldn’t be affected because they were drilling under them. The head woman at FDEP said exactly that! We told them it was likely because of our karst geology and we got patronized and patted on the head. You can guarantee they will downplay it and just drill another hole. I am pissed,” said WWALS member Deanna Mericle, who drafted the WWALS petition for last year’s four-month legal case and three-day hearing in WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP. Continue reading