Calls from Atlanta and from downstream in Florida about the
three Valdosta wastewater overflows in February prompted WWALS as the local watershed organization to contact
the City of Valdosta about organizing a presentation to the interested parties.
Valdosta presented less than two weeks later, and brought their entire hierarchy related to this issue, from the mayor on down. Plus Lowndes County, which isn’t even responsible for Valdosta’s wastewater, was represented by their Chairman and a Commissioner.
In
Valdosta’s slides and the LAKE videos of that meeting of Tuesday 17 March 2015,
you can see many questions were answered, but some are still open. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Madison County
Withlacoochee River levels follow rainfall
Plus early March rains really were directly on Valdosta,
even more than in Valdosta’s third wastewater spill of February,
yet river levels rose most downstream.
Here are 90-day graphs of precipitation (in inches) and river levels (in feet) at the three Georgia Withlacoochee River gauges, from USGS. Also note river levels can continue dropping even while some new rain falls. Continue reading
Sabal Trail ignored springs and underground connections –TSE Plantation
A Suwannee County, Florida landowner points to
newly-discovered connections between springs under rivers
and to
other well-known springs
Sabal Trail ignored, adding:
Note that the undersigned is a lay person attorney and NOT a karst expert. Basic research revealed the information contained herein and the omission of this infonnation by Sabal’s purported karst experts should raise serious questions as to the credibility of Sabal’s filings.
Filed with FERC 29 January 2015 as Accession Number: 20150129-5192, “Supplemental Information / Request of Edwards & Ragatz, P.A. under CP15-17. Supplemental Comments of Proposed Intervener, Thomas S. Edwards, Manager, TSE Plantation, LLC Opposing Portion of Sabal Trail Route and Related Motion to Accept Late Comments”, Continue reading
Grimmway of Bakersfield, CA in Madison County, FL
Bill Gates isn’t the only west coast investor buying up north Florida farmland.
Grimmway Enterprises, Inc. of Bakersfield, CA
bought 1358.44 acres in Madison County, FL,
all on 18 April 2014,
on both sides of SE Farm Road between Lee and the Withlacoochee River.
Grimmway’s website says they grow carrots.
It doesn’t say whether they have any financial relationship with Continue reading
Canoeing Guide to the Withlacoochee River c. 1979
Including both Florida and Georgia,
a second river got map and guide attention back in the 1970s.
To be updated in the Withlacoochee River Water Trail.
This Withlacoochee River guide is courtesy of John Leonard, Executive Director of the Southern Georgia Regional Commission (SGRC).
I would speculate that it is the most recent of the three guides posted thus far, because the Continue reading
Sabal Trail to move pipeline off Withlacoochee River in Florida?
Will Sabal Trail actually move off the Withlacoochee River in Florida?
That depends on how you interpret which version of what Sabal Trail has said
about its seven (7) different proposed fracked methane pipeline
routes through Suwannee County, Florida.
And all but one of the five proposed Georgia routes still would
cross the Withlacoochee River in Lowndes County, Georgia.
Beware that no matter what Sabal Trail says, FERC could pick any of these
routes or some other.
And no matter what FERC says, other agencies, including state and local,
also have to approve permits and other evaluatios of any route,
plus both Spectra Energy and Williams Company have recently “suspended”
or cancelled pipelines as uneconomic.
There is something you and your local elected bodies can do.
Amber Vann wrote for the Suwannee Democrat 19 September 2014, Gas pipeline concerns continue, Continue reading
Nestle and Madison Blue Springs
That magic word “jobs” sucked up water from one of north Florida’s
most famous springs: Madison Blue Spring, very familiar to many people from south Georgia.
Will it do the same about a pipeline?
Joseph Trento wrote for DC Bureau 20 July 2009, Nestlé: Draining America Bottle By Bottle: How Nestlé Got Millions and Millions of Dollars From a $230 Permit. Continue reading
Video: Withlacoochee River and springs where Sabal Trail pipeline would cross
Chris Mericle’s introducation says this video:
shows some of the springs, sinkholes, and other karst features that lie in close proximity to the proposed Sabal Trail gas pipeline where it crosses the Withlacoochee River in Hamilton and Madison County, Florida.
Including active sinkholes right next to the proposed pipeline route. And a karst window a couple of hundred feet from the pipeline.
Here’s the video:
The video is about the part of the Withlacoochee River where Continue reading
Pipeline alternate route still in WWALS watersheds, plus Tifton and Valdosta
The Hillabee alternative route runs right down the middle of the WWALS watersheds, through Worth County, Turner County, Tift County, Colquitt County, Cook County, and Lowndes County in Georgia, and Hamilton County, Madison County, and Suwannee County in Florida. This puts it not only still in the Withlacoochee River watershed, but also in the Little River and Alapaha River watersheds. This route by the pipeline company Sabal Trail Transmission (owned and managed by Spectra Energy) avoids Albany but apparently goes through Tifton and Valdosta and still through Lowndes County before entering Florida in Hamilton County much like Spectra’s preferred route.
This alternate route is the rest of the Option B that was first proposed to Lowndes County residents back in June: Continue reading