Tag Archives: Moody Air Force Base

Moody AFB F-35A Beddown DEIS 2026-08-21

Moody Air Force Base is expected to host the F-35A Lightning II aircraft. If I am reading the 450-page Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS), they expect the new aircraft may be heard somewhat farther afield, but the noise levels will be less.

The DEIS provides a No Action option, which actually is a draconian action: not only not to host the F-3As, but also to stop hosting the A-10C Thunderbolts. Which would mean Moody AFB would have no reason to exist, which the DEIS points out would remove 1,444 jobs from the local economy. Obvious that ain’t gonna happen, because the one thing that unites all the local governments, industry, etc., is keeping Moody AFB.

Nonetheless there is scope for comments on the DEIS. They plan to dig into Mission Bay for a few new physical facilities. What effect will that have, as water from there runs into Grand Bay, down Grand Bay Creek and the Alapahoochee River to the Alapaha and Suwannee Rivers?

What about overflights of Banks Lake?

What about more potential crashes, due to more flights, and PFAS in firefighting foam? That’s what caused the surface and groundwater PFAS contamination reported by Moody AFB in 2016?

https://wwals.net/issues/pfas/

Remember that went down Beatty Branch into Cat Creek and the Withlacoochee River, as well as into the surface water above the Floridan Aquifer.

I’m sure you can find more things to comment on.

[Moody AFB F-35A Beddown, Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS), Zoom meeting 2026-09-15, Comment Deadline 2026-09-28]
Moody AFB F-35A Beddown, Draft Environmental Impact Study (DEIS), Zoom meeting 2026-09-15, Comment Deadline 2026-09-28

You can attend a zoom public meeting Tuesday, 15 September 2026, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (Eastern Time).

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87029995062?pwd=iVKMSLv3See9eEBJ3fEKWsqnFvGkMt.1

Or send in comments by September 28, 2026, during the zoom meeting, or through an online form.

https://www.moodyafb-f35beddown-eis.com/comment

Or via paper mail to:
Attn: F-35A Beddown EIS
4833 Conti Street, Suite 103
New Orleans LA 70119

https://www.moodyafb-f35beddown-eis.com/_files/ugd/55f3ca_758d79587ce24b93a02c95251a529e03.pdf

Lest you think this is only a local Lowndes County, Georgia, issue, these aircraft will fly as far west as Alabama Continue reading →

Seven years of sewage spills in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia 2025-08-14

Update 2025-08-15: Dirty Sugar Creek & Withlacoochee River @ US 84, 2025-08-13, Clean Alapaha River & Withlacoochee River, Upstream & Downstream 2025-08-13.

Who is the Georgia sewage spill winner?

Hint, it’s the most populous city in the Suwannee River Basin in either Georgia or Florida: Valdosta.

Details are below, in which you can see that the number of spills and the amount spilled have decreased, but Valdosta has a long way to go yet. As do less populous places, especially Ashburn, as well as Tifton, Quitman, and Rochelle.

[Seven years of sewage spills, Suwannee River Basin, GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report, by WWALS 2025-08-14]
Seven years of sewage spills, Suwannee River Basin, GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report, by WWALS 2025-08-14

I hope we will all hear what Valdosta is doing this evening, when the Florida Rivers Task Force meets with Valdosta at 6 PM, at Valdosta City Hall Annex, 300 North Lee Street, Valdosta, GA 31601. https://wwals.net/?p=68173 Continue reading →

Ask for U.S. House co-sponsors for PFAS amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act 2024-06-07

You can help ask your members of Congress to protect military servicemembers, the surrounding community, agriculture, industry, and wildlife.

Numerous military bases in recent years have reported contamination of waterways and groundwater by PFAS, the so-called forever chemicals that do not degrade over time, and can cause a variety of diseases.

[Map: military sites with known or suspected PFAS discharges --EWG]
Map: military sites with known or suspected PFAS discharges –EWG

Right now is an opportunity to get a couple of amendments into the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) to require the Department of Defense to tell everyone about PFAS contamination, to test to see how far it has spread, including private wells, and to provide alternate water supplies if necessary.

That PFAS work will also bring federal dollars to the districts.

You can sign on to a request letter here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeg8c_Stwv5iuXcEEgsYXIx9vIZRQy_lg4RoHIymcR7ZsYNYw/viewform

Or write your own, or call or meet with your Representative.

Affected bases include: Continue reading →

Moody AFB EIS for Comprehensive Airspace Initiative 2023-05-16

WWALS got a paper letter dated May 16, 2023, which says, “The [Department of the Air Force (DAF)] is publishing a Notice of Availablitlity (NOA) in the Federal Register announcing the availability of the Final Environmental Impact Statement for the Comprehensive Airspace Initiative at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. The publication of the NOA on 19 May 2023 begins a 30-day waiting period that closes on 18 June 2023.”

[Proposed Action & Alternatives, Moody AFB EIS]
Proposed Action & Alternatives, Moody AFB EIS

Apparently you can still send in comments during that 30-day period, but since there has been a long previous public comment period, it does not seem likely many further changes will be made.

All the documents are available from:
https://moodyafbairspaceeis.com/

They are also available Continue reading →

Creeks bad, OK River Water Quality 2022-11-13

Apparently the rain Thursday did not have much effect, although there were E. coli hot spots when we tested again Sunday. The Withlacoochee River from GA 133 on down seems OK for swimming, fishing, and boating, although there’s not much water until you get farther down than that.

[Chart, Creeks and Rivers, Swim Guide, 2022-11-13]
Chart, Creeks and Rivers, Swim Guide, 2022-11-13

Looks like the Withlacoochee River is also OK from Skipper Bridge on down, except Langdale Park Boat Ramp tested very high. Also, upstream Franklinville Landing was too high. Continue reading →

Bad Beatty Branch and Cat Creek, good downstream Withlacoochee River 2022-10-27

Update 2022-11-04: Creek and river water quality problems 2022-11-03.

After a drizzle of rain Wednesday and several high readings by Valdosta at US 41 and GA 133, WWALS tested upstream creeks yesterday, in addition to the usual river locations. Some of the creek results are much higher than expected.

[Chart, Creeks, Rivers, Swim Guide]
Chart, Creeks, Rivers, Swim Guide

So far, it looks like downstream of the Little River Confluence on the Withlacoochee River is probably good for fishing, swimming, and boating.

There’s not enough water in the Withlacoochee higher up to paddle anyway. But I’ll have four more Withlacoochee River results tomorrow to fill in the upstream gaps. Continue reading →

Valdosta Adopt-A-Street Program 2022-06-20

Also good. Now how about those fast food outlets and their parking lots?

Valdosta Press Release, June 20, 2022, Love Where You Live Adopt-A-Street Program,

[Adopt-A-Street, Gornto Road, Moody Air Force Base 2013-03-15]
Adopt-A-Street, Gornto Road, Moody Air Force Base, March 15, 2013, Valdosta road kept clean and green by AFSA Ch. 460.

The City of Valdosta’s (Love Where You Live) Adopt-A-Street Program aids in beautifying the city by cleaning up litter and debris on local roadways. The program allows organizations, businesses, or individuals to pick a street they want to take care of for at least a one-year contract. All city streets are eligible for adoption, with the exclusion of those that have active contracts.

There is no monetary fee Continue reading →

Report chemical constituents for forensic PFAS source identification –WWALS to U.S. EPA 2021-09-27

We requested much more labeling of chemical constituents of PFAS “forever chemicals”, to enable tracking PFAS contamination to its sources, when U.S. EPA held a public comment period about a PFAS rule.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution brought this problem to our attention back in 2018, due to PFAS contamination from all three Air Force bases in Georgia, plus it turns out the Florida Fire College in Ocala. There are probably many more sources, including biosolids dried out from human wastes and used as fertilizer.

[Map, Letter]
Map, Letter

WWALS letter to EPA

See also the PDF.

The WWALS letter references a St. Johns Riverkeeper letter, co-signed by Waterkeepers Florida (including Suwannee Riverkeeper). PDF. Continue reading →

Bad Elsa aftermath, water quality, Withlacoochee River 2021-07-08

Update 2021-07-16 Clean Withlacoochee River 2021-07-15.

Update: 2021-07-12: No Valdosta City repair work at chronic sewage spill manhole, Wainwright Drive, Onemile Branch 2021-07-08.

Tropical Storm Elsa washed E. coli into the Withlacoochee River, according to WWALS test results for Thursday, July 8, 2021.

Some of it probably came from Valdosta’s more than half a dozen sewage spills. But that wasn’t the only source, since WWALS found bad water quality starting at Hagan Bridge @ GA 122 and US 41, well upstream from Sugar Creek. Hagan Bridge is even upstream of Cat Creek, through which Moody Air Force Base’s Beatty Branch spill would reach the Withlacoochee. So some of this is probably more of the usual cattle, hog, horse, etc. manure being washed into the river. However, WWALS found much worse water quality at GA 133, downstream of Sugar Creek. So possibly Valdosta’s 45,532 gallons of raw sewage into Twomile Branch and 44,448 gallons into Onemile Branch, which both flush through Sugar Creek, had some ill effect on the Withlacoochee River.

For Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps, Valdosta’s own results for Wednesday already showed too much E. coli, and the WWALS results for Thursday at Nankin and State Line were no better. WWALS did get acceptable results at Cleary Bluff, downstream of Allen Ramp, but that may be just because the contamination had not washed down there yet.

[Bad Chart, Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha Rivers, Swim Guide]
Bad Chart, Little, Withlacoochee, Alapaha Rivers, Swim Guide

For the Little River, WWALS got too-high E. coli at Troupville Boat Ramp, but acceptable upstream at Folsom Bridge Landing @ GA 122.

For the Alapaha River, results were good at Willacoochee Landing @ GA 135 Wednesday, and acceptable at Lakeland Boat Ramp @ GA 122 Thursday. We have no data downstream of where the 320 gallons of Valdosta sewage on MLK Drive might have flushed down Duke Bay Canal, Mud Swamp Creek, and the Alapahoochee River into the Alapaha River just upstream of Sasser Landing, but that was a very small amount.

So if you want to boat this weekend, I’d recommend the Alapaha River or upstream on the Little River, but not the Withlacoochee River.

We have no Santa Fe River water quality data downstream of Starke, Florida’s, half dozen sewage spills. Continue reading →

Sewage spills, Suwannee River Basin, Dec. 2019 – Sept. 2020

Rochelle, Ashburn, Tifton, Adel, Moody AFB, Valdosta, and Quitman all spilled sewage into the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia from December 2019 through September 2020. But only one of those spills since December is likely to explain any contamination we’ve been seeing on the Withlacoochee River.

[Little, New, Withlacoochee, Summary, Alapaha River]
Little, New, Withlacoochee, Summary, Alapaha River

Yes, there were also some spills in Florida in the Suwannee River Basin, but those are actually harder to interpret, and they were mostly small, so they will have to wait.

At least Florida lets people sign up for pollution notices by county as they happen. Georgia has no such signup. So I’ve modified the scripts WWALS uses to display changes in the Georgia Sewage Spills Report to also send me an email alert.

Here are the Georgia spills, where, what streams they went into, and how far upstream that was: Continue reading →