Tag Archives: north Florida

High Springs, FL, 1,500-gallon sewage spill, NE Railroad Ave 2024-04-24

High Springs, Florida had a 1,500-gallon sewage spill from about midnight, Wednesday, April 24, until 7AM the same day. It was far from the Santa Fe River and probably had no effect on the river.

“Incident Description: Bypass ball valve in discharge pipe vault union separated and pumped out from there. Residents in area mentioned smelling something around midnight the previous night but never reported it till maintenance showed up at 0700 and called us to report it. We were able to shut the pumps off and close a valve after the vault to isolate the station.”

“ Clean-up Actions: Applied lime, Signs posted”

[High Springs 1,500-gallon, Sewage Spill 2024-04-24, 23301 NW 186th Ave., aka NE Railroad Ave.]
High Springs 1,500-gallon, Sewage Spill 2024-04-24, 23301 NW 186th Ave., aka NE Railroad Ave.

The address given was 23301 NW 186th Ave, High Springs, FL 32643, with coordinates 29.82482649, -82.59387311.

Google Maps says that is on NE Railroad Ave. at Plantation Oaks Assisted Living and Memory Care, near US 27. Continue reading →

Valdosta sewage on Madison County Commission agenda 2024-04-24

It’s the last item, under NEW BUSINESS:

  1. Discussion Regarding Valdosta Sewage Spill and Compliance with Consent Order — Commissioner Waldrep.

That’s at the Madison County Commission Regular Meeting, Wednesday, April 24, 2024, at 6:00 PM in the Courthouse Annex, 229 SW Pinckney St., Room 107, Madison, Florida.

[Valdosta sewage at Madison County Commission, Commissioner Donnie Waldrep 2024-04-24]
Valdosta sewage at Madison County Commission, Commissioner Donnie Waldrep 2024-04-24

According to Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson just now, “Wastewater, Engineering and City Manager meeting is 9:15 Tuesday morning to discuss increased capacity options.”

I asked if the public is invited. He answered, “No, I will report results to you….”

Valdosta is working hard on upgrading its dilapidated sewer system infrastructure, using local taxes and a Georgia state loan. They’ve spent more than $100 million dollars already.

Valdosta was pretty timely in telling the public about its nine other recent sewage spills.

But Continue reading →

Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, Online via zoom, 2024-04-21

WWALS President Sara Jay will preside over the WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting. The public is invited.

We will be reviewing plans for the Big Little River Paddle Tour, and other outings and events such as the WWALS Webinars, as well as for the next WWALS Gala including the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. See https://wwals.net/outings. Plus trash, sewage, water quality testing, opposition to mines (titanium, phosphate, and sand), excess water withdrawals, coal ash, pellet plants, and LNG export, as well as promotion of water trails and solar power: see https://wwals.net/issues/ And of course finances and fundraising.

That’s for the entire 10,000 square mile Suwannee River Basin, in Georgia and Florida, including the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Little Alapaha, Little times two, New times two, Black, Dead, Sampson, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, and all their creeks, springs, sinks, ponds, and swamps, such as Grand Bay, Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp.

When: 6 PM, Sunday, April 21, 2024

Where: Online via zoom.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89308028204?pwd=VmwyMzVTMVR6WGJxbUFUSlFXWFRWQT09
One tap mobile: +16469313860,,89308028204#,,,,*392346#

[Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, Online via zoom, 2024-04-21]
Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, Online via zoom, 2024-04-21

Continue reading →

Earth Day: Planet vs. Plastics 2024-04-20

Trash cleanups are good, but you wouldn’t clean up after a sewer spill and do nothing to stop it from happening again. You wouldn’t be happy with any city or county that let spills keep happening.

You can help stop trash from getting into our waterways by getting cities to enforce trash ordinances about parking lots and trash cans, by getting trash traps installed on creeks, and by asking for single-use packaging bans and bottle bills. Start by bringing your own reusable grocery bags, but don’t stop there.

The Global Earth Day theme for 2024 is Our Planet Versus Plastics.

[Earth Day 2024, Planet vs. Plastics 2024-04-20, Trash cans, Trash traps, cleanups, Plastic bans and bottle bills]
Earth Day 2024, Planet vs. Plastics 2024-04-20, Trash cans, Trash traps, cleanups, Plastic bans and bottle bills

Styrofoam and other plastics are not just an eyesore. These plastics from Valdosta and elsewhere entering the watersheds are breaking down and getting into all aspects of the environment. Animals eat them, and cannot digest them. Children play in creeks with this stuff. Adults don’t want to boat on rivers with floating trashjams. It’s hard to promote eco-tourism without fixing the trash problem. Sure, we go clean it out of the rivers, and you can help us with that, but that alone is not enough. Continue reading →

Suwannee River, White Springs, Florida 2024-04-16

Returning from Lake City Tuesday, I stopped by White Springs.

For once the Spring House is full at White Sulphur Springs, one of the earliest Florida tourist attractions. The Suwannee River has risen inside it and all around it. Its entrance is closed for renovations, but you can see it from the street sidewalk.

The ramp is underwater at White Springs Boat Ramp, aka Suwannee River Wayside Park Ramp. That didn’t stop a couple of guys from backing a trailer down the entrance tarmac, preparing to put in their boat with outboard.

[White Springs, Florida, Suwannee River 2024-04-16, White Sulphur Springs Spring House, White Springs Boat Ramp]
White Springs, Florida, Suwannee River 2024-04-16, White Sulphur Springs Spring House, White Springs Boat Ramp

The White Springs gauge read 71.02 feet NAVD88, which is in Action Stage. The river is still rising, above 72 feet today. NOAA predicts it will peak tomorrow, but will still be in Action Stage for a week. Continue reading →

Dirty creeks, but clean rivers 2024-04-17

Update 2024-04-26: Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Santa Fe Rivers 2024-04-25.

After the week of sewage spills after the recent rains, WWALS found Sugar Creek dirty and Spring Branch filthy, but four rivers clean: Withlacoochee, Alapaha, Ichetucknee, and Santa Fe.

That’s right, while Spring Branch was filthy (7 times the alert limit for E. coli) right next to Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) that spilled 6.7 million gallons Friday through Sunday, the Withlacoochee River tested clean at five locations.

We can only guess that the massive flow of the river from the rains diluted or washed the contamination downstream.

You still might want to think twice before boating, fishing, or swimming in the rivers, since they are all in flood or at least Action Stage.

[After heavy thunderstorms and sewage spill week, dirty creeks, but clean rivers 2024-04-17]
After heavy thunderstorms and sewage spill week, dirty creeks, but clean rivers 2024-04-17

We have no new Valdosta results since last week, because Valdosta only tests once a week on Wednesday, and while they probably did sample yesterday, they have not posted their results.

Nevermind that Madison Health issued a health advisory for the Withlacoochee River because of Valdosta’s spills.

So that leaves WWALS and FDEP and SRWMD to test after Valdosta’s mess. Continue reading →

Updates on Homerville, Quitman, Tifton, and Valdosta in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2024-04-11

Update 2024-04-26: Clean Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Santa Fe Rivers 2024-04-25.

Update 2024-04-18: Dirty creeks, but clean rivers 2024-04-17.

The Tuesday and Wednesday GA-EPD Sewage Spills Reports provide updates about the spills during and after last week’s thunderstorms.

Tifton’s biggest spill was 40,400 gallons, which is four times the limit for a major spill, and GA-EPD still is confused about where it was.

Rochelle’s spill was only 3,000 gallons. No sewage spill is a good spill, but at least that one was small.

Quitman had three, not two, spills, although they were all small and not near Okapilco Creek.

We guessed correctly where the Homerville spill was.

And while latitudes and longitudes appeared again briefly, many of them are inaccurate, for Tifton, and especially for Valdosta. Even Valdosta’s 6.7 million gallon WWTP spill has slightly wrong latitude and longitude.

We know where they all were, and WWALS has been doing some water quality testing. Stay tuned for results.

[Updates on Homerville, Quitman, Tifton, and Valdosta in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2024-04-16-17]
Updates on Homerville, Quitman, Tifton, and Valdosta in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2024-04-16-17

The Tuesday report provides 5,000 gallons for the Rochelle spill.

For the Tifton spills, it provides Continue reading →

Notice: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, Online via zoom, 2024-04-21

Update 2024-04-21: Agenda: WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting, Online via zoom 2024-04-21.

WWALS President Sara Jay will preside over the WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting. The public is invited.

We will be reviewing plans for the Big Little River Paddle Tour, and other outings and events such as the WWALS Webinars, as well as for the next WWALS Gala including the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest. See https://wwals.net/outings. Plus trash, sewage, water quality testing, opposition to mines (titanium, phosphate, and sand), excess water withdrawals, coal ash, pellet plants, and LNG export, as well as promotion of water trails and solar power: see https://wwals.net/issues/ And of course finances and fundraising.

That’s for the entire 10,000 square mile Suwannee River Basin, in Georgia and Florida, including the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Alapahoochee, Little Alapaha, Little times two, New times two, Black, Dead, Sampson, Santa Fe, and Suwannee Rivers, and all their creeks, springs, sinks, ponds, and swamps, such as Grand Bay, Banks Lake and the Okefenokee Swamp.

When: 6 PM, Sunday, April 21, 2024

Where: Online via zoom.

[FB: WWALS Board Meeting, 6-8 PM, Sunday, April 21, 2024]
FB: WWALS Board Meeting, 6-8 PM, Sunday, April 21, 2024

Continue reading →

WWALS @ A Day in the Woods, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Alapaha, GA 2024-04-20

Come see prescribed fire, basket making, longleaf pine trees, snakes, lizards, frogs, and eat food cooked on the spot.

When: Gather 12 PM, launch 1 PM, end 5 PM, Saturday, April 20, 2024

Put In: Gaskins Forest Education Center, 3359 Moore Sawmill Rd., Alapaha, Georgia 31622

GPS: 31.345454, -83.178356

[WWALS Booth at A Day in the Woods 2024-04-20, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Alapaha, Georgia]
WWALS Booth at A Day in the Woods 2024-04-20, Gaskins Forest Education Center, Alapaha, Georgia

Continue reading →

Madison County, Florida, Health advisory for Withlacoochee River about Valdosta sewage spill 2024-04-17

Update 2024-04-18: Dirty creeks, but clean rivers 2024-04-17.

Update 2024-04-18: Updates on Homerville, Quitman, Tifton, and Valdosta in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2024-04-11.

It’s been a long time since the last Health Advisory from the Madison County, Florida, Health Department.

But Valdosta took the risk of guessing how big to make its sewage catch basin, and found out last weekend it was too small.

[Valdosta sewage spill gets Madison Health Advisory 2024-04-17; 1.67 million gallons into Withlacoochee River 2024-04-12]
Valdosta sewage spill gets Madison Health Advisory 2024-04-17; 1.67 million gallons into Withlacoochee River 2024-04-12

WWALS has already been testing the waters. Results soon.

And now FDEP and SRWMD are joining in with Madison DOH.

Received this afternoon.

DOH-MADISON ISSUES HEALTH ADVISORY NEAR WITHLACOOCHEE RIVER

Contact:
Lisa Hayes
Lisa. Hayes@flhealth.gov
850-879-0683

Madison, Fla.— The Florida Department of Health in Madison County (DOH-Madison) has issued a health advisory to residents and visitors near the Withlacoochee River in North Florida due to a wastewater overflow in the City of Valdosta, Georgia, from a recent weather event with excessive rain amounts. Drinking water is not affected by this advisory.

Continue reading →