The Moultrie Observer printed
the WWALS op-ed Friday 1 August 2014;
that’s still not online.
But the Ocala StarBanner has it online, Sunday 3 August 2014,
Water, property rights over pipeline profits.
Several more newspapers are considering it.
-jsq
This is a long version of the op-ed sent to many newspapers in WWALS’ watersheds; there is also a short version. -jsq
Protesters drove
as far as nine hours to
Leesburg, GA July 10th, where Spectra Energy
lost its eminent domain demand for its Sabal Trail
36-inch, hundred-foot right-of-way natural gas pipeline,
and local landowners countersued.
Spectra hobbled back to Houston, Texas bound by strict conditions for
surveying that one Mitchell County property,
and bound to haunt south Georgia again for a trespass jury trial.
The ensuing flurry of newspaper op-eds by Spectra’s Andrea Grover plus a page-long Sabal Trail interview in the Valdosta Daily Times (VDT), didn’t mention numerous Sabal Trail downsides. Continue reading
This is an op-ed submission sent to many newspapers in WWALS’ watersheds and beyond. There is also a longer version. -jsq
Protesters drove
up to nine hours to
Leesburg, GA July 10th, where Spectra Energy
lost an eminent domain demand for its Sabal Trail
36-inch, hundred-foot right-of-way natural gas pipeline,
and local landowners countersued.
Spectra hobbled back to Houston, Texas, bound by strict conditions for
surveying that one property,
and bound to haunt south Georgia again for a trespass jury trial.
Spectra
bragged in op-eds about 50 public meetings,
never mentioning overwhelming public opposition
in
Moultrie,
Valdosta,
Clyattville,
Madison and elsewhere to
that gash through our fields, forests, and wetlands,
and
under our Withlacoochee River twice.
Sabal Trail’s air quality permit application with Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division met immediate Continue reading
The very effective Georgia Water Coalition (GWC)
invites you to see how it’s done and to come help.
This is not a WWALS event, but WWALS is one of the
216 GWC Partners.
Details via WWALS Ambassador Dave Hetzel:
The Politics of Water: Epic Battles and Endeavors to Protect Georgia’s Water,
Tuesday, June 24 at 7:00 PM
Riverview Landing, Mableton, GeorgiaOn the banks of the Chattahoochee River in conjunction with Paddle Georgia 2014 Continue reading
Filed with FERC 17 December 2013 and on the Ichetucknee Alliance facebook group:
Lucinda F Merritt, Fort White, FL.
The Ichetucknee Alliance (http:// ichetucknee alliance.org) opposes placement of any new natural gas pipelines under, over or through the 5.5-mile long Ichetucknee River, including the area of Ichetucknee Springs State Park, the area of Columbia County that is included in the historic riverbed (the Ichetucknee Trace), and any part of the Ichetucknee Springshed.
The Alliance opposes any new pipelines in these areas for the following reasons.
The river and springs, including Ichetucknee Springs State Park, are Continue reading
Approved by the WWALS Board 13 November 2013. PDF.
From:
WWALS Watershed Coalition
3338 Country Club Road #L336
Valdosta, GA 31605
www.wwals.net
wwalswatershed@gmail.com
18 October 2013
To:
Secretary Sarah McKinley
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
888 First Street N.E
Washington, DC 20426Re: Pre-filing Docket PF14-1 Sabal Trail Transmission
Cc:
Georgia Public Service Commission
Florida Public Service CommissionWWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. opposes the proposed Sabal Trail Transmission gas pipeline that would cut a 100 foot wide gash across our Withlacoochee River and through many wetlands in south Georgia and north Florida, including recharge zones for the Floridan Aquifer that provides our drinking water.
Sabal’s parent company, Spectra Energy, has a safety record that gives no comfort Continue reading
Approved by the WWALS Board by email 17 October 2013.
WWALS Watershed Coalition
3338 Country Club Road #L336
Valdosta, GA 31605
www.wwals.net
wwalswatershed@gmail.com
18 October 2013
To:
Mr. John Crawford
Vice President for Advancement
and Trustee
jdcrawford@valdosta.edu
VSU Foundation
and Board of Trustees
1500 N. Patterson Street
Valdosta, GA 31698
In addition to the points made by S.A.V.E., WWALS would like to add that oil and gas leaks run downhill in our watersheds, fracking for natural gas pollutes groundwater, and fossil fuel energy plants use massive amounts of water that could go for agriculture or drinking. Divestment from fossil fuels by VSU by itself won’t stop leaks or end fracking or shut down coal plants. But it will send a clear signal that our regional state university is leading the shift from fossil fuels to renewable solar and wind power with efficiency and conservation.
Fracking may seem distant, but right now there is a proposed natural gas pipeline from Alabama to Florida that threatens Georgia’s environment and Georgians’ property rights.
We don’t want an exploding pipeline like just happened in Oklahoma.
Perhaps like Harvard President Drew Faust some don’t want to get academic VSU involved in politics. But all our investments are political, and there’s nothing neutral about funding climate wreckage. As S.A.V.E. put it in their letter:
Continue reading
Received Thursday on
Marsh is not land, not here, not at Jekyll Island –WWALS Watershed Coalition -jsq
WWALS Watershed Coalition is on target with its analysis of the Jekyll 65-35 issue! Just a quick glance at the the 65-35 map under consideration by the JIA reveals all —- according to the JIA, ALL of Jekyll’s tidal marsh is above water, as in dry, at mean high tide, and is therefore part of the land area of Jekyll Islnsd subject to the 65-35 law. On-site conditions deny the accuracy of that map, for most of the marsh is actually under water (as in wet) at the time of high tide. The JIA’s map can be viewed at http://www.savejekyllisland.org/MPMOAAMHWPapJuly2013.html
-David Egan
Unanimously approved Wednesday by the WWALS board (PDF). JIA meets next Monday 15 July 2013.
WWALS Watershed Coalition
3338 Country Club Road #L336
Valdosta, GA 31605
www.wwals.net
10 July 2013
To:
Governor Nathan Deal,
Attorney General Sam Olens,
the Jekyll Island Authority,
and the Georgia Legislature
Here in central south Georgia our pocosin swamps and blackwater river flood plains are important for fishing, hunting, wildlife and ecological preservation as well as recreation and flood control. In our watersheds we have serious problems of flooding at least partly due to Continue reading