On WWALS TV radio Scott James and Valdosta Airport Executive Director James Galloway and I discussed alligators, karst limestone, and water levels on the Suwannee, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers. If I have to fly, I much prefer flying out of Valdosta to Atlanta, because if you forget about your pocketknife, security will just ask you if you want to take it to your car.
Before outings, we talked about coal ash and how Continue reading
Update 2019-03-28: Video.
Charlie Walker came by the WWALS booth at Azalea Festival yesterday and invited Gretchen to be on his radio show, Wednesday morning.
When: 8:18 AM, Wednesday, March 11, 2019
Where: 99.5 FM, or listen online.
Gretchen Quarterman at Azalea Festival, Saturday, 9 March 2019.
Gretchen will talk about outings and festivals, such as Continue reading
It turns out Valdosta can schedule a workshop for elected officials to meet with the Valdosta City Council, as the the dozen downstream Florida counties previously requested.
Emma Wheeler, WCTV, 7 March 2019, Task force looks to curb Valdosta sewage spills,
VALDOSTA, Ga. (WCTV) — Communities continue to push for more prevention of spills at Valdosta’s wastewater treatment system.
Several North Florida counties down the river from Valdosta formed a task force last year to try and protect local waterways. The group is now hoping the states can step in to help.
Counties across North Florida and South Georgia are making it a priority to protect the rivers. The task force has passed a Continue reading
Update 2019-03-20: Pictures.
Come help WWALS celebrate spring with 30,000 of our south Georgia and north Florida friends, at the Azalea Festival in Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia. We will have information about our outings and advocacy (yes, including Valdosta wastewater), and pictures for sale Gretchen took of our rivers, plus a kayak raffle.
When:
10AM-6PM Saturday 9 March 2019
10AM-5PM Sunday 10 March 2019
Volunteer: WWALS members can help at the table!
Where:
Drexel Park
30.846771, -83.285066
Patterson at W. Brookwood Drive, Valdosta, GA
(across Patterson from VSU)
That’s on One Mile Branch, which flows into Sugar Creek, then the Withlacoochee River,
the Suwannee, to the Gulf.
Drexel Park is upstream of Wainwright Drive, where
WWALS did a cleanup in November 2017,
and
Valdosta spilled 218,075 gallons of raw sewage.
You can help with cleanups or water quality testing.
Photo: John S. Quarterman, of
Shirley Kokidko and Gretchen Quarterman at Azalea Festival 2018.
What: Our Story, Azalea Festival,
Approximately 30,000 attendees from all over the Southeast come to Valdosta to enjoy Continue reading
For discussion and getting the word out, there’s a new facebook group, Dangerous Liquefied Natural Gas on Trains/Trucks.
In a March 3, 2016, letter, the Federal Railroad Administration warned Florida East Coast Railway of the danger of transporting Liquefied Natural Gas on the same tracks as high-speed passenger rail. What could go wrong? Do the math…. If an LNG container is breached, accidentally or intentionally, the liquid begins to warm, resulting in a Flammable Vapor-Cloud that can be blown around by the wind, igniting everything in its path. In Fernley, Nevada, the Flammable Vapor-Cloud fire from a tanker truck loaded with 10,000 gallons of LNG appeared to have been caused by static electricity. Flames shot 40 feet into the air and fire officials evacuated the area. The fire burned for a couple of days, before eventually burning itself out.
Photo: Howard Salmon, for Tahoe Daily Tribune, of Fernley, NV, LNG tanker truck fire, 2005-09-14
As that facebook group says, if you want to help stop fires like that from happening in Florida or Georgia, you can contribute to the WWALS legal fund for the pending case against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for shirking its inland LNG oversight duty.
Thanks to Continue reading
Update 2018-10-28: Now at State Line Ramp! Yes, we’ve moved downstream, to plenty of water, no deadfalls, plus shoals, in two states (Georgia and Florida) and four counties (Lowndes, Brooks, Madison, and Hamilton).
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hahira, GA, October 8, 2018 — By popular demand at the Hahira Honeybee Festival, WWALS has extended the deadline for early-bird $20 tickets through Saturday, October 13, for the WWALS Boomerang paddle race, coming up Saturday, November 3, 2018. This new event goes downstream and back again on the Withlacoochee River and the west edge of Valdosta, the largest city in the Suwannee River Basin, only a few miles from Valdosta State University. Someone from the Atlantic coast of Florida won our spring BIG Little River Paddle Race this spring, and kayaks or canoes from everywhere are welcome at the Boomerang as well. If you don’t have a boat, two outfitters so far have signed up to supply those. There will be food and drink and music at this WWALS fall paddling festival.
WWALS Boomerang organizer Bobby McKenzie and family with fellow WWALS board
member Dan Phillips
in the parade at the Hahira Honeybee Festival.
Boomerang paddlers will race from Langdale Park Boat Ramp, just off of North Valdosta Road (US 41), down the Withlacoochee River to Sugar Creek Landing, and back upstream. If you don’t want to race, you can just paddle, and if you don’t want to paddle upstream, you can take out onto Gornto Road. Bobby’s four-year-old son finished our other paddle race, so paddlers of all ages are welcome.
For all the details and to get tickets, Continue reading
Thanks to Steve Nichols for having me on The Morning Drive with Steve Nichols, 105.9FM WVGA. We talked about water trails, paddle races, and the Sabal Trail pipeline federal eminent domain jury trials, which were being settled as we spoke. Also we hear the Naylor Boat Ramp will be finished soon by Lowndes County.
As I asked Steve about the three jury trials:
This is about federal eminent domain for the Sabal Trail pipeline.
SN: That’s right.
Now they already built the pipeline. But for these landowners, they sued them for the eminent domain. They do not have a written agreement with the landowners. They have not paid them a cent. But they already built the pipeline. Does that sound right to you? Continue reading
Thursday morning Suwannee Riverkeeper will be on the “top rated morning talk show in south Georgia” with Steve Nichols, talking about paddle outings, water trails, paddle races, and the Sabal Trail pipeline federal eminent domain jury trials going on right now in Valdosta.
When: 8:30AM, Thursday, September 13, 2018,
Where:
The Morning Drive with Steve Nichols, 105.9FM WVGA
Live streamed on the show’s facebook page
Guest: Suwannee Riverkeeper® John S. Quarterman
Host: Valdosta Today bills The Morning Drive with Steve Nichols as:
The top rated morning talk show in south Georgia, Steve Nichols offers both sides of every story from Berrien County to the Beltway, and everywhere in between.
Should be fun. Do tune in.
More: For more WWALS outings and events as they are posted, see the WWALS calendar or the WWALS outings and events web page. WWALS members also get an upcoming list in the Tannin Times newsletter.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Steve Nichols said on the radio yesterday morning:
“It sounds like a wonderful time, to sit there in a great atmosphere, and listen to some good, original music.”
That’s the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest coming up 1-5PM, this Saturday, June 23, 2018 at the Salty Snapper, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602.
“Finalists will play, and will be judged. The prizes will be awarded, and of course the acknowledgment of the sponsors.”
Plus a buffet of snacks prepared by the Salty Snapper, including some vegetarian, all for $10 in advance online, and there will be a silent auction and kayak raffle tickets.
Gretchen Quarterman was on the radio with Steve Nichols, WVGA 105.9FM (I was scheduled, but the flu said otherwise; I’m better now).
Gretchen said you don’t need to write a song, just come listen to the finals this Saturday afternoon, with judges
Plus the Outings Committee has organized a paddle 9AM Saturday morning from Langdale Park to Sugar Creek Landing, just across the railroad tracks from the Salty Snapper, so you can paddle to the songwriting contest. Steve Nichols remarked:
“As a kid, I used to go down that stretch of the river with my friends. When I say as a kid, I was in high school in the early eighties. It would be fun for me to do that trip as a nostalgic trip, and going back and look at that beautiful stretch of river right there.”
Gretchen said the water is high so probably there will be no dragging, and the river is different every time.
Gretchen also showed Steve copies of the metal signs WWALS Outings Chair Phil Hubbard made and planted at Troupville Boat Ramp. She said those would be at all the landings on the Alapaha Water Trail (ARWT) and the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT) as we raise money to put them there.
She showed the metal Sheboggy Boat Ramp signs Phil made to sell so people maybe won’t keep stealing them off the GDOT signposts for their man cave or woman cave.
Here’s a LAKE video playlist:
Videos: Gretchen Quarterman about Songwriting Contest on Steve Nichols radio 105.9FM WVGA 2018-06-18
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS).
I’ll be on the radio Friday morning; stay tuned for a post about that.
For more WWALS outings and events, see the WWALS Calendar or the Outings and Events list.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Tomorrow morning, 8:30AM, Tuesday, June 19, 2018, I’ll be on the radio with Steve Nichols, 105.9FM, talking about the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest coming up 1-5PM, this Saturday, June 23, 2018 at the Salty Snapper, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602. When Gretchen was on his show last month, he said he wanted to hear more, so tomorrow morning it is.
Plus WWALS advocacy, and upcoming paddle outings: Continue reading