Tag Archives: quality

Valdosta city trash, parking lots, ordinances, WaterGoat, and cleanups –WTXL TV 2023-12-18

Update 2024-03-06: WTXL TV report and Pictures: Valdosta WWTP water quality lab ribbon cutting 2024-03-05.

Valdosta is the main waterway trash problem in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia and Florida. Which gives the City government an opportunity to fix that problem.

[Valdosta trash is not like other cities]
Valdosta trash is not like other cities

Malia Thomas, WTXL, December 18, 2023, Area group pushes code enforcement for dealing with Valdosta’s trash,

WWALS Watershed Coalition is pushing the City of Valdosta to strictly enforce ordinances as a means of keeping the streets clean.

The video starts with WTXL Reporter Malia Thomas pointing at trash in a parking lot. Continue reading →

PFAS in the Santa Fe River Basin in Florida

Some people are interested in whether PFAS from titanium dioxide (TiO2) mines or other sources is getting into the New or Santa Fe Rivers in Florida.

For example, the new Chemours Trail Ridge South Mine southeast of Starke, Florida, appears to drain into Double Run Creek, which runs into the Santa Fe River.

[PFAS in Santa Fe River from TiO2 Mines?]
PFAS in Santa Fe River from TiO2 Mines?
Detail from WWALS map of the Suwannee River Water Trail.

We don’t know about those rivers yet, because nobody has tested them. We do have a few datapoints for a few city drinking water systems, and they’re all clean, although Newberry, just outside the Basin, is not.

No doubt it is possible to find that data in FDEP’s Oculus Document Management System, in the same way it is possible to win a jackpot in Las Vegas. If you already know about six very specific parameters, sure, Oculus will find it. Continue reading →

Three Clean Rivers 2024-01-04

Update 2024-01-13: Valdosta sewage spill, Three Mile Branch, Withlacoochee River 2024-01-10.

We got excellent results for eleven sites on three rivers for Thursday: Alapaha, Withlacoochee, and Santa Fe. Valdosta’s Wednesday results on the Withlacoochee River in Georgia concurred. Even Valdosta’s weekly test results on Knights Creek concurred.

However, there was almost an inch of rain upstream this Saturday morning, so that may have washed E. coli into the rivers, but probably not a lot.

More rain is predicted starting tomorrow. Meanwhile, the rivers are back down to reasonable levels. So if you don’t mind being chilly, happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend, and once again Happy New Year!

Please join us on zoom this Thursday as Fannie Gibbs kicks off the new WWALS Webinar series.

Please join us in two weeks for a Sunday Langdale Park to Sugar Creek Chainsaw Cleanup, Withlacoochee River 2024-01-21.

[Chart, Rivers, Map 2024-01-04]
Chart, Rivers, Map 2024-01-04

In the last week, no pollution spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida.

And no new ones in Georgia. But GA-EPD corrected the December 11 Valdosta major spill location on December 28 to 1850 E Park Ave. That’s better, since that is where the problem sewer line is. I still don’t know why latlong GPS coordinates cannot also be included. Florida requires them for every report.

On January 2, GA-EPD corrected the December 17 Quitman wastewater plant lift station spill to Quitman instead of DeKalb County.

Thanks, GA-EPD, for the corrections, after Suwannee Riverkeeper asked you to look into it. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers, dirty Sugar Creek 2023-12-28

Update 2024-01-06: Three Clean Rivers 2024-01-04.

We got good results for two sites on the Santa Fe River for Wednesday, and bad results on Sugar Creek of the Withlacoochee River, plus excellent results for two Withlacoochee River sites for Thursday. All the other WWALS testers are off for the holidays, but Valdosta’s Wednesday results on the Withlacoochee River in Georgia were good.

There has been no significant rain in a week, so the E. coli washed into the rivers by the previous big rains has gotten diluted or washed downstream.

No more rain is predicted until Thursday, and the rivers are back down to reasonable levels. So if you don’t mind being chilly, happy fishing, swimming, and boating this weekend, and Happy New Year! Continue reading →

Fannie Gibbs Begins WWALS Webinars 2024-01-11

Update 2024-01-14: Video: Fannie Gibbs Begins WWALS Webinars 2024-01-11.

Hahira, Georgia, December 26, 2023 — WWALS Webinars is a new monthly series of lunchtime talks via zoom about topics related to the Suwannee River Basin.

On Thursday, January 11, 2024, from noon to 1PM, we are starting with Fannie Marie Jackson Gibbs of Brooks County, Georgia, long active in issues near the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, especially involving African-American family history. She will talk about the ongoing sewage problems in Quitman, the annual Juneteenth celebrations she organizes at Reed Bingham State Park Lake where WWALS brings boats, family history, and anything else she wants to discuss.

[Fannie Gibbs in a boat at Reed Bingham State Park, Junteenth 2020]
Fannie Gibbs in a boat at Reed Bingham State Park, Junteenth 2020

“We thank Fannie Gibbs for speaking at WWALS River Revue 2023 in September, and we welcome her back to speak longer in this first WWALS Webinar,” said WWALS President Sara Jay Jones.

“I’m honored to have worked with Fannie for many years, and I hope you will all zoom in to hear what she has to say,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAuf-igpjsuG9JKDeCUtmqgxujGcIkFZIz3 Continue reading →

Bad water quality, Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2023-12-21

Update 2023-12-28: Clean Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers, dirty Sugar Creek 2023-12-28.

We got bad results for three sites on two rivers in Florida for Wednesday, Withlacoochee and Santa Fe. Plus Valdosta’s Wednesday results at US 84 in Georgia on the Withlacoochee were also bad.

Last weekend’s rain was much more than the previous weekend, and the E. coli washed into the rivers did not get diluted or wash downsgtream nearly as quickly.

There’s been no more rain since Sunday, and no more predicted until Monday. And it’s cold and the rivers are near flood.

So I’d suggest staying off the rivers until maybe Sunday. All of the rivers: they all got 2 or more inches of rain. And we have never seen a too-high result for the Santa Fe River until this week, nor for the downstream Holly Point Withlacoochee River site. Continue reading →

End date and waterway affected of Valdosta 425,000 gallon sewage spill 2023-12-11

Update 2024-01-28: Valdosta Knights Creek water quality test results in Four more Valdosta sewage spills 2023-12-17.

Update 2023-12-22: Bad water quality, Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2023-12-21.

The Valdosta written report about its December 11, 2023, 425,000-gallon sewage spill, received in response to a WWALS open records request to GA-EPD, contains some information that was not in the Valdosta press release. Including a bit more about corrective action than was in the reports of the two previous spills.

Plus Valdosta has started posting water quality test results upstream and down from the spill location.

More about that and the spill location below.

[Valdosta Report, Map, GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report, Valdosta Water Quality Results]
Valdosta Report, Map, GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report, Valdosta Water Quality Results

Here’s the spill report. As you can see, it has both the start and stop dates and times of the spill: start 9:30 AM December 11, end 6 PM December 14. GA-EPD also returned the Valdosta Utilities cover letter of the report, which was sent Friday, December 15, 2023 2:20 PM. Which confirms what Valdosta Utilities Acting Director Jason Barnes told me on the phone: the report went in (and the Valdosta press release went out) after the spill stopped.

The affected waterway is identified, as “Knights Creek/Mud Creek”, and the creek is also named at the top of the report:
“MAJOR SPILL REPORT TO EPD Knights Creek Sanitary Sewer Spill.”

As you know, Knights Creek flows into Mud Swamp Creek, then the Alapahoochee River, the Alapaha River in Florida, and the Suwannee River, on the way to the Gulf of Mexico.

The report gives the cause as equipment failure, not blamed on the contractor:
“CAUSE OF MAJOR SPILL: Bypass pump failure and Hydraulic Overload”

And there is more about what the city did and what it plans to do to prevent such spills. Continue reading →

Valdosta reports to GA-EPD about two recent sewage spills 2023-12-02

Update 2023-12-20: End date and waterway affected of Valdosta 425,000 gallon sewage spill 2023-12-11.

In Valdosta’s written reports to GA-EPD about a couple of recent sewage spills, we find a few more details. Details that were not in GA-EPD’s Sewage Spills Report or in Valdosta’s press release about the one that had a press release.

The December 4, E. Park Ave. 7,500 gallon spill had no Valdosta press release. The report Valdosta sent GA-EPD says, “CAUSE OF OVERFLOW: Contractor owned/operated pumps for city projects bypass were turned down for unknown reason by contractor. Allowed Infiltration and Inflow to overwhelm system.”

Also, “ CORRECTIVE ACTION TAKEN TO MITIGATE OR TO REDUCE ADVERSE EFFECTS: Central Maintenance Operators directed Contractor to increase pump speed to deal with backup. Pumps at maximum to deal with flow, no issue.”

And, “CORRECTIVE ACTION TAKEN TO PREVENT FUTURE SPILL: Contractor to be counseled on new SOPs for private pump monitoring and usage on City Bypass systems. Any other action TBD.”

And GA-EPD has provided a bit more information beyond that, including willingness to get more precision on spill location and affected waterway from the reporting organization.

[Two Valdosta sewage spill reports to GA-EPD]
Two Valdosta sewage spill reports to GA-EPD

Eddy Basileo of GA-EPD’s Municipal Compliance Unit, Watershed Compliance, Watershed Protection Branch, answered early Monday morning two of the three Georgia Open Records Act (GORA) requests I sent over the weekend. The response included the emails from Valdosta Acting Utilities Director Jason Barnes that delivered those reports to GA-EPD. They read: Continue reading →

Videos: Testing three sites in Florida and Georgia, Withlacoochee River 2023-12-14

Update 2023-12-22: Bad water quality, Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2023-12-21.

On the way back from a day in High Springs, Florida, and at springs on the Ichetucknee River, I collected water quality samples from three Withlacoochee River sites.

[Three test sites, samples, and results, Withlacoochee River 2023-12-14]
Three test sites, samples, and results, Withlacoochee River 2023-12-14

The sites are: Sullivan Launch at CR 150 in Madison County, Florida, State Line Boat Ramp at GA 31 in Lowndes County, Georgia, and Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp on the road of the same name, also in Lowndes County.

I had intended to test Knights Ferry Boat Ramp as well, but my bucket broke at Nankin, so that was it for that night.

Here is a video:
https://youtu.be/IR4PK7dR1JE

Continue reading →

Three Clean Rivers 2023-12-14

Update 2023-12-22: Bad water quality, Withlacoochee and Santa Fe Rivers 2023-12-21.

Update 2023-12-15: Videos: Testing three sites in Florida and Georgia, Withlacoochee River 2023-12-14.

Update 2023-12-15: Yet another Valdosta E. Park Ave. sewage spill near Knights Creek 2023-12-11.

We got clean results for a dozen sites on three rivers in two states for Thursday: Withlacoochee, Alapaha, and Suwannee.

Valdosta saw far too much E. coli in the Withlacoochee River for Mondayafter 2-4 inches of rain, but cleaner for Wednesday.

The rest of this week had little or no rain. The next rain is predicted for tomorrow (Saturday).

So if you want to avoid E. coli, best to go early Saturday and be off the river before noon, yet still expect to get wet.

You’ll probably find cleaner water on the Suwannee or Santa Fe than the Withlacoochee River.

Of course, if the rain is small, as in less than half an inch, there may be few ill effects. But if we get another 1- or 2-inch rain, beware.

[Chart, Clean Rivers, Map 2023-12-14]
Chart, Clean Rivers, Map 2023-12-14

In the last week, no pollution spills were reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Florida.

In Valdosta, Georgia, a major spill of 450,000 gallons happened at one of the usual locations, near 1800 E. Park Ave. and Knights Creek, which flows into Mud Creek, the Alapahoochee River, and the Alapaha River. The press release says Valdosta Utilities discovered the spill Monday, December 11. It doesn’t say the spill did not end until yesterday, December 14, the day before the press release of today. I will file an open records request with GA-EPD for the report Valdosta Utilities sent them, to get the rest of the details.

Kimberly Godden Tanner got good Thursday results for the Alapaha River at Lakeland Boat Ramp and Naylor Park Beach. She says, “Both locations looked great. They are doing a great job at trash collection these days.”

Cindy Vedas tested the Withlacoochee River at her usual sites of Franklinville, Crawford Branch at Skipper Bridge Road, Staten Road, and Langdale Park, and got good results at all of them.

John S. Quarterman tested the Withlacoochee River at Clyattville-Nankin Boat Ramp, State Line Boat Ramp, and Sullivan Launch, and got good results.

Russ Tatum tested the Withlacoochee River at Holly Point, between Allen Ramp and the Suwannee River, and got excellent results.

Reina Lingle got good results for the Suwannee River at Royal Springs and Ivey Memorial Park in Branford, Florida.

WWALS Testing Committee Chair Suzy Hall reviewed all the results and some were recalibrated in the ensuing discussion.

WWALS Executive Director Gretchen Quarterman delivered testing supplies to several testers and trained several.

If you want to get trained to be a WWALS water quality tester, please fill out the form:
https://wwals.net/?p=47084

As previously noted, Valdosta’s last downstream tests were September 1, 2023. Continue reading →