Tag Archives: quality

Valdosta says it has fixed Baytree Road trash trap sewer leak 2022-07-10

Update 2022-07-27: Valdosta Sewage Spill, Sheri Run, Springhill Drive 2022-07-27.

Update 2022-07-15: Withlacoochee River OK, Cat Creek bad 2022-07-14.

Compliments to Valdosta Utilities for a speedy fix to the Sewer spill at Baytree Road trash trap 2022-07-09. If it really was only 200 gallons, probably very little of it got through Lake Sheri into the Withlacoochee River.

I commend the Valdosta PIO for getting a press release out on a Sunday. WWALS received the press release below at 10:14 PM yesterday, Sunday, July 10, 2022. That’s about 29 hours after Valdosta Utilities got the report of the sewage spill. And about 3 hours after Valdosta City Council Andy Gibbs replied to my tag of him on a facebook picture with the text of this PR. Still, it’s only the day after the spill, so pretty good. Nobody probably liked working on a weekend; I know I had to bump back some other stuff to deal with this spill, including getting up at 3AM to finish preparations for a board meeting. But weather and sewage spills don’t wait on weekends or vacations.

Meanwhile, this PR is still not on the city’s website, facebook, or twitter. Update 2022-07-12 Council Andy Gibbs points out it is on the city’s website; turns out you can find it from the front page by drilling down on Recent News; I had tried the front page and the Utilities page. As the location it gives only vague “2000 block of Baytree Road”, even though it’s pretty hard to miss that decade-old fancy-model trash trap on Sheri Run above Lake Sheri, at 2133 Baytree Road, Valdosta, GA 31602.

[More-sewage-across-baytree-road-trash-trap]
More sewage across Baytree Road trash trap; Photo: Bobby McKenzie, July 9, 2022.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
DATE: Friday[sic], July 10, 2022
CONTACT: Sharah Denton, Community Relations & Marketing Manager
Telephone: (229) 259-3548
sdenton@valdostacity.com Continue reading →

Sewer spill at Baytree Road trash trap 2022-07-09

Update 2022-07-11: Valdosta says it has fixed Baytree Road trash trap sewer leak 2022-07-10.

Two manholes are spewing sewage next to Baytree Road and Sheri Run, upstream from Lake Sheri and the Withlacoochee River.

[Manhole, trash trap, Sheri Run]
Manhole, trash trap, Sheri Run

Couple of WWALS members went to see Valdosta’s decade-old trash trap on Baytree Road at Sheri Run, and found this sewage spill about 5:20 PM today, Saturday, July 8, 9, 2022. Yes, they did report it to Valdosta Utilities.

Hear them gag at the smell: Continue reading →

Five Rivers Clean 2022-07-07

Update 2022-07-15: Withlacoochee River OK, Cat Creek bad 2022-07-14.

According to ten WWALS Thursday test sites on five rivers, and Madison Health lifting their Withlacoochee River Health Advisory, five rivers tested clean Thursday.

There was substantial rain yesterday, but since previous rains probably washed off the worst stuff, most likely there won’t be much effect on the rivers.

Happy boating, swimming, and fishing this weekend!

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

The most recent Valdosta data Continue reading →

WaterGoat cleanout 2022-07-03

Thanks to Russell Allen McBride for volunteering to clean out the WaterGoat trash boom on Sugar Creek that Valdosta bought. This is a temporary stopgap until Valdosta makes more complete plans to keep this trash from washing into the nearby Withlacoochee River, plus plans to stop trash from getting into the creeks.

Thanks again to Valdosta for buying the WaterGoat. I have said Thank You twice in City Council meetings, once in an op-ed in the Valdosta Daily Times, numerous times here, and in emails and telephone messages to city staff, Council, and Mayor.

[Before, during, and after]
Before, during, and after

However, apparently there is still confusion inside the city government as to cleaning out that WaterGoat. Once again: Continue reading →

Still clean: Withlacoochee River 2022-07-05

Update 2022-07-09: Five Rivers Clean 2022-07-07.

All six of the WWALS samples for yesterday were clean, over 55 Withlacoochee River miles in Georgia and Florida. Plus it turns out FDEP tested three spots last Thursday.

Happy swimming, boating, and fishing.

As mentioned in the previous post, there was significant rain just upstream of Valdosta yesterday, so conditions could change rapidly. But since we’ve already seen first flush after a long dry spell, I’d guess we won’t see anything that’s much of a problem, probably not even much cattle manure down Okapilco Creek out of Brooks County, GA.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide]
Chart, River, Swim Guide

Thanks to Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River water quality good again 2022-07-03

Update 2022-07-06: Still clean: Withlacoochee River 2022-07-05.

Turns out Valdosta did test during the holiday weekend, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. They finally posted their Friday results on their website yesterday. Saturday and Sunday we know because Madison Health sent them to WWALS. There is nothing about them on Valdosta’s own website, facebook, or twitter. A report of Valdosta’s Thursday sewage spill finally did show up in GA-EPD’s Sewage Spills Report, but it is lacking key information.

These Valdosta results mostly match what WWALS found through the weekend.

So by the most recent WWALS and Valdosta results, the Withlacoochee River is clean again. The three different contamination sources from Thursday seem to have all gotten diluted. The other two were probably agricultural, including the usual cattle manure down Okapilco Creek from Brooks County, Georgia.

Happy boating, swimming, and fishing.

There was some heavy rain last night just north of Valdosta, so conditions could change rapidly. However, we’ve already had the first flush after the recent dry spell, so I’d guess the rain won’t have much effect on river water quality. Continue reading →

Madison Health Advisory, Withlacoochee River 2022-07-02

Update 2022-07-03: Withlacoochee River OK water quality except GA 133 2022-07-02.

Madison County, Florida, Health Department yesterday afternoon issued a Withlacoochee River health alert.

I hear that Madison Blue Spring is closed to swimming because of this alert. WWALS tested yesterday to attempt to find out how bad the problem really is; results later today.

To completely avoid the problem, I suggest putting in at Gibson Park on the Suwannee River and paddling down to Suwannee River State Park. Or try the Santa Fe, Ichetucknee, Little, Alapaha or Alapahoochee Rivers. WWALS has a rugged Alapahoochee paddle coming up next Saturday.

[Madison Health and Valdosta warnings]
Madison Health and Valdosta warnings

Madison Health based the alert solely on Valdosta’s 127,750 gallon sewage spill of Thursday afternoon. But remember, there was already Continue reading →

PFAS testing, Withlacoochee River, Georgia and Florida 2022-06-30

Update 2022-10-18: Forever chemicals contaminate Withlacoochee River in Georgia and Florida 2022-10-18.

Update 2022-07-03: Withlacoochee River OK water quality except GA 133 2022-07-02.

WWALS Science Committee Chair Dr. Tom Potter and I took PFAS samples at four locations on the Withlacoochee River Thursday.

We shipped the samples to Cyclopure, a company with which Waterkeeper Alliance got a deal for test kits for all U.S. Waterkeepers.

We picked Thursday because it was after big rains Wednesday, reported in some places nearby as up to four inches. So if any of those forever chemicals were washing off of fields fertilized with biosolids, or coming out of Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant, or just left over from Moody Air Force Base’s spills it documented in 2016, maybe we will detect them.

[PFAS testing and locations]
PFAS testing and locations

Suwannee Riverkeeper got two kits: for Georgia and Florida. Each kit has two test sets, for upstream and downstream of likely contamination sources. Continue reading →

Bad Water Quality, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-30

Update 2022-07-03: PFAS testing, Withlacoochee River, Georgia and Florida 2022-06-30.

Update 2022-07-03: Madison Health Advisory, Withlacoochee River 2022-07-02.

Please avoid the Withlacoochee River this weekend, at least downstream from Hagan Bridge (GA 122). Try the Little River or the Alapaha, or the Suwannee upstream of the Withlacoochee River Confluence.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide 2022-06-30]
Chart, River, Swim Guide 2022-06-30

There was already contamination washed into the river by rain up to 4 inches in spots, according to Valdosta’s Wednesday results at US 41 and GA 133: 1,000 cfu/100 mL and 2,000 cfu/100 mL, where 1,000 is the alert level.

Then Valdosta had a major sewage spill. Continue reading →

Valdosta Press Release about Gornto Road sewage spill 2022-07-01

Update 2022-07-01: Three reasons (including Valdosta) for Bad Water Quality, Withlacoochee River 2022-06-30.

Better late than never, Valdosta has announced its major Gornto Road Pump Station spill.

But the press release doesn’t say when the spill started or ended, doesn’t even say precisely where (“at the 2400 block of Gornto Road”) and apparently the city didn’t even discover this spill itself: “the City of Valdosta received notification”. Also no pictures, so I’ve used one of Scotti Jay’s.

[Gate.]
Gate.

Received via email at 9:19 AM, Friday, July 1, 2022.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
DATE: Friday, July 1, 2022
CONTACT: Sharah Denton, Community Relations & Marketing Manager
Telephone: (229) 259-3548
sdenton@valdostacity.com
www.valdostacity.com

On Thursday, June 30th, 2022, the City of Valdosta received notification of a possible ruptured sewer line at the 2400 block of Gornto Road. It was determined after review that a seal from the discharge side of the lift station had ruptured, which caused the issue. City staff were able to isolate the damaged seal and repair it. An estimated 127,750 gallons of discharge was released. Utility crews worked into the evening and captured a portion of the discharge. Staff immediately began cleanup and disinfecting at this overflow location. All appropriate regulatory and public health agencies have been notified, and warning signs have been posted.

Continue reading →