Update 2022-03-02: Trash beyond fence not finished at Flying J, I-75 exit 2 2022-02-26.
Thanks, Flying J and Lowndes County Code Enforcement, for finishing cleaning up what was a huge mess of trash at Exit 2 on I-75 in Lowndes County, Georgia.
Back in August, a WWALS member called Code Enforcement, and I followed up. Code Enforcement responded quickly, came to an agreement with the company, and Continue reading
Update 2019-12-19: Still dirty at GA 133 Bridge, Withlacoochee River 2019-12-19.
It looks like Valdosta’s record raw sewage spill may finally be washing downstream after the recent small rains.
![[Sugar Creek via Ga 133 to US 84]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-17--wq-testing-ga-133-withlacoochee/map.jpg)
Sugar Creek via Ga 133 to US 84, Withlacoochee River with the GA 133 bridge highlighted,
on the WWALS
map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.
Valdosta’s numbers went way down at Gornto Road on Sugar Creek on Sunday, December 15 and Monday, December 16, in this table the Valdosta City Clerk sent this data today in response to my open records request: Continue reading
Update 2019-12-18: Valdosta sewage at GA 133 on Withlacoochee River? 2019-12-17.
There’s good news from the recent WWALS water quality tests that fill in the gap between Valdosta’s water quality testing inside Valdosta and at US 84 in Lowndes County, Georgia, and SRWMD’s testing in Florida. Valdosta’s sewage had not even reached US 84 as of 5 PM yesterday, Monday, December 16, 2019.
![[Looking down]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-16--wq-testing-fl-campsites-us84/20191216_165346.jpg)
Looking down onto the rapids above US 84 bridge.
You can donate to the WWALS water quality testing program and help pay for the Petrifilms and other equipment.
For Sunday, December 15, Suzy Hall found 100 cfu/100 ml E. coli at Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, 33 at Nankin Boat Ramp, and 100 at State Line Boat Ramp. Those numbers are higher than the zeros I got for Wednesday, December 11, at Knights Ferry and Nankin, and the zero Sara Jay got for that Wednesday at State Line. However, Suzy’s Sunday numbers are Continue reading
Update 2019-12-17: WWALS Water Quality Testing US 84 & FL Campsites, Withlacoochee River 2019-12-16.
Here is Valdosta’s water quality testing data since the spill was discovered.
Apparently the spill was so bad it actually went upstream on Hightower Creek to St. Augustine Road, judging by the 1530 Fecal coliform cfu/100 ml reading on December 10th and 1275 on December 11th. Sugar Creek at Gornto Road was 5100 that day, and 8100 on December 11th. A reading of 1000 indicates a real problem. This was far worse.
The good news is that the levels are decreasing at those sampling stations.
The better news is that the sewage had not made it downstream even as far as US 84 (Valdosta sampling) or anywhere on the Withlacoochee or Suwannee Rivers in Florida (SRWMD sampling) as of December 15, 2019. (WWALS already got SRWMD’s data from Wednesday, December 12, 2019 last week and published it).
You may notice a big gap between US 84 and CR 150 (Sullivan Launch). We have already published some WWALS data for Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps, in which we also did not yet see the Valdosta sewage. More will follow today.
You can donate to help pay for the Petrifilms and other equipment.
Also notice that the Florida Department of Health titles this: “SITUATION REPORT – Dec 3 2019 Valdosta Sewage Spill”. So apparently Valdosta’s record-largest raw sewage spill started Tuesday, December 3rd, not Continue reading
U.S. EPA still finds that “the proposed project will have a substantial and unacceptable impact on aquatic resources of national importance.”
That’s about “the permit application submitted by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC” for a titanium strip mine. “The proposed 2,414-acre mine area lies in proximity to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), and the potential secondary effects of the mine on the NWR have not been demonstrated by the permit applicant.”
You, too, can still comment to the USACE, and all comments they receive before the Corps announces a decision can be used in any potential lawsuits.
Update 2019-12-17: City of Valdosta Water Quality Testing, Gornto Rd., US 84 2019-12-12.
Good news: WWALS data from the Withlacoochee River matches SRWMD data from the Suwannee River. Both showed clean of E. coli bacteria. This is mystifying: where is the sewage from Valdosta’s record largest sewage spill? So we’ve got WWALS data and SRWMD data posted. Valdosta, where is your data?
Results of WWALS testing Wednesday: zero (no) E. coli at State Line Boat Ramp, Nankin Boat Ramp, and Knights Ferry Boat Ramp showed zero (0) at all three locations.
You can donate to help pay for the Petrifilms and other equipment.
![[Sean McCarthy, Scotti Jay, Sara Jay]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-11--wq-testing-withlacoochee/20191211_151242.jpg)
Sean McCarthy, Scotti Jay, Sara Jay at State Line Ramp.
This is not what we expected.
Our Petrifilm and incubator methods are not as precise as Florida’s fancy methods, as in we don’t usually detect levels as low as what Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) reported yesterday, so our zeroes are Continue reading
Update 2019-12-13: WWALS water quality data on the Withlacoochee River down to the state line.
The record Valdosta sewage spill had not reached Florida yet as of today, according to timely notification of water quality sampling results by the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD).
WWALS has some reason to believe the spill had reached Knights Ferry by Saturday. More on that below. And further WWALS bacterial results from yesterday should be available tomorrow morning. You can donate to the WWALS water quality testing program to help defray the costs of this emergency and our regular testing.
Meanwhile, where are Valdosta’s results? They’re supposed to be testing daily after a major spill. Why aren’t they publishing their results? I will file an open records request tomorrow, but why should that be necessary?
Received 5:01 PM today, December 12, 2019:
Hello Mr. Quarterman,
I don’t know if Julie was able to get back to you. I know that she has been in meetings the past several days. Here is the update on sampling efforts that I have as of now:
![[Valdosta to Branford]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-12--srwmd-wq-data/vld-branford.jpg)
Valdosta to Branford, in WWALS map of all public landings in the Suwannee River Basin.
- Dec 9: FL agencies were notified of the spill around 5:30pm.
- Dec 10: FDEP sampled Withlacoochee at Continue reading
Update 2019-12-12: SRWMD water quality data, Withlacoochee River, after Valdosta record sewage 2019-12-12
Valdosta’s biggest-ever sewage spill was “Behind the Target, next to the creek,” which we deduce was at 30.842906, -83.312762, as shown here on the WWALS map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT). Also near the bottom right you can see the Remer Lane Pump Station that failed and caused this problem.
![[Spill and Remer Lane Pump Station]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-09--vld-spill/spill-and-pump-station.jpg)
Spill and Remer Lane Pump Station
This spill finally did show up in GA-EPD’s Sewage Spills Report for December 10, after Continue reading
Update 2019-12-12: You can donate to the WWALS water quality testing program to help defray costs of testing, especially after this record Valdosta sewage spill.
Update 2019-12-11: Where the spill was.
While I was congratulating Valdosta Utilities Director Darryl Muse Thursday evening on no spills for months, Valdosta’s biggest-ever raw sewage spill was apparently already happening, and even he didn’t know.
Yet again Valdosta failed to adequately inform the public, or, for that matter, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division.
Photo: Julie Bowland, of Valdosta sewage spill sign at Troupville Boat Ramp, 21 December 2018.
The 7,592,910 gallons of raw sewage spilled this time is more than the 6,273,595 gallons Valdosta spilled in two dozen incidents last December.
It’s 3.45 times Continue reading
Update 2019-12-10: Valdosta’s biggest spill ever: sewage into Sugar Creek, Withlacoochee River 2019-12-09.
Yet another sewage spill from Valdosta, with no email notification from Valdosta, nothing on the City of Valdosta website, nothing in spills reported to GA-EPD, and nothing on the Hamilton or Madison County, Florida Department of Health websites.
So how do we know? It’s being mailed around from the facebook pages of Madison County Emergency Management and Madison County Florida Board of County Commissioners.
December 9, 2019
HEALTH OFFICIALS IN HAMILTON,
MADISON COUNTY ADVISE OF POSSIBLE
WASTEWATER CONTAMINATION IN THE
WITHLACOOCHEE RIVERPossible Impacts from Valdosta, GA Wastewater Overflow Continue reading
![[Fence keeping trash in]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-10--flying-j-exit-2/20191210_140540.jpg)
![[Testing locations]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-16--vld-sewage-release/12-16-2019-SitRep--Valdosta-Sewage-Release_html_b3d0ecfa68756e3d.jpg)
![[the proposed project will have a substantial and unacceptable impact on aquatic resources of national importance.]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-10-03--epa-usace-tpm/SCAN0007-0001.jpg)