Tag Archives: river

Trash in Valdosta Two Mile Branch Watershed Management Plan, November 2007

Update 2023-03-27: Correction: Pickleball courts to be on other side of Two Mile Branch from 2007-proposed detention pond 2023-03-07.

The City of Valdosta has planned to do something about trash in Two Mile Branch since at least 2007, as part of a Watershed Management Plan, that appeared to grow out of a GA-EPD action. Most of those planned actions do not seem to have happened, despite a table of projects and an implementation schedule. And despite some of them turning up again as merely “proposed” in a 2010 plan. At least one of them will never happen, because the city has found a source of funds for a completely different project on the same site.

I urge the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) not to be satisfied with plans.

Actions are what count.

Two Mile Branch: plans are not enough

I commend the City of Valdosta for its plans for a trash trap on Two Mile Branch at Berkley Drive and at Oak Street. There is some reason to believe these actions will happen, thanks to City Engineer Ben O’Dowd.

I urge anyone who can to come to the Two Mile Branch cleanup between those locations, 8-11 AM this Saturday, March 25, 2023:
https://wwals.net/?p=61338

First let’s go back to 2007 to see why plans are not enough: only actions count.

This map includes as BMPs (Best Management Practices) detention ponds on Two Mile Branch at Berkley Drive (15) and above Oak Street (18), the same locations where Valdosta is now planning, sixteen years later, to finally do something. The map even includes additional ponds below St. Johns School (27) and on Canna Drive (18). I see no sign any of these projects actually happened. Continue reading →

Pictures: Jennings Bluff Florida State Geological Site with Dead River Sink 2023-03-17

Update 2023-05-01: Alapaha Swallets Dye Trace Project 2016-10-01.

A congenial time was had by all on a balmy north Florida day at the Dead River Sink (or swallet) as the Florida Geological Survey incorporated it into the new Jennings Bluff Tract State Geological Site.

Jennings Bluff State Geological Site and Dead River Sink 2023-03-17

The Dead River Sink in the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) Jennings Bluff Tract is one of the most popular spots for WWALS outings on the Alapaha River Water Trail.

Here is a WWALS video playlist by Gretchen Quarterman, who also took the still pictures except where otherwise indicated:
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKwQ5xfKf-QwFQi2rSRU59BUHPbSkTdVW

Continue reading →

All nine Riverkeepers of Georgia oppose the mining permit applications by Twin Pines Minerals too near the Okefenokee Swamp 2023-03-09

I sent this at 4:08 PM today to TwinPines.Comment@dnr.ga.gov:

“Please find attached a letter of opposition by all nine Riverkeepers of Georgia to the mining permit applications by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC.”

See also the letter by Waterkeepers Florida, representing all fifteen Waterkeepers of Florida. It includes links to the letters by Suwannee and St. Marys Waterkeepers.

You can still send in your own comment.

While the comment period on the Mining Land Use Plan nominally closes at 4:30 PM today, that same address has been open for comments for a year or more, and will probably remain open.

Plus GA-EPD has said that if there is a draft permit, they will open another 60-day public comment period.

Meanwhile, all the Waterkeepers of Georgia and Florida oppose that strip mine for white paint, and support the Okefenokee Swamp, the St. Marys and Suwannee Rivers, and the Floridan Aquifer.

The GA Riverkeepers letter

The letter is below in web form, or see it as PDF. Continue reading →

WWALS Public Comments on Mining Land Use Plan of Twin Pines Minerals, LLC, too near the Okefenokee Swamp 2023-03-17

March 17, 2023

Land Protection Branch,
4244 International Parkway,
Atlanta Tradeport- Suite 104,
Atlanta, Georgia 30354

twinpines.comment@dnr.ga.gov

RE: WWALS Public Comments on Mining Land Use Plan of Twin Pines Minerals, LLC (PDF)

Dear EPD,

This letter recommends denying the permit applications by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC (TPM) to mine for titanium dioxide (TiO2) near the Okefenokee Swamp, based on specifics of the Mining Land Use Plan,1 as requested in the Notice of the Opportunity for Public Comment.2

Please deny the mining permits

Why this decision is important far away

First, we present some context for why this decision is important far away from the Okefenokee Swamp.

Any lowered water level or dewatering of the surface around the Swamp increases the risk of fires. The 2007 Bugaboo fire spread smoke west across the Suwannee River Basin, causing respiratory distress 80 miles away in Quitman, continuing 450 miles to Meridian, Mississippi. Southwards the smoke closed I-75 and went 370 miles to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. North it went 250 miles to Atlanta.

During the 2017 West Mims fire, Lowndes County Fire (along with Valdosta and its other cities, and nearby counties) sent assistance from 75 miles away. They were among 900 firefighters from across the country.3 “There’s nobody Continue reading →

Beyond cleanups: trash traps, ordinances, business permits, reusable substitutes, bottle deposits, and single-use packaging bans 2023-02-05

Update 2023-12-23: The Real Trash Problem is the Producers, and How to Stop It 2023-12-23.

Update 2023-03-29: Trash still dribbling from 2695 N Ashley St into Two Mile Branch 2023-02-24.

Every Waterkeeper and many local and even state governments brag about trash cleanups. Cleanups need to be done, but actually they are the least effective way to deal with trash. They do not stop trash; they just remove it once it blows off roads or parking lots or floats downstream.

So let’s look up, to see more effective solutions.

Solid waste management hierarchy

Here WWALS has adapted an industry-standard waste management hierarchy diagram. We’ve gone farther than just cleaning up, containing, or even reusing the trash. Our diagram goes all the way up to stopping it being produced.

Let’s start at the pointy bottom of the pyramid. Continue reading →

Yet another Valdosta sewage spill into Knights Creek 2023-02-22

Update 2023-03-02: Valdosta February 2023 sewage spills, plus Ashburn 2023-03-01.

The third sewage Valdosta sewage spill at the same location happened last Wednesday, and Valdosta got around to telling the public five days later.

Knights Creek to Alapaha River, E. Park Ave., US 84

Received 5:11 PM yesterday.

Collapsed Sewer Line Spillage Update

On Wednesday evening, February 22, 2023, during routine inspections of manholes upstream of the recent collapsed 20” sanitary sewer main, city staff observed a wastewater overflow near the 1800 block of East Park Avenue at the site of a previous sewer spill occurring on February 20, 2023. Upon investigation, it was determined that bypass pumping operation installations and unknown sediment blockages were likely the cause of the spill. City staff and a local contractor continue to work around the clock to adjust and remove blockages to stop and prevent any spills and make repairs to the collapsed sewer main. An estimated 119,000 gallons of wastewater was released into the wetland watershed area adjacent to Knights Creek. City staff immediately began cleanup and disinfecting at the overflow location. All appropriate regulatory and public health agencies have been notified, and warning signs have been posted.

The rest of this sewage spill press release is the same Continue reading →

On-land cleanup, Withlacoochee River, Sullivan Launch, 2023-02-25

Meet at 9am at Sullivan launch, clean up, caravan to FL-6 bridge by 11am, or earlier if we finish before then. No boats needed: this cleanup is on land.

Afterwards, optional Knights Ferry cleanup depending on where the water level is at by then.

Thanks to Amy Meyers for leading this cleanup, and for becoming the new WWALS Outings Committee Chair!

When: 9 AM, Saturday, February 25, 2023

Put In: Sullivan Launch. This is off of CR 150 (NE Bellville Road) east of Pinetta, south of the road, downstream of river bridge, right (west) bank, in Madison County, Florida.

GPS: 30.595667, -83.26

Take Out: FL 6 Bridge. West of the river, turn north off of FL 6 onto Withlacoochee Shores Lane; stay right to stay on that. Turn right on NE Chervil Drive to the FL 6 right of way. Turn left to go to the river.

Grafitti and trash, FL 6, Withlacoochee River, 2023-02-02, 16:39:06, 30.4823431, -83.2440116
on the WWALS Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WLRWT).

Continue reading →

Valdosta will maintain Berkley Drive trash trap 2023-02-22

The City of Valdosta says it will maintain its forthcoming trash trap location on Two Mile Branch at Berkley Drive.

Picture and Map, Two Mile Branch @ Berkeley Drive

City Engineer Benjamin O’Dowd also write that the city had cleaned up some trash there with a vac truck. He thanked volunteer Russell Allen McBride for his cleanup of the trash trap on Sugar Creek.

WWALS thanks the Engineer and the City for all those things.

These are some small steps towards keeping trash out of the Withlacoochee River, for example out of the path of next week’s Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle. Continue reading →

Valdosta says it spilled 672,250 gallons of sewage into the Knights Creek floodplain 2023-02-21

Update 2023-02-24: Valdosta and Ashburn in GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report 2023-02-23.

This afternoon Valdosta said it spilled 672,250 gallons of sewage last Wednesday, near Knights Creek between East Park Ave. (Lakeland Highway) and US 84 (East Hill Ave.) on Wednesday, February 15, 2023.

VALORGIS and ARWT maps, E. Park Ave., US 84, Valdosta sewage spill 2023-02-15

This additional press release, after the previous one last Thursday, says the sewage “was released into the wetland watershed area adjacent to Knights Creek.”

It’s good the city mentioned the creek this time. But as usual, Valdosta did not mention that Knights Creek runs into Mud Swamp Creek, then the Alapahoochee River through Echols County, Georgia, then the Alapaha River in Hamilton County, Florida.

We know by WWALS testing that any effects on the Alapaha River seemed to be gone by Saturday.

Because this is a major spill (more than 10,000 gallons), Valdosta is required to do followup water quality testing. WWALS will be requesting that data, as well.

Today’s Valdosta press release also says, “City staff immediately began cleanup and disinfecting at the overflow location. All appropriate regulatory and public health agencies have been notified, and warning signs have been posted.”

I applaud the city’s efforts to clean up that mess.

However, this spill still does not appear in GA-EPD’s Sewage Spills Report on this seventh day since the spill. Continue reading →

Valdosta promises an upgraded Watergoat; offers no plan for cleaning it out or nearby woods 2023-02-17

Update 2023-02-22: Valdosta will maintain Berkley Drive trash trap 2023-02-22.

Valdosta City Engineer Benjamin O’Dowd says Valdosta has purchased an upgraded Watergoat trash trap, to be installed in approximately March.

It will go in Sugar Creek, he says, and the old one will go into Two Mile Branch below Berkley Drive.

Valdosta promises new Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash report, Old Watergoat, Two Mile Branch trash

That’s all good. Thanks for doing that, Engineer O’Dowd, and City of Valdosta.

But he did not mention any plan for cleaning out that new trash trap location on Two Mile Branch. Remember, Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.