Since falling out of boats into our rivers is popular during outings, Phil Hubbard made these nifty plaques for Fallers.
Phil also made a small WWALS flag. Continue reading
Tag Archives: river
Lowndes County Chairman says accepting easement was not endorsement of Sabal Trail pipeline
So Lowndes County should have no problem asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to come investigate what Sabal Trail didn’t tell FERC.
And if the county is concerned about legal expenses, maybe it should pay attention
to the lawsuits happening right now in California about a natural gas leak
that went up into the air, closing schools, evacuating hundreds, and making many of them sick.
The VDT article today doesn’t mention writing a letter to the Corps was one of my requests to the county. It does quote the Chairman expresssing interest in details of eminent domain, in differences in regulation of oil and gas pipelines, and in environmental and safety issues of natural gas pipelines. Treating his statements as questions, I have provided some further information below on those points.
And he does say the county might have incurred legal expenses if it hadn’t accepted Sabal Trail’s money for the easement. He doesn’t mention how much money Lowndes County spent suing a local company on behalf of a trash collection company financed out of New York City, or how much money the county spent suing a local church about a minor tax matter. It seems when Lowndes County wants to do something, it doesn’t worry so much about legal expenses. And maybe the county should worry more about legal expenses if something does go wrong with that pipeline, especially considering what’s happening with the Porter Ranch leak in California.
Besides, writing a letter Continue reading
Valdosta wastewater improvements ribbon cutting being scheduled for May
Valdosta seems serious about finally opening its new force main and uphill Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant: they’re scheduling a ribbon cutting for May, a year ahead of the original schedule. According to both City Council Tim Carroll and Engineering Assistant Director Emily Davenport, the EPA has already pressure-tested the relevant lines and the plant, and approved them.
People downstream are rightly concerned at the many years they’ve endured wastewater from Valdosta. And recent schedule slips haven’t helped their perceptions, which is why actually holding Continue reading
Ensuring Sabal Trail compliance with LWCF
WWALS signed onto a letter asking for Sabal Trail to be examined for LWCF compliance.
Jonathon Berman, Sierra Club Georgia Chapter, 12 April 2016, Conservation groups call for public parks to be put ahead of corporate polluters’ pipeline plans,
Atlanta, GA — Today, seven groups called on the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) state liaison officers for Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Mississippi to ensure that the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline, a joint venture by Duke Energy, NextEra Energy, Inc., and Spectra Energy Corp, and Magnolia Extension, owned by American Midstream, does not threaten public parks and recreation areas.
The letter highlights the environmental dangers the proposed Sabal Trail and Magnolia Extension projects pose to at least 11 parks and public recreation areas paid for by the LWCF.
Created in 1965, the LWCF is a federal program that provides matching grants and other federal assistance for public parks and recreation areas. The program has safeguards to ensure that lands purchased with its funds are protected for public outdoor recreation. The groups warn that rapidly multiplying planned pipeline projects do not appear to be compliant Continue reading
No new sewer spills from Valdosta or Lowndes County 2016-04-14
Nothing new since April 4th is good news today from Utilities at both local governments, since the Valdosta spills into both the Withlacoochee and Alapaha watersheds of April 2nd and 3rd, and the Lowndes County spill into the Withlacoochee River of Aprll 4th. So Suwannee River people at the moment only have those spills, arriving downstream about now, to look forward to for the moment.
Valdosta is sometimes a little slow posting a report, and Lowndes County never posted one on its website last time, so I called both of them just now.
Tuesday
I asked Lowndes County to post such reports on its website and send them through their agenda alert system.
It’s possible they may start doing that.
-jsq
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Videos: WWALS asks Lowndes County to invite Army Corps of Engineers to investigate Sabal Trail discrepancies @ LCC 2016-04-12
Delivered to the Lowndes County Commission Tuesday 12 April 2016 on paper and then by email
(PDF, plus
1-page Suwannee County, FL request to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and
28-page
WWALS invitation to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers),
following up from two previous addresses to the same Commission.
See also the Carter Way item in that same Commission meeting, also related to Sabal Trail. Continue reading
WRWT Pamphlet
Update 2018-04-19: Map includes Tifton.
This pamphlet for the
Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail
is easy to print (PDF), fold, and hand out until we get a fancier brochure printed up.
We already have a substantial contribution towards that from the Valdosta-Lowndes Tourism Authority. Who will be next?
I think the WLRWT logo by logo contest winner Eboni Patterson makes the cover look especially nice.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Continue readingSuwannee County requests Army Corps of Engineers to inspect Sabal Trail discrepancies 2016-04-06
Here’s the letter the Suwannee County Commissioners voted 4:1 on 5 April 2016 to send to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (PDF), following the one Hamilton County already sent. Other counties in Florida and Georgia can do the same.
SUWANNEE COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
(386) 364-3450
FAX (386) 362-1032COUNTY OFFICES
13150 8001 Terrace
Live Oak, Florida 32060In the Heart of the Suwannee River Valley
April 6, 2016
Attn: Mark R, Evans, Senior Project Manager,
Jacksonville Permits Section
US Army Corps of Engineers
Regulatory Division
Post Office Box 4970
Jacksonville, Florida 32232RE: Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC
FERC Document No. CP15-177000Dear Mr. Evans:
The Board of County Commissioners of Suwannee County recently received the Environmental Geology report prepared by Dennis Price and dated 10/25/2015, a copy of which is attached hereto.
If you will note, Continue reading
Agenda, WWALS Board Meeting 2016-04-13
Draft Agenda (PDF)
WWALS Quarterly Board Meeting
7:30 PM Wednesday 13 April 2016
Farmhouse Restaurant, 5123 Mill Store Rd, Lake Park, GA 31636-5103
That’s at I-75 Exit 5
Dial-in Number: (641) 715-3580
Meeting ID: 855-676
Related Materials
All WWALS Board Members are expected to attend in person or by telephone.
The more done on the board list, the less time we’ll have to spend on them in this meeting.
All WWALS members, especially committee members, are invited to attend, as is the general public.
Board Members: Continue reading
Sabal Trail Contractor Fair, Moultrie, GA 2016-04-15
Not just for compressor station counties, also apparently also for where Sabal Trail has promised side taps, including Moultrie, Georgia, as seen today in the Tifton Gazette and the Valdosta Daily Times.
When: 11AM – 2PM Friday, April 15th 2016
Where: Southern Regional Technical College, Seminar Center, 361 Industrial Drive, Moultrie, GA 31788
This Moultrie job fair is scheduled one month after Colquitt County sent FERC exorbitant claims of benefits in property tax revenue, wildly high and out-of-context construction jobs claims, and discounted safety and environmental concerns, with no mention whatever of agriculture, nevermind Colquitt County’s letter to FERC two years before about agricultural concerns.
The Colquitt letter to FERC made no mention of lowered property values reducing tax revenue, cited no source, just “It is estimated that”. However, in the same paragraph: Continue reading