The Alapaha River goes underground because the underlying karst limestone rises in what’s called the Cody Scarp, which runs across north Florida. Other rivers that go underground there include the Little Alapaha River and the Santa Fe River. The Withlacoochee River does not go underground, but it does sprout Madison Blue Spring.
Source: Bulletin of the Geological Society of America, vol. 123, no. 3-4, p. 457.
Here’s a cutaway diagram of how all that works underground: Continue reading
A county commission is representing its people and the waters of Georgia in a resolution Dougherty County sent to FERC which says in part:
Continue reading
SECTION II Thus, we are in opposition to the construction of the proposed pipeline in Dougherty County and request that FERC give serious consideration and analysis to alternative routes (1) that avoid unstable geologic areas such as karst and sink-hole prone areas, (2) that minimize impacts to drinking water and agricultural water supplies, (3) that minimize impacts to wildlife habitat, forest, wetlands, streams and rivers and (4) that do not compromise socio-economic and cultural issues.
At the Alabama Sierra Club Retreat this weekend at Lakepoint State Park
near Eufaula, I’ll be speaking and doing Q&A for an hour:
10AM Saturday 1 November 2014.
If you’re anywhere near Eufaula, Alabama this weekend,
I highly recommend coming to this retreat: it’s got lots
of great talks and activities.
What do you important points do you think I should mention? What graphics can you send me to include in the slides? No rush: leaving Friday morning, so if you could get me your materials by tomorrow (Thursday), that would be great.
FYI, I will be talking about at least Continue reading
Two dozen agricultural parcels owned by a shell of a shell of a shell company
investing for Bill Gates in Hamilton County, Florida.
Two parcels are in the Withlacoochee River
watershed and within the blast radius of the original
path of the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline.
The Hamilton County, Florida, Property Appraiser shows these results for a search for Lakeland Sands: Continue reading
Here is
the WWALS item #9
in the
Georgia Water Coalition Dirty Dozen 2014;
I added the links and the illustrations. -jsq
2014’s
Worst Offenses Against
GEORGIA’S WATER
WITHLACOOCHEE RIVER & FLORIDAN AQUIFER
Gas Pipeline Threatens Southwest Georgia Water, Way of Life
INTRODUCTION:
Southwest Georgians are fighting an invader—one every bitas worrisome as the boll weevil that destroyed cotton harvests in the 1900s, except this one takes farmers’ land as well as crops. Continue reading
The Withlacoochee River and the Floridan Aquifer affected by the
Sabal Trail pipeline is #9 in the Georgia Water
Coalition’s Dirty Dozen 2014: A Call to
Action, 
and here’s the
press release,
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 22, 2014 — Today, Georgia’s leading water coalition named its “Dirty Dozen” for 2014, highlighting 12 of the worst offenses to Georgia’s waters. The annual Dirty Dozen shines a spotlight on threats to Georgia’s water resources as well as the polluters and state policies or failures that ultimately harm—or could harm—Georgia property owners, downstream communities, fish and wildlife, hunters and anglers, and boaters and swimmers.
“The Dirty Dozen is not a list of the most polluted water bodies in Georgia, nor are they ranked in any particular order,” said Joe Cook, Advocacy & Communication Coordinator at the Coosa River Basin Initiative. “It’s a list of problems that exemplify the results of inadequate funding for Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division (EPD), a lack of political will to enforce existing environmental protections, and ultimately misguided water planning and spending priorities that flow from the very top of Georgia’s leadership.”
WWALS submitted #9 of the Dirty Dozen:
9. Withlacoochee River & Floridan Aquifer: Gas Pipeline Threatens Southwest Georgia Water, Way of Life
The Sabal Trail pipeline’s path across Continue reading
Drilling through fragile sinkhole-prone
karst limestone under the Withlacoochee River (or the Suwannee River,
or the Santa Fe River): what could possibly go wrong?
Sabal Trail now proposes to move off of the Withlacoochee River in
Florida, but still plans to cross the Withlacoochee in Georgia,
and to cross the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers, all of which have
the same hydrogeology.
You can talk directly to Sabal Trail and FERC at the
Open House in Jasper, Florida, 5-7PM Tuesday 21 October 2014,
and you can join WWALS where the Alapaha River
disappears entirely into a sinkhole,
at the
Alapaha Sink, 2PM Sunday 26 October 2014.
Here are before and after diagrams by Continue reading
Due to fine work by WWALS members Chris and Deanna Mericle in Hamilton
County, Florida,
Sabal Trail proposes to move its fracked methane
pipeline off of the Withlacoochee River in Florida, and invites the public
to an Open House in Jasper, FL Tuesday October 21st about that and
other matters. We can ask them to move it off the Withlacoochee River
in Georgia, too. And it’s still possible to file ecomments with FERC,
and to contact your local, state, and national elected and appointed officials.
In FERC’s 15 October 2014 Sabal Trail Notice of EIS Intent and Route Alternatives, Continue reading
Update 2 Oct 2014: WWALS will have a table at the conference. See you there!
This conference coming up next Thursday, Friday, and Saturday
looks quite interesting.
I wonder if they know they’re directly on the Sabal Trail fracked methane
pipeline Alternative 3
which would gouge through the Floridan Aquifer from Albany, GA through
Monticello and then east and south across the Ochlockonee, Aucilla, Ecofina, Suwannee, and Santa Fe Rivers?
Sharing Water:
The Floridan Aquifer in Alabama, Georgia and Florida Continue reading
Filed with FERC 16 September 2014 as Report of Christopher J Mericle , On site meeting with local property owners, FERC and Sabal Trail at the proposed Withlacoochee river crossing Hamilton Co. Florida under PF14-1. Chris and Deanna Mericle are our local hosts for the WWALS outing at that same affected location 10 AM this Sunday, September 21st 2014. -jsq
9-10-14
Local property owners met with FERC and Sabal Trail to voice concerns with the proposed Natural Gas pipeline route where it crosses the Withlacoochee River in Hamilton County, Florida. We had a great turnout of local support. Also in attendance, supporting our cause, was David Brown, Florida Certified Geologist, Jessica Norfleet, Constituent Advocate representing U.S. Congressman Ted Yoho, and Louie Goodin, Hamilton Co. Coordinator representing Hamilton Co. Board of Commissioners.
Attendees for FERC included John Peconom, Project manager, James Martin, Chief-Gas Branch3 and at least 4 other people.
Sabal had over 10 people attending from all areas of expertise including Andrea Glover, public relations, and Greg Jones, Geologist.
There was discussion of Continue reading