Tag Archives: Santa Fe River

Get Sabal Trail out of vulnerable karst –EPA to FERC

Avoid the whole most vulnerable area of the Floridan Aquifer, you risk drinking water wells and environmental justice communities, you didn’t even identify Clean Water Act mitigations, neglect isn’t mitigation, and stop just tweaking Sabal Trail’s preferred route even if Sabal Trail is at risk by its contract: your process is broken, FERC! Furthermore, all agencies means you, too, FERC, about the December 2014 Revised Draft Guidance for Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change Impacts. This project is so bad EPA is setting aside its stance that natural gas is cleaner and demanding a full life cycle analysis of the Transco – Sabal Trail – FSC project.

Above I paraphrase, but I do not exaggerate the severity and extent of EPA’s criticisms of FERC’s DEIS for the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline. Read it for yourself below.

EPA specifically criticizes the proposed HDD drilling under the Withlacoochee River slightly upstream from Blue (Wade) Spring, and going anywhere through the eroded karst sinkhole-prone terrain of southern Brooks and Lowndes Counties, Georgia, as well as in Florida through the Cody Scarp with its springs, swallets, siphons, and merging sinkholes, under the Suwannee River, over Falmouth Cave, and under the Santa Fe River.

Florida Sierra Club did this: Continue reading →

Videos: WWALS witnesses in Day 2, WWALS v. Sabal Trail & FDEP 2015-10-20

Dennis Price cross-examination DEP’s only witness yesterday, today also a witness for WWALS, couldn’t find a document she needed in the Respondents’ cartload (literally) of documents, not even with the help of five Respondent attorneys, yet everyone could find items in the two WWALS exhibit books quite readily.

We also learned that concerns were irrelevant, only actual effects on WWALS members count, which made it too difficult for Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson to get qualified as an expert witness, even though she has assisted DEP and SRWMD in environmental issues. And we couldn’t talk about air quality issues, since DEP already issued an air quality permit for the Sabal Trail Hildreth compressor station in Suwannee County, so what David Shields could talk about was very limited, even though he and his family with their organic farm live downwind of that compressor station. However, WWALS expert witness Dennis Price hit geological questions out of the ballpark. And a cow did fall into a sinkhole.

Here are WWALS videos of each witness, followed by a video playlist. See also much more about this case, including videos of the other two days, and how you can help WWALS defend our members, the Suwannee River, and the Floridan Aquifer.

Videos: Sabal Trail’s case in WWALS v. Sabal Trail & FDEP 2015-10-19

Surprise WWALS attorneys and mounds of Sabal Trail and FDEP documents, yet missing documents, overlooked gopher tortoises, and springs that apparently none of the respondents went to see, all in these WWALS videos of the first day of the case WWALS brought to defend its members, the Suwannee River, and the Floridan Aquifer against the invading Sabal Trail pipeline and the Environmental Resource Permit (ERP) and Easement to Use Sovereign Submerged Lands (Easement) the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) intends to issue to Sabal Trail.

Petitioner WWALS presented a surprise: two attorneys. Respondents Sabal Trail and FDEP presented a mound of documents. That was all in preliminary matters.

Then Sabal Trail presented its prima facie case, through its witnesses David Shammo and David Dickson.

Per previous agreement among the parties, WWALS presented out of order two witnesses, Tom Edwards and Joe “Britt” McClung.

Then Sabal Trail continued with witness Jim Ambrosino

Towards the end of the day, FDEP’s sole witness Lisa Prather testified.

Here’s a link to much more information including vidoes of the other two days of the hearing, and how you can continue to contribute to the IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign for legal expenses (there will almost certainly be an appeal) or join WWALS.

Below are WWALS videos of Day 1, followed by a video playlist.

The ant testifies against the dinosaur: WWALS v. Sabal Trail & FDEP continues 2015-10-21

It’s hard to qualify as an expert, but WWALS members count, too, Chris Mericle testifying as we defend the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers and the Floridan Aquifer against the Sabal Trail pipeline invader. Continuing this morning at 10AM in Jasper, Florida!

When: 10 AM Wednesday 21 October 2015

Where: Hamilton County Board of Commissioners Chambers,
207 NE First Street
Jasper, Florida 32052

What: WWALS v. Sabal Trail & FDEP
Defending the Suwannee River and our water, land, and air against the invading Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline Continue reading →

E-comment to FERC ASAP, especially experts

Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson says: “Please consider saying something and be counted.” Here’s How to send an ecomment to FERC.

You can ecomment today on FERC docket number CP15-17 against the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline invading Alabama, Georgia, and Florida.

Until December 11, 2015 you can also send comments to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers against Sabal Trail’s use of rivers and wetlands. You can do this for any of Florida, Georgia, or Alabama.

In Georgia, you can send comments to Continue reading →

Florida Audubon goes full NIMBY

Apparently cow pastures and the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers are no concern of Florida Audubon, nor even the other Withlacoochee (south) River that runs out of the Green Swamp, not to mention WWALS’ Withlacoochee (north) River in Georgia.

Susan Salisbury, Palm Beach Post, 5 October 2015, Audubon Florida supports Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline,

Following changes to the proposed route of a massive pipeline, Audubon Florida now strongly supports Sabal Trail, a $3.5 billion natural gas pipeline project slated to extend from Alabama to Florida.

Charles Lee, Audubon Florida’s director of advocacy, said that the group has worked with Sabal Trail on route modification and environmental mitigation measures for portions of its 515-mile pipeline in Florida.

Well, that explains why Charles Lee said Florida Audubon would not help with WWALS v. Sabal Trail & FL-DEP.

Lee said Audubon Florida negotiated with Sabal Trail for 18 months, resulting in Continue reading →

Soon down to the wire to oppose Sabal Trail invasion

The fracking that drives new pipelines was a crime until ten years ago, and it should be again: injecting poisons into the ground under our water supply was always a bad idea.

Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson and Jim Tatum, Suwannee Democrat, 14 September 2015, The FERC flexes its muscles on Sabal Trail,

The time frame is coming down to the wire as to Sabal Trail and its invasion of our riverbeds and springs systems. They have met with nothing but negative comments throughout Georgia and Florida. People have turned out in droves to express their dissent. In spite of this, they move onward with their plan to install a 36” pipeline under the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers, and through the center of this fragile spring system. Our springs heartland is a regional identity unlike any in the world, but vulnerable to developers and oil and gas companies.

Many environmental groups have been active in resisting. Our Santa Fe River Inc. was consistently Continue reading →

WWALS cites dangers to environment and conflict of interest against Sabal Trail –Miami Herald via Florida Bulldog

A major Miami newspaper picked up a Florida Bulldog story after a week. Meanwhile, CBS Miami covered FL-DEP asking for an administrative law judge. And see previous post for what’s safer than any pipeline: solar power, ready now for the Sunshine State.

Dan Christensen, Miami Herald, 6 September 2015, Pipeline foes ask DEP to deny key permit, cite ‘conflict of interest’ by Gov. Rick Scott,

Opponents of a proposed natural gas pipeline in North Florida are asking Florida regulators to reject the project, citing both dangers to the environment and a “conflict of interest” by the regulators’ boss, Gov. Rick Scott.

The Florida Department of Environmental Protection announced in July its intention to award a crucial environmental permit and rights to drill beneath riverbeds that would allow Houston-based Spectra Energy to construct the controversial, $3 billion Sabal Trail Transmission.

State records show Spectra Energy’s investors have included Scott.

Continue reading →

WWALS files fresh challenge to Sabal Trail with FL-DEP –Gainesville Sun

Yep, we created a Florida subsidiary, and lots of new members joined WWALS in order to get listed in the amended petition (PDF).

Chris Curry, Gainesville Sun (also Ocala StarBanner, and Energy Global World Pipelines), 1 September 2015, Natural gas pipeline permit challenged,

Two weeks after the Florida Department of Environmental Protection rejected a Georgia group’s petition to challenge a DEP permit for the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline, the WWALS Watershed Coalition — an advocacy group focused on the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little and Upper Suwannee rivers in Georgia and Florida — has filed another petition.

The DEP general counsel will now review this petition and decide whether to allow it to proceed to the state Division of Administrative Hearings.

The story notes DEP claimed WWALS hadn’t dotted enough is and crossed enough ts, but now we have: Continue reading →

Sabal Trail wants to drill under the Santa Fe River

It’s not just the Suwannee: Sabal Trail wants to drill into 300x388 Crossing Easement Location, Sovereign Lands of the State of Florida, in Santa Fe River Crossing, by John S. Quarterman, for WWALS.net, 10 July 2015 the fragile karst limestone under the Santa Fe River, too, above our Floridan Aquifer, and FL DEP proposes to permit them to do that. Watch out Branford, Suwannee County, and Gilchrist County!

Here are the Santa Fe River maps and related items from the Drawings Sabal Trail submitted with the FL-DEP Permit application.

Remember there are still plenty of things you can do to help stop this pipeline invader from destroying forests, fields, and streams, adding hazards for no benefit.

Proposed 36″ Pipeline, Site Plan and Profile, HDD

Continue reading →