Tag Archives: sewage

WWALS Day of Giving 2024 #GAGIVES

You don’t have to be in Georgia, and you don’t have to wait until Tuesday, to donate to this fundraiser to support WWALS:
https://www.gagives.org/story/Wwals-Gagives2024

[Day of Giving 2024: Banks Lake, Alapaha River Rise, Juneteenth, Festivals, Chainsaw Cleanups, Sewage, Water Quality, Okefenokee Swamp]
Day of Giving 2024: Banks Lake, Alapaha River Rise, Juneteenth, Festivals, Chainsaw Cleanups, Sewage, Water Quality, Okefenokee Swamp

WWALS Mission

WWALS advocates for conservation and stewardship of the surface waters and groundwater of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary, in south Georgia and north Florida, among them the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, Santa Fe, and Suwannee River watersheds, through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities.

Advocacy

Continue reading →

Video: Fannie Gibbs Begins WWALS Webinars 2024-01-11

Thanks, Fannie Marie Jackson Gibbs, for the first WWALS Webinar 2024-01-11.

[Fannie Gibbs, first WWALS Webinar and sample slides]
Fannie Gibbs, first WWALS Webinar and sample slides

Fannie Marie Jackson Gibbs of Brooks County, Georgia, has long been active in issues near the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, especially involving African-American family history. She talked about Brooks County Georgia Settlers, family history, Old and New Macedonia Cemeteries, the Little River, Okapilco Creek, the annual Juneteenth celebrations she organizes at Reed Bingham State Park Lake where WWALS brings boats, and the ongoing sewage problems in Quitman.

Here’s the video: Continue reading →

Fannie Gibbs Begins WWALS Webinars 2024-01-11

Update 2024-01-14: Video: Fannie Gibbs Begins WWALS Webinars 2024-01-11.

Hahira, Georgia, December 26, 2023 — WWALS Webinars is a new monthly series of lunchtime talks via zoom about topics related to the Suwannee River Basin.

On Thursday, January 11, 2024, from noon to 1PM, we are starting with Fannie Marie Jackson Gibbs of Brooks County, Georgia, long active in issues near the Little and Withlacoochee Rivers, especially involving African-American family history. She will talk about the ongoing sewage problems in Quitman, the annual Juneteenth celebrations she organizes at Reed Bingham State Park Lake where WWALS brings boats, family history, and anything else she wants to discuss.

[Fannie Gibbs in a boat at Reed Bingham State Park, Junteenth 2020]
Fannie Gibbs in a boat at Reed Bingham State Park, Junteenth 2020

“We thank Fannie Gibbs for speaking at WWALS River Revue 2023 in September, and we welcome her back to speak longer in this first WWALS Webinar,” said WWALS President Sara Jay Jones.

“I’m honored to have worked with Fannie for many years, and I hope you will all zoom in to hear what she has to say,” said Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAuf-igpjsuG9JKDeCUtmqgxujGcIkFZIz3 Continue reading →

Yet another Valdosta E. Park Ave. sewage spill near Knights Creek 2023-12-11

Update 2023-12-20: End date and waterway affected of Valdosta 425,000 gallon sewage spill 2023-12-11.

Update 2023-12-19: Valdosta reports to GA-EPD about two recent sewage spills 2023-12-02.

Update 2023-12-15: Videos: Testing three sites in Florida and Georgia, Withlacoochee River 2023-12-14.

Are we going back to the bad old days of Valdosta sewage spill reports so vague you can’t tell where they are, and reported many days later?

Valdosta spilled almost half a million gallons of sewage Monday, didn’t get around to telling the public until today, and then only with a press release that doesn’t say which part of town or which waterway was affected.

[Spills into Knights Creek, Alapaha River Basin, and One Mile Branch, Withlacoochee River Basin]
Spills into Knights Creek, Alapaha River Basin, and One Mile Branch, Withlacoochee River Basin

Oh, and Valdosta had another spill two weeks ago that was only reported to GA-EPD on this Tuesday, and so far as I’ve seen not to the public at all.

The Valdosta press release for the big spill of Monday says it was “in the 1800 Block of Park Avenue.” 1800 West Park Avenue is next to Sugar Creek in the Withlacoochee River Basin. 1800 East Park Avenue is the vague location previously reported for many sewer spills related to the collapsed sewer main near Knights Creek in the Alapaha River Basin.

The press release does not name any creek, so we can’t tell by that. We can infer by the rest of the sentence that E. Park Ave. was meant, because “inspecting manholes and sewer lines on the current Bypass and Sanitary Sewer line upgrades project” probably refers to the work related to those previous spills. Continue reading →

Valdosta spilled 15,000 gallons of wastewater into Knights Creek 2023-08-22

2023-08-25: All 2023 sewage spills into the Suwannee River Basin 2023-08-25.

Yes, another one. Fifth Valdosta sewage spill this year in about the same location, into Knights Creek, which goes into Mud Swamp Creek, the Alapahoochee River, the Alapaha River, and the Suwannee.

I do give credit to the City of Valdosta for limiting it to only 15,000 gallons (although that is still a major spill), and for getting the press release out the next day, and before 5PM. WWALS received it at 2:01 PM.

[Location of the previous spill, and warning sign from a spill before that, Knights Creek, between E. Park Ave. and US 84]
Location of the previous spill, and warning sign from a spill before that, all into Knights Creek, between E. Park Ave. and US 84.

However, as I told WTXL after one of the previous spills, “There have been a number of things they’ve done better lately, they don’t have as bad or as frequent spills as they used to. The ideal number however is none.”

FYI, this spill is not yet in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report.

And looking forward to some new results showing up in Valdosta’s 2023 Knight’s Creek Biological Monitoring Results.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Continue reading →

Reroute: Sugar Creek and Troupville Withlacoochee River on-land cleanup 2023-07-22

Update 2023-07-22:Pictures: Sugar Creek Withlacoochee River on-land cleanup 2023-07-22.

Due to bad water quality reports for Sugar Creek heard from the City of Valdosta, we are revising the cleanup from a paddle to an on-land cleanup. Please come to Sugar Creek at 9AM to hear where we will go from there.

When: Gather 9 AM, launch 9:30 AM, end 1 PM, Saturday, July 22, 2023

Where: Meet at the back of the Salty Snapper parking lot, 1405 Gornto Rd, Valdosta, GA 31602 and we’ll go to appropriate locations from there.

GPS: 30.861764, -83.318854

[At Langdale Park Boat Ramp: Caution Sewage Spill City of Valdosta --Bobby McKenzie 2023-07-21]
At Langdale Park Boat Ramp: Caution Sewage Spill City of Valdosta –Bobby McKenzie 2023-07-21

Bring: Cleanup materials will be provided, but if you’ve got a trash picker, bring it along. Bring sturdy shoes and clothes, drinking water, and snacks.

There is no need to bring a boat. Continue reading →

Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-04-06

Update 2023-04-15: Clean Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers 2023-04-13.

According to all the recent test results we have, the Withlacoochee River is pretty clean from E. coli. However, it’s raining upstream now, and predictions are for more rain tomorrow.

I’m still planning to paddle on Yet Another Cleanup Knights Ferry to Nankin, Withlacoochee River, 2023-04-08. If we’re quick, we may be finished before more than a drizzle falls.

If you want to paddle, swim, or fish this weekend, I’d recommend do it Saturday morning before the rain has much time to wash contamination out of creeks.

[Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-04-06]
Chart, River, Swim Guide Map 2023-04-06

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida since the tiny inland High Springs spill Thursday a week ago.

There is the matter of Valdosta’s followup testing after their February sewage spills, but the only bad results from that were Wednesday and Thursday a week ago, and that was in the Alapaha River basin. Continue reading →

High Springs, FL, sewage spill 2023-03-30

Update 2023-03-31: Clean Rivers 2023-03-30.

No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia in the past week.

[Map: FDEP PNP, High Springs 50-gallon spill, 2023-03-30]
Map: FDEP PNP, High Springs 50-gallon spill, 2023-03-30

But there was a tiny one in Florida yesterday, that was very unlikely to have any effect on the Santa Fe River.

Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Public Notice of Pollution (PNP) Finder: Last 30 Days, accessed 2023-03-31, Continue reading →

Clean Rivers 2023-03-16

Update 2023-03-24: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-03-22.

The Withlacoochee and Little Rivers tested clean from Thursday samples.

Beware rain is expected tomorrow evening.

So if you want to boat, fish, or swim this weekend, Saturday morning would be best.

[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2023-03-16]
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide 2023-03-16

Tifton spilled 30,000 gallons of sewage Saturday, March 11, 2023, into a creek that runs into the New River, then the Withlacoochee. That was probably diluted before it got far downstream. Or was it? Valdosta got very high E. coli that Monday, March 13th. There was much rain in between, so something else may have also been washed into the river. See other post. Continue reading →

Valdosta February 2023 sewage spills, plus Ashburn 2023-03-01

2023-03-02: Videos: Mayor and Chairman’s Paddle, Sewage spills, Trash, Okefenokee Swamp over stripmine @ Radio 2023-02-28.

Valdosta, population 55,567, spilled almost a million (966,970) gallons of sewage in February 2023: that’s 17 gallons for each citizen.

Are we back to the bad old days before the GA-EPD Enforcement Order of 2020? This is the worst period since the notorious December 2019 spill that provoked that Order.

Anybody who sees dead fish in Knights Creek, please let us know.

[Bypass pipe north from US 84, Warning sign on E. Park Av. at Knights Creek, ARWT map to Alapaha River, Sewer bypass under CSX RR at US 84]
Bypass pipe north from US 84, Warning sign on E. Park Av. at Knights Creek, ARWT map to Alapaha River, Sewer bypass under CSX RR at US 84

Ashburn, GA, spilled about a third as much in late January and early February. Given its population is a tenth that of Valdosta’s, Ashburn was worse per capita.

Neither were good for people or wildlife. Zero gallons of sewage spilled should be the goal.

Here are Valdosta’s five February sewage spills: Continue reading →