Update 2023-05-05: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-05-04.
High Springs, Alachua County, Florida, had another small sewage spill, mostly vacuumed up. It probably did not affect the Santa Fe River, but High Springs needs to get a grip.
![[Public Notice and Map of High Springs Plaza Sewage Spill 2023-05-04]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-05-04--high-springs-sewage-spill/many.jpg)
Public Notice and Map of High Springs Plaza Sewage Spill 2023-05-04
Pollution Notice Continue reading
Update 2023-04-07: Clean Withlacoochee River 2023-04-06.
Best to paddle, swim, and fish tomorrow morning. Rains are predicted tomorrow.
But until then, all the water quality tests we have are good, for the Little, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers.
![[Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide map 2023-03-30]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-03-30--wq/many.jpg)
Chart, Rivers, Swim Guide map 2023-03-30
No new sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia in the past week.
But High Springs had a 150-gallon spill. That small an amount and apparently inland should have no effect on the Santa Fe River or its springs.
Thanks to WWALS tester Continue reading
According to WWALS results for Thursday, happy boating, swimming, and fishing in our rivers this weekend!
Provided you like high water and are prepared to deal with overhanging limbs and getting lost in the floodplain.
I might avoid the Alapaha River at Sasser Landing, due to Valdosta’s Wednesday February 15th probably major spill into Knights Creek.
Valdosta’s other two sewage spills this month, Wednesday, February 8th into Hightower Creek above Sugar Creek and Saturday, February 11th into Cherry Creek probably were too small to have any significant effect on the Withlacoochee River. The WWALS Sunday tests on Cherry Creek and the river appear to have verified that lack of effect for that one, and regular test results after the Hightower Creek one ditto.
No other recent sewage spills have been reported in the Suwannee River Basin in Georgia or Florida: just Valdosta. Continue reading
Update 2023-02-24: Another Valdosta E. Park Ave. sewage spill, 171,750 gallons 2023-02-20
Update 2023-02-18: Clean rivers 2023-02-16.
This one showed up Tuesday, February 14th in the GA-EPD Sewage Spills Report, reporting a Valdosta spill of the previous Wednesday, February 8, 2023.
The reason given was “Pipe failure”.
The good part is that with only 1,170 gallons spilled, there was probably little effect on Sugar Creek and none to worry about on the Withlacoochee River. Nothing unusual showed up in water quality testing by Valdosta or WWALS for that day or the next two.
Below is a map of the area, and a Google streetview of my best guess of where it was, going by Valdosta’s sloppy week-late report of “1700 block of River St”. Continue reading
Songwriters, don’t forget to send in your song to the Suwannee Riverkeeper Songwriting Contest by tomorrow, July 20, 2022! Really final deadline this time.
![[Movie: Intro: Suwannee Riverkeeper and WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-07-19--scott-james-radio-videos/MVI_0319-01-47-intro.jpg)
Movie: Intro: Suwannee Riverkeeper and WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.
Valdosta Mayor Scott James and Suwannee Riverkeeper talked about that and many other topics on his radio show this morning.
Here’s a Continue reading
Update 2022-04-08: All rivers bad water quality 2022-04-07.
Quitman’s 48,000 gallon sewage spill on Sunday, March 20, 2022, was from the Quitman settling ponds, which are slightly uphill from Okapilco Creek. Which explains why Valdosta got too-high E. coli at US 84 on Okapilco Creek, and at Knights Ferry, Nankin, and State Line Boat Ramps downstream on the Withlacoochee River.
We know this location because of the response to the WWALS open records request to Quitman asking where is this “Influent Liftstation”:
GPS 30.793581, -83.544316
800 North Highland Dr
This has been going on for years. For example, the April 24, 2022 spill from the same location contaminated the Withlacoochee River and the Suwannee River probably as far as Running Springs, if not all the way to the Gulf.
The form Quitman’s contractor sent GA-EPD says the spill was not preventable. Well, according to Quitman’s permit from GA-EPD, “Power failure” is not an excuse, because the permitee is supposed to have backup power. It’s time for Quitman to find a way to prevent these spills from contaminating Okapilco Creek and the Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers. This is a public health hazard.
What will the Georgia Environment Protection Division (GA-EPD) do to stop these spills from Quitman, and meanwhile to get much more timely reporting by Quitman to GA-EPD and to the public?
![[Map and doc: location of Quitman sewage spill]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2022-03-20--quitman-spill/many.jpg)
Map and doc: location of Quitman sewage spill
It’s only 1.10 creek miles to US 84, and 5 creek miles all the way down Okapilco Creek to the Withlacoochee River. Then 3.68 river miles more to Knights Ferry Boat Ramp, for 8.68 water miles total. At even two miles per hour, that’s less than five hours for contamination to travel. Continue reading
Update 2020-10-17: Very clean Withlacoochee River 2020-10-15.
Ashburn, Georgia, spilled 210,000 gallons of raw sewage spread over three times in September and the public only got notified Wednesday, four weeks after the first spill. There’s not enough water quality testing data downstream from those spills to know what effects they may have had for example on Reed Bingham State Park.
![[Charts and Map: Ashburn spills to GA-FL line]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-09-27--ashburn-spills/many.jpg)
Charts and Map: Ashburn spills to GA-FL line
Ashburn spilled once into Hat Creek, which runs into the Alapaha River, and twice from its MLK Lift Station into a tributary of Ashburn Branch, which runs into the Little River. We don’t have any data downstream on the Alapaha for that time period, so we don’t know anything about downstream effects. We do have quite a bit of downstream data for the other two spills, but so far downstream and with so many other things going on that it’s hard to tell if there were any effects showing up in that data.
About the only thing we know for sure is it would be great for Ashburn to get a grip on its chronic sewage spill problem, starting by at least reporting spills in a timely manner. That and it would be great if the state of Georgia or the federal government would resume testing on the Little and Alapaha Rivers as they apparently used to do up until about 1998, so we would know, for example, did this spill affect Reed Bingham State Park.
These are the spills, as reported in the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) Sewage Spills Report. WWALS commends GA-EPD for those online reports. GA-EPD can’t publish spills until it receives reports from the spilling organizaiton. Maybe Ashburn could be a bit more timely in reporting. Continue reading
Update 2020-03-06: Special meeting to approve an RFP for an environmental attorney –Madison BOCC 2020-03-06
Tuesday data from Lowndes County, Georgia, shows much better water quality in Okapilco Creek upstream from Quitman and in the Withlacoochee River downstream. Remember, Lowndes County has its own sewer system, which did not spill. And one of Lowndes County’s results for the previous week is very interesting.
All the maps and charts in this post are on the WWALS website in a PDF for printing. They’re also on facebook.
The most recent data we have from Valdosta and Florida is for Monday. WWALS has not tested this week because of rain, but soon. You can help.
Yesterday and today, five inches of rain fell on Tifton, and all that water is washing downstream, with the Withlacoochee already in flood at Pinetta.
![[Quitman to Withlacoochee River]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-03-03--cleaner-wq/map-quitman-withlacoochee.jpg)
Map: Quitman to Withlacoochee River.
In the WWALS
map of the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail.
In the above map, northeast of Quitman near Okapilco Creek, are the Quitman sewage settling ponds, which Continue reading
Update 2020-02-29: Avoid Withlacoochee River Knights Ferry to Suwannee River Dowling Park 2020-02-27
See below for the rest of the story around yesterday’s TV report. You can help.
Amber Spradley, WCTV, 26 February 2020 (Posted: Thu 5:06 AM, Feb 27, 2020 | Updated: Thu 5:55 PM, Feb 27, 2020), Madison community fed up with contaminated water,
MADISON, Fla. (WCTV) — Madison County Board of Commissioners held a meeting Wednesday night to discuss the county’s high levels of E. coli and other contaminants in the Withlacoochee River and wells.
![[Fallout continues]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-02-26--madco-wq-vww-wctv/bucket.jpg)
Fallout continues
Still from video of Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman testing the Withlacoochee at Troupville Boat Ramp, taken by Emma Wheeler, WCTV, 15 January 2020, Withlacoochee River tested ahead of Mayor’s Paddle.Board members say it’s fallout from multiple sewage spills happening in south Georgia, particularly the sewage spill in Valdosta last December.
It resulted in more than seven million gallons of sewage leaking into the Withlacoochee River.
Since then, Continue reading
The EPA took weeks to write to WWALS to confirm less than what it said in the January 8, 2019 meeting in Madison, Florida:
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS, still from
WWALS Video, Madison, Florida,
of
Carol L. Kemker, Director, Enforcement and Compliance Assurance Division, and others.
In Georgia, the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has authority for establishing procedures for how permitted utilities are to respond during a major spill event. The EPA has delegated permitting authority to the state under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Program (NPDES). However, the EPA does maintain a state oversight role. After the sewage spill into the Withlacoochee, the EPA reached out to EPD to ensure the spill’s cause was properly addressed and notification procedures were followed. The EPA continues to work with EPD to reduce the possibility of future spills from Valdosta into the Withlacoochee River.
No detail was included in the EPA Region 4 letter to WWALS as to how the spill’s cause was to be addressed, or why notification procedures were the only other topic worth mentioning. EPA Region 4’s response says nothing about water quality testing, tracking procedures, alternative water supply, water well testing cost reimbursement, wildlife on land and water, underground plumes of contamination, or an educational campaign; all topics listed in the WWALS letter to which EPA is replying.
Apparently it took a week for the email I forwarded to EPA Region 4 on December 17th to get there on December 23, 2019. Then it took another month for EPA to send a paper reply letter in fancy packaging.
EPA also recommended: Continue reading
![[Spill report, manhole, map]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2023-02-08--valdosta-river-st-spill/many.jpg)
![[Still advised not to drink]](https://www.wwals.net/pictures/2020-02-26--madco-wq-vww-wctv/nodrink.jpg)