Tag Archives: sinkhole

Sinkhole at Sabal Trail path through SRSP, Hamilton Co., FL 2017-10-03

Update 2017-10-05: Press Release.

Yesterday we found a fresh sinkhole within 60 feet of Sabal Trail’s pipe under Suwannee River State Park (SRSP), between the Suwannee River and the drill site in Hamilton County.

60 feet from sinkhole to pipeline, SRSP

These pictures are by Christopher J. Mericle. He is a WWALS member, and also the Chair of the North Florida Working Group of the Suwannee-St. Johns Group, Sierra Club Florida.

You can see the sinkhole extends underground to the south, on the far side in this picture, towards the pipeline: Continue reading →

Videos: Not so Fast, Sabal Trail: Suwannee and Flint Riverkeepers in Live Oak 2017-09-07

Thursday before the storm, Suwannee and Flint Riverkeepers updated on Sabal Trail in Live Oak, about the recent court win against FERC, plus LNG export.

Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper, with Suwannee Riverkeeper

WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman explained Continue reading →

GA DNR responds about Sabal Trail at Okapilco Creek 2017-09-21

Not the answer I was looking for, but GA-EPD is still by far the most responsive agency regarding Sabal Trail.

West to sinkhole, Coffee Road, near Okapilco Creek

Lisa Myler of GA-DNR called back Friday about 7PM saying Tom Fowler had been to the Okapilco Creek Sabal Trail sinkhole site I reported.

I called her back Monday, and after DNR’s web server came back up she forwarded Tom Fowler’s report today: Continue reading →

Sinkhole, Sabal Trail, Okapilco Creek, Brooks County, GA 2017-09-19

Update 2017-09-21: Yes, I reported it to GA-EPD, et al. (PDF), and here are facebook photos of most of the images below.

How close to exposed is Sabal Trail’s pipe? This sinkhole is at least a foot deep, maybe two or more, and Sabal Trail only buried their pipe three feet deep, despite requests by Brooks, Colquitt, and Lowndes Counties to bury it deeper.

At sinkhole, Sinkhole

N of sinkhole, Sinkhole

Is that fill material exposed Continue reading →

Sinkhole half a mile from FPL pipeline, FSC 2017-09-11

Hurricane Irma caused a sinkhole that destroyed the entrance to a subdivision less than half a mile from an FPL pipeline to the sea, about two miles from Floridian Natural Gas (FlING), and about seven miles from the end of Florida Southeast Connection (FSC). What other sinkholes appeared, and were any under that pipeline, FSC, Sabal Trail, or Transco?

Sinkhole, FPL pipeline, FLiNG, FSC
Sinkhole, FPL pipeline, FLiNG, FSC; map by John S. Quarterman for WWALS.
Click on this link for the interactive google map.

Julius Whigham II, Palm Beach Post, 12:39 a.m. Monday, Sept. 11, 2017, Hurricane Irma: Storm creates sinkhole in western Martin community, Continue reading →

The Three Stooges Greatest Sabal Fails at Dunnellon

To see Sabal Fail in inaction at Dunnellon, jump to The Dunnellon odorant leaks, where the pipeline stooges wrapped it in towels, sprayed a deodorant, and waited until morning. Really, according to the incident report from Marion County Fire Rescue. It doesn’t get better in this summary: none of the state or federal permitting or safety agencies did anything, leaving Marion County to deal with the situation unassisted.

The Three Stooges: A Plumbing We Will Go

If you want to know some background, see also Continue reading →

Not so Fast, Sabal Trail: Suwannee and Flint Riverkeepers in Live Oak 2017-09-07

Update 2017-09-01: Add #StopETP Day of Action one day early to the same event in Live Oak.

Suwannee Riverkeeper John S. Quarterman will show four years of Sabal Fail, and the Three Stooges plumbing in Dunellon. WWALS member Cecile Scofield will talk about LNG export all over Florida. Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers will explain what the fossil fuel industry calls the Great Major Victory by Sierra Club, Flint Riverkeeper, and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, and what it means (so far as anyone knows). WWALS E.D. Gretchen Quarterman will lay out what you can do to help stop Sabal Trail and reform FERC. Plus videos.

When: 6:30 PM, Thursday, September 7, 2017

Where: Live Oak Woman’s Club, 1308 11th St SW, Live Oak, FL 32064

Free: There is no admission fee and you do not have to be a member of WWALS to attend. Naturally, we do encourage you to join WWALS today. https://wwals.net/blog/donations/

Event: facebook, meetup

Gretchen Quarterman, WWALS Watershed Coalition and Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper
Gordon Rogers, Flint Riverkeeper and Gretchen Quarterman, WWALS Executive Director

Videos: Continue reading →

WWALS at VSU Learning in Retirement 2017-08-31

Come ask Gretchen questions this Thursday morning, 10-11AM, at VSU’s Continuing Education building in midtown Valdosta.

When: 10AM to 11AM, Thursday, August 31, 2017

Where: VSU Continuing Education
903 N Patterson St, Valdosta, Georgia 31698

Event: facebook

Gretchen Quarterman, Executive Director, WWALS Watershed Coalition
Gretchen Quarterman speaking at a WWALS public meeting at VSU last spring

WWALS will be offering an interactive lecture at Valdosta State Learning in Retirement Fall Session. We will talk about the watershed of the Suwannee Basin, the Floridan Aquifer, current challenges, and how together we can make sure our water is swimmable, fishable, and drinkable.

Continue reading →

If we hear about a sinkhole or a leak, we’ll be there –WWALS @ WCTV 2017-06-15

It’s not over just because the gas is flowing through Sabal Trail. We’ll be watching, and we’re escalating.

Noelani Mathews, WCTV, June 15, 2017, Local environmentalist groups prepare for Sabal Trail Pipeline to go online,

“We’ve always did a lot online and through legal angles and we’re going to continue doing a lot of that,” says John Quarterman, WWALS President. “If we hear about a sink hole or a leak, we’ll be there taking pictures.”

At the Withlacoochee River @ GA 122

Sabal Trail Transmission spokeswoman Andrea Grover said, Continue reading →

Sabal Trail in-service: keep watching them 2017-06-14

There are still many things you can do, from permit violations to FERC reform, after FPL gloated yesterday about starting the gas through Transco, Sabal Trail, and FSC. Pipelines leak, and another pipeline’s go-ahead just got slapped down by a federal court, plus we need to change the whole legal game. Meanwhile, continuing the rocketing rise of solar power in the Sunshine State and everywhere else is the best way to pry the clammy grip of the fossil fuel industry off our political system.

FSC spill
Photo: Mitch Allen

Susan Salisbury, Palm Beach Post, 14 June 2017, Sabal Trail, Florida SE Connection are now piping fuel to FPL,

“The start of Florida Southeast Connection and Sabal Trail Transmission natural gas pipeline operations is an important milestone for FPL customers and Florida’s economy,” FPL president and CEO Eric Silagy said.

It may indeed be a milestone of the last pipeline ever built into Florida or through Georgia.

It may even be a milestone of Continue reading →