Tag Archives: Spectra Energy

Solar power versus Sabal Trail –Suwannee Riverkeeper in VDT 2017-01-08

Op-ed, Valdosta Daily Times, today, January 8th 2017:

John S. Quarterman, Suwannee Riverkeeper Sabal Trail and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection assured us there would be no problems drilling a 36-inch natural gas pipeline through the fragile karst limestone under the Suwannee River in Florida, yet already Sabal Trail’s pilot hole under the Withlacoochee River in Georgia caused a frac-out of drilling mud into the river and a sinkhole.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should halt construction and do a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.

When I happened to fly over the Withlacoochee River frac-out, I also saw Continue reading

Paddle Suwannee Campsites to State Park against Sabal Trail 2016-01-14

Suwannee RIVERKEEPER® invites you on a brief paddle down the Suwannee River from the CR 141 ramp to the Sabal Trail pipeline path, and onwards to Suwannee River State Park (SRSP) Ramp, Ramps and pipeline preceded by speakers at SRSP. The last time we paddled this route we were live on the WCTV 6 o’clock news. Like that time, this is a completely legal nonviolent protest event against the unnecessary, destructive, and hazardous Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline, right now drilling under the Suwannee River.

Bring the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. With bon-bons, of course.

Simultaneously another event NOT organized by WWALS is taking place: Mass Civil Disobedience to Stop the Suwannee River Crossing. If you want to do anything that might not be legal, go to that other, non-WWALS event.

To hear directly from the organizers of the various events, come to Rivers against Sabal Trail in Live Oak 7PM Jan 12 2017 —Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

The January 14th WWALS Suwannee River paddle is resolutely legal, on the navigable waters of the Outstanding Florida Water, the Suwannee River, or on its banks below the high water mark. There is no perfect guarantee, but this WWALS outing is about as safe legally as you can get.

When: Saturday, January 14th, 2017
10:30 AM deposit boats at CR 141 Ramp (the green map marker). The boats will be watched by a WWALS volunteer.
Shuttle to SRSP by 11AM for speakers there (the blue map marker).
Noon shuttle back to CR 141 Ramp to be on the water by 12:30 PM
to get to the pipeline crossing by 1PM (the red map marker).
Afternoon take out at SRSP and shuttle those who need it back to CR 141 Ramp.

Put In: Continue reading

Sabal Trail in Lowndes County, GA 2016-12-12

Sabal Trail’s 100-foot gouge makes the old pipeline right of way look like nothing, across Lowndes County, Georgia; pictures by John S. Quarterman for WWALS on 12 December 2016, with videos and a google map.

Troy Access signs start on Nankin Road shortly after you come up from Florida.

Rocky Ford Road is the most obvious pipeline crossing. You can see all the way to it from Barrett Coody Road. Continue reading

Sabal Trail now drilling under Suwannee and 5 other rivers and creeks 2017-01-03

Sabal Trail is drilling pilot holes under the Tallapoosa River in Alabama and the Withlacoochee (south) River in Florida, according to its latest biweekly report filed today. HDD Construction (1 of 2) It’s already reaming a bigger hole under the Suwannee River in Florida and the Chattahoochee River at the Alabama-Georgia border, as well under Hillabee Creek and State Highway 22 in Alabama. Hillabee Creek seems to keep taking longer.

In Georgia, drilling is completed under Earth Dam, the Flint River, the Ochlockonee River, and the Withlacoochee River, and in Florida under the Santa Fe River, Shingle Creek, and Dyer Blvd.

Drilling has not started under Continue reading

VA529 responds to WWALS request to divest from Spectra Energy

It seems to miss one of the main points, but thanks to Mary G. Morris, CEO, VA529, for a thoughtful reply to the WWALS request to divest from Spectra Energy.

ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) It seems to me that investing in a highly risky pipeline company such as Spectra Energy would be “contrary to [VA529’s] overall investment goals and mission”, at least if those goals include reliable investments for college, and not stranded investments.

It might be worth looking into the Parnassus Core Equity Fund she mentions. Perhaps college savers who want reliable investments would want to consider moving their investments there.

Suwannee Riverkeeper may continue correspondence with VA529.

Meanwhile, VA529 has a handy VA529 contact form or you can call or write: Continue reading

Chris and Deanna Mericle win Sierra Club Cypress Award

WWALS members Deanna and Chris Mericle won an award for their activism against the Sabal Trail pipeline at the December 1st 2016 meeting of the Suwannee-St Johns Sierra Club Group.

Deanna Mericle, Chris Mericle, Maryvonne Devensky
Photo: Maryvonne Devensky, Vice Chair/Outings/ICO, Suwannee-St Johns Group Sierra Club

The Pelican, Sierra Club Florida, Fall 2016, Chapter Announces 2016 Award Recipients,

Congratulations to the following individuals who are being recognized with Chapter awards:

Cypress Award, Chris and Deanna Mericle, Suwannee St. Johns Group The couple is being honored for their diligent work to expose the faulty documentation of the Sabal Trail Pipeline LLC. Through their efforts, much information on the dangerous pipeline was brought to the attention of elected officials and the public.

The Mericles were the prime movers in getting Sabal Trail to move off the Withlacoochee River in Florida. In August 2014 Chris Mericle told the Hamilton BOCC he was trying not to be emotional. Continue reading

Stop Sabal Trail fracked gas pipeline; invest in solar –John S. Quarterman in Citrus County Chronicle 2016-12-25

Here’s a Christmas present for pipeline opponents and solar power proponents.

John S. Quarterman John S. Quarterman, Citrus County Chronicle, other voices, 25 December 2016, Stop gas pipeline; invest in solar,

Sabal Trail and FDEP assured us there would be no problems drilling a 36-inch natural gas pipeline through the fragile karst limestone under the Suwannee River and the Withlacoochee (south) River in Florida, yet already Sabal Trail’s pilot hole under the Withlacoochee (north) River in Georgia caused a frac-out of drilling mud into the river and a sinkhole. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers should halt construction and do a Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement.

When I happened to fly over the Withlacoochee (north) River frac-out, I also saw Continue reading

Sabal Trail HDD and Compressor sites 2016-12-22

South Suwannee River HDD, 30.4065670, -83.1543950 An anonymous informant sent these aerial pictures of what appear to be the Sabal Trail drill sites at the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers, plus the Hildreth Compressor Station near O’Brien, apparently taken Thursday 22 December 2016.

The GPS coordinates were Continue reading

Sabal Trail is overbuilt Florida gas infrastructure

Even FPL admits Florida needs no new electricity until 2024, so what is Sabal Trail really for? Could it corporate profit and LNG export? Meanwhile, solar power prices keep going down as deployments rocket up.

Larry Buhl, DeSmogBlog, 9 December 2016, Sabal Trail Opponents Say Pipeline Is Part of Florida’s ‘Overbuilt’ Gas Infrastructure,

John Quarterman, president of [… WWALS] Watershed Coalition, recalled that Sabal Trail representatives, when pressed at public hearings, maintained that, as a pipeline company they had no idea where gas going through their pipes might end up, a claim that he and other activists find hard to believe.

Chris Pedersen, writing for the industry publication OilPrice.com in October 2014, wrote that Transco and Sabal Trail pipelines could be used to explore new overseas markets for Utica and Marcellus Shale gas.

Sabal Trail opponents say gas flowing through the Sabal Trail pipeline could easily end up at export terminals on the Florida coast. For example, Continue reading

No sign of sinkhole with equipment in it 2016-12-18

There’s a rumor that Sabal Trail has some equipment stuck in a sinkhole at the Suwannee River. Multiple people have gone and videoed and seen nothing like that there, on either side of the Suwannee River. We’ve also checked the Withlacoochee River at US84: nothing like that is visible at the visible HDD site in Georgia (it could be at the Brooks County, GA site that we can’t see).

The drilling equipment formerly at the Martin Lane Withlacoochee HDD site in Lowndes County, Georgia is gone, and the drill truck photographed recently at the Suwannee south bank HDD site looks like the same Southeast Directional Drilling truck with the Arizona address on its side.

Southeast Directional Drilling, 3117 North Cessna Ave., Casa Grande, AZ 85122, 520-423-2131, www.southeastdrilling.com,

Incidentally, unlike some other Sabal Trail contractors, Continue reading