Tag Archives: Suwannee River

WWALS becomes Suwannee RIVERKEEPER

Update 2023-03-31: Suwannee River Basin is bigger than several states, less populous than any: Suwannee Riverkeeper and WWALS work for fishable, swimmable, drinkable water in all 10,000 square miles of the Suwannee River Basin and Estuary.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WWALS becomes Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

Hahira, Georgia; December 30, 2016 — The Waterkeeper Alliance Board of Directors has approved its Affiliate WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. to become a Member. The newly appointed Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®, John S. Quarterman, will work to protect and preserve the Suwannee River Basin by combining his firsthand knowledge of the waterways with an unwavering commitment to the rights of the community and to the rule of law.

Suwannee River Basin and Estuary including Santa Fe River HUC, added 2019-09-26.

“Waterkeeper Alliance is thrilled to have Suwannee RIVERKEEPER® to be the eyes, ears, and voice for this vital watershed and community,” said Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., President of Waterkeeper Alliance. “Every community deserves to have swimmable, drinkable and fishable water, and John S. Quarterman is the right leader to fight for clean water in the region.”

The Suwannee RIVERKEEPER® will be a full-time advocate for the Suwannee River and its tributaries, including the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, and Suwannee Rivers in Georgia and Florida, protecting and restoring water quality through community action and enforcement. Quarterman stated, “Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®’s aim is to provide strong advocacy that will result in an improved quality of life for all citizens, whether they rely on it for drinking water or recreation or whether they simply value the Suwannee River Basin’s continued well-being.” 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.

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, 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 →

Fargo to Roline, Suwannee River, 2017-03-18

Update 2017-03-17: Yes, there’s plenty of water and the weather forecast is fine.

A long downstream paddle on the historic Suwannee River from Georgia into Florida. In the winter-spring rainy season the water should be high and fast.

Bring the usual personal flotation device, boat paddles, food, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. There is no good place to take out before the end point, so be prepared to paddle all day. With lunch, swim stops, and bon-bons, of course.

When: 7AM Saturday, March 18th, 2017

Put In: Fargo Ramp

GPS: 30.68297, -82.56105

Take Out: Roline Launch

Duration: 10 hours

Event: facebook, meetup

Free: This outing is Free! And we recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Continue reading →

Sabal Trail HDD and Compressor sites 2016-12-22

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 →

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.

Incidentally, unlike some other Sabal Trail contractors, Continue reading →

Why #NoSabalTrail #NoDAPL #WaterIsLife

Update 17 Dec 2016: What would you add? Comment here or send email to wwalswatershed@gmail.com. There will be a longer second version of this post.

Many new people and organizations are joining the opposition to the Sabal “Sinkhole” Trail fracked methane pipeline. Many of them ask me: why are we opposing this pipeline? It’s simple: our water, land, and air are more important than profit for a few utility executives and a few fossil fuel companies from Houston, Texas and Alberta, Canada. Solar power is now cheaper, faster to install, and far less destructive than any other power source, so the Sunshine State should turn directly to the sun.

Three years ago FPL said Sabal Trail was needed for new Florida electricity. FPL’s 2016 Ten Year Plan says Florida needs no new electricity until 2024 at the earliest. So why should we accept any destruction or risk for an unnecessary pipeline?

We were assured by Sabal Trail and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s one witness testified under oath in WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP: Continue reading →

Sabal Trail Hamilton County Suwannee River HDD

The pipe to go under the Suwannee RIver is laid out, welded, and has pressure test fittings at the Hamilton County side of the Suwannee River, but the drill site itself has nothing but a generator. So it looks like they’re drilling under from the Suwannee County side Here are some pictures and videos taken in Hamilton County near CR 141. Sabal Trail didn’t like that.

This is the site at 30.410381, -83.165874 that you see in the foreground in an aerial picture in a previous post.

Here’s a playlist of WWALS videos, and there are more pictures below. Continue reading →

Sabal Trail violations FDEP assured us would not happen are happening

Already under the Withlacoochee River in Georgia there’s been a frac-out and a sinkhole at a drilling site, upstream from the Suwannee River in Florida, under which FDEP told us it couldn’t happen:

“ Well, the Suwannee River crossing doesn’t, in fact, have any impacts to an outstanding Florida water….”
“Well, any work within, or could have adverse effects on OFW, is considered. In this case, we determine that there would be no impacts to the OFW.”

Apparently not only FDEP’s sole witness Lisa Prather believed Sabal Trail; according to a video yesterday by Cody Suggs at the Suwannee River, Sabal Trail’s own workers seem to believe their company’s propaganda.

Much more about WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP is on the WWALS website, including videos and transcripts of the landowners who also tried to warn FDEP that sinkholes happen like they already have including under at least two public roads in Suwannee County, Florida. And more about what already happened is on the WWALS website, plus things you can do to stop this $3 billion dollar fracked methane boondoggle.

For example, you may want to ask the permitting agencies some of the questions WWALS asked, including this one:

Which of FERC, FDEP, GA-EPD, USACE, SRWMD are working to protect the health, welfare and safety of the communities surrounding this pipeline and how are they doing that?

Given that I asked them for a prompt answer and two weeks later have gotten no answer at all, it sure looks like we the people will have to find and report violations and use other methods to stop this pipeline.

The transcript questions quoted below are Continue reading →

Walter Parks, Swamp by Chandelier

You won’t hear this every day. Thanks to Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers for pointing to these Okefenokee Swamp hollers by Walter Parks.

And don’t forget WWALS has an outing 10AM this Saturday December 10th at Georgia’s Stephen C. Foster State Park on the Suwannee River near Fargo, GA, to paddle into the Okefenokee Swamp. Continue reading →

WWALS Watershed Coalition (WWALS) is Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

A healthy watershed with clean, swimmable, fishable, drinkable water.