Tag Archives: Suwannee Riverkeeper

Hike to Dead River Sink, Alapaha River, Jennings Bluff Launch, 2019-01-19

Update 2019-01-16: Due to high water on the Alapaha River, moved to Hike at Little Shoals, Suwannee River.

There’s nothing else like it in Florida (or Georgia), so come along on the traditional winter WWALS three-mile hike to the Dead River Sink! No boat required to see the Alapaha River run up this distributary and disappear into the ground, not coming back up for 20 miles and three days.

This impressive geological phenomenon is an eye opener that perfectly illustrates the karst topography containing our drinking water in the Floridan Aquifer underneath our rivers. You often see exposed porous limestone along our river banks. However when you see a hole that is capable of swallowing the entire Alapaha for most of the year…. it’s impressive.

When: 12 noon PM, January 19, 2019

Put In: Meet at Jennings Bluff Launch. From Jennings, Hamilton County, FL, travel south on US 41 to NW 25 Lane; turn left; travel east to NW 82 Court and the entrance into the Suwannee River Water Management District’s Jennings Bluff tract; turn left and follow road to canoe launch.

GPS: 30.567172, -83.039189 (for the entrance to Jennings Bluff Tract)

Take Out: Same.

Bring: Cold weather gear, hiking shoes, and clothes resistant to thorny bushes. No boat needed. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

[Right down there, 13:33:30, 30.57888, -83.05025]
Photo: John S. Quarterman, Right down there, 13:33:30, 2018-01-27.

Continue reading →

Pictures: Hike to the Dead River Sink 2018-01-27

It was a nice day for a Hike to the Dead River Sink in the Alapaha Quest on the Alapaha River Water Trail, with Practicing Geologist Dennis J. Price of Hamilton County, Florida. Here are some pictures and a Google map from Saturday, January 27, 2018.

[Almost there, 13:16:34, 30.5837666, -83.0535975]
Almost there, 13:16:34, 30.5837666, -83.0535975

You can come along when we do it again in January 2019. Continue reading →

What happened on the Alapahoochee River? 2018-11-14

Twenty five times the state limit for Fecal coliform could be a problem. What got into the Alapahoochee River last week?

Graph, Alapaha Basin

GA 135, Alapahoochee River, Alapaha Basin

If you want to help find out what’s getting into our rivers, you can Continue reading →

Sign up for Water Quality Testing Training

Please sign up to volunteer to do Water Quality Testing, in either Florida or Georgia, using this google form.

https://forms.gle/WfNQEnoiv7LDBAsd8

You can help find out what is getting into our rivers, springs, and wells beyond sewage spills: fertilizer nitrates, livestock, wildlife, septic tanks, other. We also want to follow up after sewage spills, because the limited testing required by states doesn’t tell us how far the spill went.

WWALS testing trainer Gretchen Quarterman does trainings as trainees sign up. See the main Water Quality Testing web page for the next scheduled testing trainings.

Be sure to fill out the google form above so we will know how many. Be ready to test regularly after you get trained.

[Kit]
Kit

Anybody can take the training, which is free. But to test for WWALS requires being a WWALS member:

https://wwals.net/donations/

Remember to post your results in Georgia Adopt-A-Stream, and we can use them in Swim Guide.

Sign up, get trained, and then test and report. Continue reading →

November Full Beaver Moon Paddle, Banks Lake, 2018-11-23

Join us for a leisurely sunset paddle to watch the Hunter’s Moon rise over the lake.

Plan to arrive early enough to prep your boat so that we can launch by 5:30p.m. That will allow time to paddle around most of the lake before dark while we look for birds, gators and bats. Sunset on the lake is usually spectacular. If the sky is clear we will see the nearly full moon rise at 6:10p.m.

This is a leg of the Alapaha Quest, since Banks Lake is in the Alapaha River Water Trail.

When: 5:15 PM, September 11, 2018; be on the water by 5:30 PM

Put In: Banks Lake Boat Ramp, 307 Georgia 122, Lakeland, GA 31635, in Lanier County.

GPS: 31.035097, -83.097045

Take Out: Banks Lake Boat Ramp

Bring: Bring a light for your boat or some type of light to have on yourself (glow stick, head lamp, or flashlight), and bring a rope for your boat. You must wear a PFD. A whistle is not required, but it’s a good idea in the dark. Mosquitos can be bad at the marina but bugs are usually not a problem on the water. Don’t forget boat, paddles, anacks, drinking water, warm clothes, and first aid kit. Also trash pickers and trash bags: every WWALS outing is also a cleanup.

Free: This outing is free to WWALS members, and $10 (ten dollars) for non-members. We recommend you support the work of WWALS by becoming a WWALS member today!

Event: facebook, meetup

Paddling out, Lake
A previous Banks Lake paddle, 2018-07-27.

Continue reading →

Fine Craft and Arts Festival by Jefferson Arts Gallery, Monticello, FL 2018-11-17

Venturing outside our watersheds, but still inside the territory of the Suwannee River Water Management District, the WWALS booth goes to Monticello, Florida, this Saturday. Come on over!

When: 10AM-4PM, Saturday, November 17, 2018

Where: Jefferson Arts Gallery, 575 W. Washington Street, Monticello, FL

Event: facebook, meetup

Listing in the Tallahassee Democrat: Continue reading →

WWALS to PHMSA about Sabal Trail Hildreth Compressor Station Leak 2018-09-29

Update 2018-12-19: No answers a month later, so today we sent another inquiry today.

Sent today, as PDF. -jsq

Questions, Letter

November 13, 2018

To: Director James Urisko <James.Urisko@dot.gov>, 404-832-1150
Southern Region Office
PHMSA Office of Pipeline Safety
233 Peachtree Street NE, Suite 600
Atlanta, GA 30303

Cc: Community Liaisons:
James Kelly <James.Kelly@dot.gov>, 404-990-1848
Arthur Buff <Arthur.Buff@dot.gov>, 404-226-6153

Re: Sabal Trail Hildreth Compressor Station Leak 2018-09-29

Dear Director Urisko,

For more than 20 hours starting Saturday, September 29, 2018, the Sabal Trail interstate natural gas pipeline leaked “26.40516 MMscf” of “Non-odorized natural gas“ and “10,405.5 lbs” of “VOC” (presumably Volatile Organic Compounds) at its Hildreth Compressor Station in Suwannee County, Florida. A week later Sabal Trail filed a report with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), the text of which is appended to this letter.

I have several questions:

  1. Why did Sabal Trail take more than a week to report this incident to FDEP?
  2. Did Sabal Trail report this incident to PHMSA? If so, please send a copy of that report, or how to get it.
  3. Has PHMSA filed a report about this incident? If so, please send a copy or how to get it.
  4. Is PHMSA investigating this incident? If so, when will the investigation be complete? Are there any interim results or opportunities for public comment into the process?
  5. Since Sabal Trail wrote “nothing in the yard caused alarms” and “Site is unmanned,” how did Sabal Trail discover this leak?
  6. What changes has Sabal Trail put in place Continue reading →

Jury awards 33 times what Sabal Trail offered to Levy Co., FL landowner 2018-11-09

Update 2023-07-23: Levy County 3RT Sand Mine is in Springshed of Rainbow Springs 2023-07-23

If this isn’t what Sabal Trail was scared of back in September when they settled three jury trials in Valdosta, Georgia, it should have been.

Sabal Trail path digitized by WWALS, Maps

Andrew Caplan, Gainesville Sun, 12 November 2018, Sabal Trail must pay Levy landowners $1.3M

A 12-member jury in Gainesville awarded Levy County residents Lee Thomas and his son, Ryan, more than $1.3 million for land that Sabal Trail built its pipeline on.

Sabal Trail Transmission was back in federal court in Friday to defend its controversial $3 billion project and the offers it made to a pair of landowners for uprooting and burying a natural gas pipeline on their property.

That didn’t go over so well.

Continue reading →

Four more make 24 asking GA-EPD to tell everyone when anyone spills 2018-11-12

Yes, your organization can still sign on!

[More Signatures]

GA-EPD Richard E. Dunn did answer on November 2, 2018, saying they would look into telling everyone when anyone spills. We will keep collecting signatures and delivering them until we see daily spill updates on the GA-EPD website.

Follow this link for the whole resolution.

 -jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Alapaha Station Celebration 2018-11-10

Update 2019-10-24: pictures.

Join us at the WWALS booth for fun, food, and a parade at the Alapaha Station Celebration, this Saturday, November 10, 2018, for the firth year running.

When: 9AM – 5PM, Saturday, November 10, 2017

Where: Alapaha Station, 245 NE Railroad St, Alapaha, Georgia

Event: facebook

[Dave Hetzel and people]
Dave Hetzel and people; pictures by Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS at Alapaha Station Celebration 2017-11-11.

The station is only a few miles from Continue reading →