Valdosta had one spill at a lift station that lost power during Tropical Storm Irma, said David Frost, Interim Utilities Director, City of Valdosta, when I called him just now. I asked him if there were any others, and he said there was just that one.
He said it was a small spill. I asked how small. He said Continue reading
Update 2017-09-12: But one small lift station spill.
William “Ricky” Cornelius, Plant Superintendent, Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), said when I called him this morning there were no spills from WWTP nor from Valdosta’s Mud Creek Treatment Plant (MCWTP).
“I don’t think Mud Creek even lost power. We were on generator power here at the Withlacoochee plant, and our people had to work extra hours, but they were on top of it. We were prepared and had no spills.”
I have left a message at Valdosta Utilities about any manhole cover leaks. We shall see about those, and about other cities and counties and private wastewater facilities up and down the Suwannee River Basin.
-jsq, John S. Quarterman, Suwannee RIVERKEEPER®
You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!
Don’t spill, Valdosta. Don’t leak, Sabal Trail. Hurricane Irma is bad enough already.
Valdosta announced its WWTP would be “manned around the clock”, so I called down there before 8AM this Saturday morning, and somebody did answer immediately. I told him as Suwannee Riverkeeper I was concerned for people downstream who don’t want any spills during the upcoming rains, so I was glad to see it was true they were there. I asked him if they had backup generators. He said yes. Of course, that doesn’t handle every manhole cover. We shall see. Don’t spill, Valdosta! (Or Lowndes County, or Tifton, or anybody else.)
Currently expecting somewhere between 4 and 10 inches of rain on Valdosta.
Map from National Hurricane Center, 2017-09-09 8AM.
City of Valdosta, PR, 8 September 2017, Valdosta-Lowndes County Hurricane Irma Update, Continue reading
The good news: no wastewater spills from Valdosta since January.
And Valdosta has a new Utilities Director: Darryl Muse, formerly of Ocala, Marion County, Florida.
While at Ocala, Muse handled converting septic tanks to city sewer
and a wastewater plant upgrade,
both to protect springs.
Maybe he will be more sympathetic to people downstream in Florida than
certain officials still with the City of Valdosta.
Having completed the installation of the new Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant and the the force main at the Y on Gornto, Continue reading
This Fourth of July holiday, you can help promote continued independence of clean water
by opposing the EPA’s attempt to repeal the Clean Water Rule and then undermine
the Clean Water Act.
FLoridians in
the seven counties that have asked the EPA to do something
about Valdosta’s wastewater:
here’s your chance to make sure the EPA can still do anything.
Georgians who don’t want coal ash in landfills or industrial waste in our waters:
you can help save the Clean Water Act.
Everybody in the Suwannee River Basin:
the water we drink from the Floridan Aquifer interchanges with surface waters,
and we need the EPA to help protect all those waters.
Here is a letter from Florida Senator Bill Nelson to the EPA about the Valdosta wastewater situation, and the EPA’s response, which was underwhelming.
A suggestion: say what it is you’d like the EPA, GA-EPD, FDEP, etc. to actually do.
And what I’d suggest is get them all to fund and implement regular, frequent,
closely spaced, water quality monitoring along all the rivers in the
Suwannee River Basin.
That way we’d know where pollution is coming from,
we’d be able to calibrate what cities including Valdosta say from
their own monitoring, and we’d have baselines to compare to.
Not just for all seven downstream Florida counties anymore:
the City of Fanning Springs has also passed a resolution
asking the Florida governor to help stop Valdosta wastewater spills.
Maybe Valdosta will pay attention this time.
The Valdosta City Council and Mayor didn’t seem to understand when I used the Suwannee County resolution to draw attention to the part about:
“which again resulted in the Florida Department of Health issuing public health advisories warning the public of wastewater contamination in the Withlacoochee River and portions of the Historic Suwannee River, which resulted in warnings being posted at all public access areas along the rivers stating that the rivers were not safe for recreational use and every precaution should be taken to avoid any contact with the river;”
Maybe I should have tried this pithier part at the end: Continue reading
Levy BOCC passed a resolution Tuesday much like the Suwannee BOCC resolution, but adding instructions to transmit it to a wide range of Florida and U.S. elected officials and agencies.
If you’re in Valdosta today, the City Council meets at 5:30 PM; you can join us in talking to them about this, or send them email.
Thanks to Jessica Berryhill, Administrative Assistant I, Board Administration, Levy Board of County Commissioners, for the PDF.
RESOLUTION 2017-008
A RESOLUTION BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF LEVY COUNTY, FLORIDA REQUESTING THE PROTECTION OF THE HISTORIC SUWANNEE RIVER IN NORTH FLORIDA.
WHEREAS, Levy County is located in North Central Florida and is bordered by the Historic Suwannee River on its western side; and
WHEREAS. the Historic Suwannee River is one of the most widely known and recognized river system in the world; and Continue reading
Apparently Madison County was the first in Florida to call for state help to resolve the Valdosta sewage situation, back on February 8, 2017.
Followed by
Hamilton
and
Suwannee Counties, both on February 21, 2017,
and the other three four downstream Florida counties seem to have it on
their agendas.
After all, people downstream have been complaining about this since at least 2013,
and the 2009 old Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) overflow was one of the reasons for the founding of WWALS in 2012.
In the BOCC packet for the Wednesday March 8, 2017 Regular Meeting of the Madison County, Florida Board of County Commissioners, and see also PDF of just those two pages.
RESOLUTION 2017-02-08
A RESOLUTION BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF MADISON COUNTY, FLORIDA ASKING FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE HISTORIC SUWANNEE RIVER AND THE WITHLACOOCHEE RIVER IN NORTH FLORIDA.
WHEREAS, Madison County is located in North Central Florida and is bordered by the State of Georgia to the North and the Withlacoochee River and Historic Suwannee River to the East; and
WHEREAS, the Withlacoochee River starts its journey in Valdosta, Continue reading
The Suwannee County BOCC resolution is even more explicit than the Hamilton County one.
Thanks to Eric Musgrove, Clerk, Suwannee BOCC, for the PDF.
RESOLUTION 2017-26
A RESOLUTION BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF SUWANNEE COUNTY, FLORIDA REQUESTING THE PROTECTION OF THE HISTORIC SUWANNEE RIVER IN NORTH FLORIDA.
WHEREAS, Suwannee County is located in North Central Florida and is bordered for 100 miles by the Historic Suwannee River on its north, west and south sides; and
WHEREAS. the Historic Suwannee River is one of the most widely known and recognized river system in the world; and
WHEREAS, the Withlacoochee River (North) begins at its headwaters in South Georgia, and flows into the Historic Suwannee River at Suwannee County’s northwestern border area; and
WHEREAS, Suwannee County and each Continue reading
