Tag Archives: Withlacoochee River

Hamilton County legislative delegation in Jasper 5:30 PM today 2015-09-03

Tonight Hamilton County, FL residents (or others) have an opportunity to express their concerns to their Florida statehouse delegation, for example about FL-DEP’s dismissal with prejudice and refusal to consider the real issues in WWALS’ amended petition against Sabal Trail drilling under the Suwannee River.

Bill Montford, FL Senate District 3 According to the Jasper News last week,

The Hamilton County Legislative Delegation consisting of Senator Bill Montford and Representative Elizabeth Porter will be holding a public hearing in Jasper on Thursday, Sept. 3, at 5:30 p.m. in the Hamilton County Courthouse, 207 Northeast First St., Jasper.

All residents and elected officials are invited to attend. This hearing will allow residents of Hamilton County the opportunity to meet their legislators, discuss concerns, ask questions and offer comments for the 2016 legislative session, which convenes Jan. 12.

Continue reading →

Sabal Trail faces opposition in Florida and Georgia –Palm Beach Post

The evidence stacks up against the three-part pipeline, Sabal Trail, Florida Southeast Connection, and Hillabee Expansion Project, despite rote denials by FPL and Sabal Trail. And this article ties the WWALS petition against drilling under the Suwannee River with the Georgia opposition to a compressor station in Albany.

Susan Salisbury, Palm Beach Post, 31 August 2015, Gas pipeline slated to supply FPL’s plants faces opposition,

A proposed $3.5 billion natural gas pipeline is either essential to Florida’s energy future or a looming disaster that has the potential to damage the iconic Suwannee River and the state’s fragile limestone Floridan Aquifer on its way to Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast….

In recent months, concerns have been raised Continue reading →

Valdosta rains sewage down Sugar Creek into Withlacoochee River 2015-08-28

Valdosta can’t blame this one on rain upstream: it fell directly on Valdosta, and once again the same Meadowbrook Drive neighborhood that’s been getting doused in sewage since 2009 saw it surging out of a manhole, after three other streets got it. Valdosta says it reported all this to GA-EPD, but good luck finding it (or anything else) on EPD’s website. Once again Valdosta on its own website didn’t even say which river Sugar Creek dumps into, US 41 (North Valdosta Road), Withlacoochee River but Florida figured it out, and ain’t happy. The Florida Department of Health advisory is findable, and news media and SRWMD picked that up. Maybe Valdosta’s ongoing force main project will fix these overflows: bids were requested earlier that same month for more parts of that project. Maybe Valdosta could try to explain itself better in its own press releases?

Valdosta News, 29 August 2015, Update: Overflows Stopped, Continue reading →

No need for this pipeline. Solar power is what we should be doing. –WWALS on WCTV 2015-08-28

As we prepared to put in at US 84 to paddle up the Withlacoochee River to the proposed Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline crossing, WCTV interviewed us, and indeed she picked out the main point.

Update 2015-08-31: I’m told people did see this story live on air on WCTV.

Winnie Wright, WCTV, 28 August 2015, WWALS Watershed Coalition Files Petition Against Pipeline,

Hamilton County, FL—WWALS Watershed Coalition filed an amended petition Friday, opposing the Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s intent to issue a building permit for a 36-inch natural pipeline under the Suwannee River in Florida.

“The combination of all this opposition, what we of course want to do is to stop the pipeline”, says John Quarterman, with WWALS. “There’s no need for this pipeline. Solar power is what we should be doing.”

Some of the other opposition I referred to was Continue reading →

Pictures: Withlacoochee River and Sabal Trail @ US 84 2015-08-28

A paddle so brief we went past and had to float back WWALS at the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline crossing 30.7955398, -83.4526749 down the Withlacoochee River to where the Sabal Trail pipeline proposes to cross.

Winnie Wright of WCTV interviewed us at the US 84 bridge median while we were preparing to put in; don’t know if it aired.

Update 2015-08-28: WCTV story online.

See previous post for pictures of the put-in. It has everything: steep rocks, thorny Smilax vines, poison ivy, and wasp stings! Yes, this is Continue reading →

Filing petition with Florida Friday against Sabal Trail

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

August 27th, 2015, Hahira — Continuing to oppose the unnecessary, destructive, and hazardous invading Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline, WWALS Watershed Coalition will file Friday an amended petition with the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FL-DEP) opposing that agency’s intent to issue a permit for Sabal Trail Transmission to bore its 36-inch pipeline from Hamilton County to Suwannee County under the Suwannee River in Florida.

Update 2015-08-28: Here is the amended petition filed today.

WWALS originally filed a petition on August 7th. FL-DEP denied that petition on August 14th, giving a list of reasons and fourteen days to amend. WWALS will file an amended petition at the end of that fortnight, on Friday August 28th. Numerous residents of Florida have become WWALS members, and some will be named in the new filing.

Deanna Mericle, of Hamilton County, Florida, notes, Continue reading →

Rescheduled: WWALS Water Trails at Southern Georgia Regional Commission Council 2015-09-24

Rescheduled from July, Paulk Vineyards WWALS Ambassador Dave Hetzel will speak about the Alapaha River Water Trail (ARWT), which is now looking to place signs and reprint brochures, and the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail (WRWT), whose Committee is looking for more members, at the Southern Georgia Regional Commission Council meeting September 24th in Pearson, Georgia.

When: 11AM Thursday September 24th, 2015

Where: Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River and Sabal Trail @ US 84 –WWALS Field Trip 2015-08-28

A very brief paddle (or walk, depending on water level) a few hundred feet up the Withlacoochee River from US 84 to see where the Sabal Trail pipeline proposes to cross. Facebook event.

When: 10AM, Friday,
August 28th 2015

Where: Meet in the parking lot at
Agri-Supply
2825 US Hwy 84W
Valdosta, GA 31601

We will carpool from there to US 84 and to where we will leave most of the vehicles.

Fallback: Continue reading →

Withlacoochee River at US 84, 2015-08-28

Halfway between Quitman and Valdosta, the Withlacoochee River forms the border between Brooks and Lowndes Counties, Georgia.

Parking on the median on the east, Lowndes County, side, you can climb down the highway rocks and down a creek bed to the river. Continue reading →