Tag Archives: WWALS

No pipeline! Suwannee County to FERC, Army Corps, and Florida

Suwannee County has waked up! Carl McKinney, Suwannee Democrat, 7 December 2015, Suwannee County seeks allies in pipeline fight,

County staff is writing a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the state of Florida, requesting the pipeline not enter Suwannee County.

The commission will vote on whether to send the letters during its Dec. 15 meeting. Both the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection have to issue permits for the venture.

Commissioner Larry Sessions proposed Continue reading →

WWALS Field Trip to proposed Sabal Trail Suwannee River Crossing –Pictures by John S. Quarterman 2015-11-15

You’ve seen Gretchen’s pictures; here are some more, including on land along the pipeline path through sinkholes, Deeper sinkhole 30.4080677, -83.1607895 of the informal outing from Suwannee River Campsites to Suwannee River State Park past where Sabal Trail wants to gouge its 36-inch fracked methane pipeline under the Suwannee River. This was Sunday 15 November 2015, days before the Tuesday the Suwannee County, FL Commissioners unanimously voted a resolution to move Sabal Trail’s compressor station. Suwannee BOCC filed that resolution with FERC, and has already decided to vote again Continue reading →

Who, beside the public,is checking the data Sabal Trail is providing? –Chris Mericle to FERC

WWALS board member Chris Mericle just asked FERC:

Why the huge discrepancy….? [W]hy should we believe that the information Sabal Trail provided anywhere is correct?

Chris pointing to tree that fell in sinkhole 30.4080314, -83.1609955 Apparently unlike FERC, Chris knows what he’s talking about, from on-the-ground observation to a local study by a geologist, to Sabal Trail’s own docuemnts.

Filed with FERC as Accession Number: 20151207-5015, “Comment of Christopher J Mericle in Docket(s)/Project(s) CP15-17-000 Submission Date: 12/6/2015”, Continue reading →

To protect the aquifer and to protect the river: Suwannee County against Sabal Trail 2015-12-01

Standing on their previous resolution against the Hildreth compressor station, SBOCC decided to vote next time on a much stronger resolution to keep the pipeline completely out of Suwannee County. Will Sabal Trail show up for that meeting, 15 December 2015, like Andrea Grover told Carl McKinney of the Suwannee Democrat they would if they had advance notice? I suggest all interested parties come to tha meeting to see, not to mention to counter any “information” Sabal Trail may supply.

Here is SBOCC’s own video of that meeting, in which you can see Commissioner Larry Sessions raise the issue:

Commissioner Larry Sessions I’d like to discuss one thing. Last meeting we discussed at length the Sabal Trail issues, possibly coming through our county and crossing the river a couple times.

I’d like to propose that staff make up a letter or a proposal to restrict the pipeline or maybe have the pipeline avoid all karst areas and wetlands coming through our county. We’re trying to Continue reading →

Sabal Trail pipeline route discussion, Suwannee Board of County Commissioners, 2015-12-01

Beyond asking to move the Sabal Trail compressor station, the Suwannee County Board of Commissioners (SBOCC) will consider what else it wants.

218 Parshley St. SW, Live Oak, FL 32064 SBOCC Meeting — Sabal Trail pipeline route discussion by SBOCC tonight — I was told — 6 pm Parshley Street in Live Oak — right behind Post Office off Ohio Ave (MLK BLVD).

Please attend if able. —Debra Johnson

Will Sabal Trail continue to hide behind the federal Pipeline Safety Act even after two more whistleblowers have come forward about Spectra Energy?

Will Sabal Trail again Continue reading →

Suwannee County, FL sends resolution against Sabal Trail to FERC 2015-11-30

The one county targetted by every path proposed by Spectra Energy Resolution: move it for its Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline, Suwannee County, Florida, has told FERC it passed a resolution wanting the Hildreth compressor station moved.

Filed with FERC 30 November 2015, Accession Number: 20151130-0023, “A Resolution of the Board of County Commissioners of Suwannee County, Florida etc re Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC under CP15-17.” (PDF on WWALS website.)

For the text, see the previous post. Below are images. Continue reading →

Sea level gage reports: all USGS gages in WWALS territory in Georgia

All the Suwannee River Basin USGS gages in Georgia just got a new flood level reporting system (except they missed one). Locator Map: Central South Georgia USGS Gages They’ve added a level measurement from sea level, probably not coincidentally about the same as the Florida gages added a level measurement from dry riverbed, so both Georgia and Florida gages now have both measurements. This actually does not affect the WWALS level charts for the Withlacoochee and Little River Water Trail nor for the Alapaha River Water Trail, because those continue to display water levels from dry riverbed. To see this change at all, you have to drill down to the USGS detail pages, for example on the Withlacoochee River at Skipper Bridge Road in Georgia, or near Pinetta, Florida.

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Tallahassee, FL, unknown date, Suwannee River Basin Datum Changes in South Central Georgia,

Starting on October 14, 2015, the National Weather Service in Tallahassee and Jacksonville will make adjustments to the reporting method for water level in the Suwannee River System. This includes river gages in the following rivers or creeks: Continue reading →

Industrial Wastewater Permit application for Suwannee River Plant by Duke Energy

Why does Duke Energy now want to dispose of industrial wastewater from its Suwannee River power plant in Suwannee County? Why did Duke apply for a water permit for the same plant the same day that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asked for comments about Sabal Trail? Why does Sabal Trail want the same type of permit?

Profile Name: Suwannee Air

Permit: Water – Industrial Wastewater Facility Permit
Project Name: DUKE ENERGY – SUWANNEE RIVER
Location Id: FL0000183
Location Name: Duke Energy Florida – Suwannee River Generating Plant
County: Suwannee
Application Number: FL0000183-007

For further information, please contact the Tallahassee Headquarters permitting office in Tallahassee at (850) 245-8589

Why is a wastewater permit labeled “Suwannee Air”? And more questions…. Continue reading →

Suwannee County landowners v. Sabal Trail surveying 2015-12-07

Suwannee County resident Debra Johnson tells us:

Suwannee County landowners vs Sabal Trail’s right to survey at Suwannee County courthouse Dec 7 at 3:30, Live Oak, FL. Landowners have lawyers.

A bit more information on Suwannee County Says “NO” To Toxic Waste 27 November 2015: Continue reading →

DEP neither acknowledged nor addressed the EPA concerns raised by WWALS –Politico

National news notes Florida doesn’t want DOAH to listen to EPA about Sabal Trail, after WWALS asked DOAH to do so.

DEP over EPA Bruce Ritchie, POLITICO Florida, 25 November 2015, Scott administration helped keep scathing EPA pipeline report out of legal challenge,

TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott’s top environmental agency helped block a scathing federal report outlining environmental concerns from being submitted as part of a challenge to a controversial natural gas pipeline that would run across some of Florida’s most “environmentally sensitive areas.”

The Sabal Trail pipeline, a joint venture of Spectra Energy, Duke Energy and Florida Power & Light Co.’s parent company, would extend 515 miles from central Alabama to Osceola County. The project, which covers more than 260 miles in Florida, faces a legal challenge to a state permit in Florida from an environmental group named the WWALS Watershed Coalition.

On Oct. 26, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wrote to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, saying it had “very significant concerns” about Continue reading →