The Suwannee River faces invasion by both Kinder Morgan’s Palmetto petroleum products pipeline and Spectra Energy’s Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline. Plus the Savannah, Ogeechee, Altamaha, Satilla, and St. Mary’s River are threatened by the Palmetto Project, Chattahoochee, Flint, Withlacoochee, and Santa Fe Rivers are threatened by Sabal Trail, plus most both projects is above the fragile Floridan Aquifer. All for no known local benefit; just to profit corporate greed.
Curtis and Norma Beaird, Poets Love Birds, 30 April 2015, Why Georgia Doesn’t Need the Palmetto Pipeline: Our Filing to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC),
We are writing this article because we are very concerned about the proposed Palmetto Pipeline to be built in the state of Georgia. Kinder Morgan plans to build 360-mile pipeline that will run from Belton, South Carolina to Jacksonville, Florida. According to the Savannah Riverkeeper, 218 miles of the pipeline will be in Georgia and 142 miles of the pipeline will be built in South Carolina. This pipeline would move refined petroleum products, to include denatured fuel ethanol. …
According to Push Back the Pipeline:
In the continental U.S., there are only 42 free-flowing rivers greater than 124 miles in length. Georgia contains five of these rivers, three of which are in the path of the proposed pipeline, Altamaha, Ogeechee, and Satilla Rivers. The Okefenokee Swamp is also the headwaters of the St. Marys and the Suwanee River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico.
Georgia also contains most of the free-flowing 205-mile Alapaha River, which fortunately isn’t currently the target of any pipeline. However, Spectra Energy proposes to gouge its Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline under the 115-mile Withlacoochee River in Georgia. And Sabal Trail would cross the Suwannee River in Florida, so the Suwannee is a target of both pipelines: Palmetto in Georgia, and Sabal Trail in Florida.
Here’s Curtis Beaird’s FERC filing, which notes that Kinder Morgan has not proven any need for its petroleum products pipeline, no more than Spectra Energy has for its fracked methane pipeline. They both appear to be for export, which would increase domestic prices, not decrease them as Kinder Morgan claims.
Curtis Beaird’s filing asked FERC to clarify its authority over the Palmetto Project, noting:
Timing of this clarification is critical. The Georgia DOT Commissioner is on record stating that following the next public meeting on May 7, 2015 in Waynesboro, Georgia, the written public response to the proposed pipeline will be received through May 15, 2015 and his decision would follow on May 19, 2015.
The same blog post has more detail about the Georgia Department of Transportation process, including:
DOT Official Palmetto Pipeline Hearing to be held Thursday, May 7 in Waynesboro, GA at the Augusta Technical College campus auditorium at 5:00 p.m.
If you cannot attend the hearing, but would still like to submit your comments, you may send a letter to:
Georgia Department of Transportation
10th Floor Office of Utilities
600 West Peachtree Street, NW
Atlanta, Georgia 30308Submit comments before May 15.
Lots more in that blog post.
-jsq
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