Leases and permanent easements to cross the Chattahoochee River, Flint River, Ochlockonee River, and Withlacoochee River: that’s what the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Board proposes to vote on this Wednesday morning, in Atlanta, far from any of the proposed crossings or the directly affected counties, with no publ ic hearing and minimal public announcement. You can call them or send them email to ask them not to do that. Or show up in Atlanta 9AM Wednesday 23 September 2015 and speak; bring a written statement if you do that. Atlanta metro people, we need you to go to that meeting!

Agenda at this link. DNR board list at this link. DNR didn’t supply any contact information for its board members, but DNR’s own contact is:

Georgia Department of Natural Resources,
2 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, SE Suite 1252,
Atlanta, GA 30334
(404) 656-3500

Here’s their form to send them email.

Some likely DNR board members to contact include:

• Jeff “Bodine” Sinyard, who is also Chairman of the Dougherty County Commission, which unanimously approved a resolution and multiple letters opposing Sabal Trail. He’s the only elected official on the DNR board.
• J. Mark Mobley, Jr. of Moultrie and Colquitt County, who is the Vice Chair of the DNR Board Land Committee which meets first Wednesday morning and has that Sabal Trail giveaway on its agenda before it’s again on the full board agenda.
• Phyllis Thompson Johnson, who owns a tree farm and quail hunting preserve.
• Philip C. Watt, M.D., who is a doctor and on the board of Tall Timbers Research Station and Land Conservancy.
• Ray Lambert, Jr., Chairman, because he’s the DNR board chair.
• And Dwight Davies, Chairman of the Land Committee and its other members Bagwell, Evans, Jones, Leebern, Phelps, Sawhill, and Shailendra.

But if you know any DNR board member, you can contact them.

The DNR Board visitor info says you can speak at the meeting:

If you wish to address the Board on an item that is on the agenda, you may sign the appropriate sign-in sheet when you attend the meeting. The Chairman will call on you at the appropriate time.

Appearances before the Board are limited to three minutes per person. The Board asks that you present your position in writing as well, along with any supporting materials you wish to submit. Your written position and supporting material should be given to the Board Secretary. Please limit the number of people in a group who wish to speak on the same subject.

The committees of the Board meet prior to the full Board meeting (usually the afternoon before the full Board meeting but occasionally the same day as the full Board meeting). These committees deal with specific areas of concern to the Board, such as environmental rules, land purchases, and fishing and hunting regulations. The committees make recommendations to the full Board at its meeting. It is the Board’s preference that members of the public present their concerns during the committee meetings. All Board Members in attendance are present for each committee meeting.

And don’t forget the FERC meetings starting Sept. 28 in Albany, Sept. 29 in Moultrie, Sept. 30 in Valdosta, and Oct. 1 in Lake City, continuing in Alabama and Florida.

Don’t wait for those FERC meetings: go ahead and send FERC ecomments or move to intervene on Sabal Trail FERC docket CP15-17.

You can go to the GA-EPD air quality permit hearing some time in October in Albany.

You can help with the legal process in Florida, WWALS v. Sabal Trail & FL-DEP.

And you can call for a GA-EDP hearing on water issues and “cumulative impacts of the proposed activity on the public interest”.

You can call for at least one and maybe three U.S. Army Corps of Engineers public hearings, and you can send the Corps comments.

-jsq

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