A local citizen asks her County Commission to represent its citizens, not a pipeline company from somewhere else, in an op-ed in the Suwannee County newspaper today.

Lori McCraney, Suwannee Democrat, 24 December 2015, Opinion: Suwannee County commissioners lack resolve against Sabal Trail,

Proponents have touted the safety of the Sabal Trail pipeline. This belies the fact that Spectra Energy, the parent of Sabal Trail, has one of the worst safety records in the industry. See www.spectrabusters.org/hazards/spectra-safety-violations for links to numerous articles regarding Spectra’s safety record.

According to Alan Lambeth, director of engineering design for Spectra Energy, Sabal Trail will use the thinnest pipe allowed by regulations in rural areas such as Suwannee County. Thicker pipe is required for higher population densities. Apparently, rural lives matter less than urban lives.

Suwannee County has been promised easy annual revenues, to the tune of $2.77 million, in exchange for its blind faith that Sabal Trail will responsibly protect the county’s citizens and natural resources in perpetuity. What if they default on their obligations or go out of business?

The whole thing is also here. And here is Lori McCraney testifying in WWALS v. Sabal Trail & FDEP.

Suwannee County did already pass a resolution to move the Hildreth compressor station, becoming the seventh county to pass a resolution against Sabal Trail, along with three cities.

Your county can also pass a resolution, or, even better, an ordinance rooted in its comprehensive plan. You can call or write your local, state, and federal elected and appointed officials. For example, if enough people call their Congress members, maybe we’ll get enough to join with the four Georgia Congressmen who already asked FERC to stop Sabal Trail.

-jsq

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