Category Archives: Colquitt County

Colquitt County Commission on Sabal Trail pipeline today and tomorrow

Colquitt County, Economy, Georgia, Law, , , , , , , , , ,

Colquitt County is actively investigating legal options about the methane pipeline Spectra Energy wants to gouge through here. Other county attorneys could be as active.

Alan Mauldin wrote for The Moultrie Observer 8 February 2014, County commission meetings to focus on Sabal Trail pipeline,

Colquitt County Commission will receive updates Monday and Tuesday on a proposed natural gas pipeline that could pass through the county.

County Attorney Lester Castellow, who reently met with his counterparts from Brooks, Doughterty and Lowndes counties, is scheduled to address commissioners about the project during a Monday afternoon commission work session.

And representatives of Sabal Trail, the company that is building an Alabama-to-Florida gas pipeline will address commissoiners at Tuesday night’s commission meeting.

“Basically we’re going to be discussing what a local govermnent can and cannot do relative to the planning and construction of an interstate gas pipeline,” Castellow said during a Friday telephone interview.

It’s on the agenda for the 12 noon Monday 10 February 2014 Work Session:

3. Lester Castellow, County Attorney – Potential Options for Sabal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline

That’s at Room 261-C, Courthouse Annex, 101 East Central Avenue, Moultrie, GA 31768.

Colquitt County’s calendar doesn’t say when the Tuesday 11 February Regular Session will be, but the previous one was at 7PM. Presumably the Regular Session will have an agenda similar to the Work Session.

The newspaper story concludes: Continue reading Colquitt County Commission on Sabal Trail pipeline today and tomorrow →

Any entry onto either of these two properties will be deemed a trespass –Sandra Jones to FERC

Colquitt County, FERC, Georgia, , , , , , , ,

Filed with FERC 30 November 2013:

Sandra Jones, Moultrie, GA.
Sandra G. Yarbrough Jones
2056 Dunn Road
Moultrie, GA 31768
November 30, 2013

Via: First Class Mail; Certified, Return Receipt Requested Mail; Email

Matthew J. Calvert
Hunton & Williams LLP
Suite 4100
600 Peachtree Street, N.E.
Atlanta, GA 30308-2216

Dear Mr. Calvert:

This letter is to inform you that I do not consent to Sabal Trail, Spectra Energy or any of its agents or employees entering my two properties Continue reading Any entry onto either of these two properties will be deemed a trespass –Sandra Jones to FERC →

I just don’t think they should be allowed to deface my property –Irvin Allegood to FERC

Colquitt County, Economy, FERC, Georgia, Law, Trees, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Colquitt County landowner Irvin Allegood came to the do-over Sabal Trail Open House in Moultrie 27 January 2014 so he could tell FERC he wasn’t going to allow another pipeline. He wasn’t the only one, but he especially wanted video, so here he is, talking to John Peconom of FERC.

…the existing pipeline comes through the front corner.

I just don’t think that they should be allowed to, basically, to deface my property. …losing that road, if they put two pipelines on my property.

Their first suggestion, was they would destroy… as far as my property was concerned. all of the wooded area. There’s old growth pines in there, the run of a creek. We’re just not going to allow that to happen.

If they put it on the other side of the existing pipeline. I’ve been planning to put my shop out there when I retire in a couple of years.

Here’s the video:


I just don’t think they should be allowed to deface my property –Irvin Allegood to FERC
Video by John S. Quarterman for SpectraBusters.org,
Moultrie, Colquitt County GA, 27 January 2014.

FERC rep. John Peconom then wanted to be sure to get the spelling of Irvin Allegood’s name, and where his property was. It wasn’t on the map hanging right there, so they looked at the maps on Peconom’s laptop. Peconom had no direct response to the basic point of the pipeline defacing property, or tearing down trees.

You can easily see the existing pipeline on google maps: Continue reading I just don’t think they should be allowed to deface my property –Irvin Allegood to FERC →

FERC: regulatory agency or marketing firm for pipeline companies?

Alabama, Colquitt County, Economy, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Hazards, Marion County, Osceola County, Solar, Tallapoosa County, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Its name is the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, but lately it’s been sounding more like a marketing firm for pipeline companies. You can help fix that.

Bill Thompson wrote for Ocala.com 11 December 2013 about a meeting in Dunnellon, Florida, At open house, Sabal Trail presents plans for natural gas pipeline,

About 50 people attended an open house meeting held by Sabal Trail Transmission LLC, the energy firm that will construct the roughly 465-mile line for two of America’s biggest energy companies. The line will go through Alachua and Marion counties, among others….

John Peconom, project manager for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which will have final approval over the pipeline, described Sabal Trails efforts at this point as “shaking the bushes.”

The company, he said, is attempting to identify — and mitigate, if necessary — as many issues as possible before filing its application with the government, which should come in about a year.

Peconom told me in Moultrie, GA 27 January 2014 that that last was FERC’s role. I wonder why Continue reading FERC: regulatory agency or marketing firm for pipeline companies? →

The Big Picture

Colquitt County, Economy, Environment, FERC, Fracking, Georgia, Hazards, Law, Safety, Solar, Water, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

A followup to discussions in Moultrie, GA, 27 January 2014.

From: John S. Quarterman <jsqferc@quarterman.com>
Date: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 17:29:54 -0500
cc: John S. Quarterman <jsqferc@quarterman.org>
To: John Peconom <john.peconom@ferc.gov>
Subject: Re: Contact and the Big Picture

Howdy, and it was good to meet you in Moultrie.

I look forward to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission taking into account the whole big picture, and not just believing assertions by applicant companies without critical review.

Thanks for sending me this boilerplate, which I see appears in many FERC documents:

Any state or local permits issued with respect to the jurisdictional facilities authorized herein must be consistent with the conditions of this certificate. The Commission encourages cooperation between interstate pipelines and local authorities. However, this does not mean that state and local agencies, through application of state or local laws, may prohibit or unreasonably delay the construction of facilities approved by this Commission.

There was no source cited in the boilerplate, does it refer to this? Continue reading The Big Picture →

Ask FERC at the Moultrie Monday makeup Sabal Trail Open House

Colquitt County, Environment, FERC, Georgia, Hazards, Law, Trees, , , , , , , , , ,

PDF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Valdosta, 24 January 2014 — The gas pipeline company has scheduled another Open House for Monday January 27th, 2014, perhaps because a local landowner complained to FERC about previous Sabal Trail meetings in Moultrie being during big local events. You can ask the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in person why they should approve that methane pipeline. Protesters against the pipeline will be out front starting about 4:45PM.

When:  5:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Monday, January 27 th 2014

Where: Holiday Inn Express
850 Veterans Parkway North
Moultrie, GA 31788

Why: Spectra Energy, which had compressor station leaks in Maine this month and in Pennsylvania last year, plus multiple fines by Pipeline Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) for corrosion and leaks, and a record Continue reading Ask FERC at the Moultrie Monday makeup Sabal Trail Open House →

Sabal Trail makeup meeting in Moultrie

Colquitt County, FERC, Georgia, , , , , , , , ,

Perhaps in response to a complaint from a local landowner, Sabal Trail has scheduled a makeup “Open House” meeting in Moultrie for 27 January 2014.

Lisa A. Connolly filed with FERC 9 January 2014, Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC submits its Supplement to Schedule for Open Houses for the Sabal Trail Project under PF14-1.

On November 12, 2013, Sabal Trail submitted the date and location for an additional open house. Sabal Trail hereby submits the date and location for an additional open house that Sabal Trail will hold in Moultrie, Georgia.

Here are the specifics:

Monday, January 27, 2014
Holiday Inn Express
850 Veterans Parkway North
Moultrie, GA 31788
5:00pm to 7:30pm

This could have something to do with local landowner Continue reading Sabal Trail makeup meeting in Moultrie →

Spectra wants to be closer to the community in new Valdosta office

Colquitt County, Georgia, Lowndes County, , , , , , , , , , , ,

The community likes to visit that building, with signs and chants.

Winnie Anne Wright wrote for WCTV yesterday, Sabal Trail Transmission Opens Office in Valdosta,

Valdosta—Agents representing three counties affected by the Sabal Trail Natural Gas Pipeline will occupy the new office on North Patterson Street.

The Valdosta office is not the first office on the pipeline’s route. Susan Waller, with spectra energy says there are multiple offices in communities that are hosting the pipeline project.

“Having a local office for Sabal Trail really gives us the opportunity to be closer to the community. The residents and the different land owners that are affected by this, in the study corridor, I think it gives them an opportunity to get to know our representatives, and I do believe it improves and enhances our relationship with the community”, says Waller.

And the community still has many unanswered questions.

The community visited that building at 2010 North Patterson Street, also home of the Valdosta-Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA), to protest a proposed biomass plant in 2011 and a proposed private prison in 2012. Both times, the protesters won.

-jsq

Spectra still leaving questions unanswered

Colquitt County, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Hazards, Lowndes County, Madison County, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Here’s how Spectra’s VP of Stakeholder Outreach Susan Waller actually implements her assertion quoted in the Valdosta Daily Times Tuesday.

“I want stakeholders to talk to us. They have to ask the questions so we can answer them,” Waller said. “Keep talking. Don’t shut down.”

When I asked the FERC representatives at the Madison County meeting how to get Spectra to answer questions, they said file comments with FERC.

-jsq

Sabal Trail is failing to inform the public –Sandra Jones to FERC

Alabama, Colquitt County, FERC, Florida, Georgia, , , , , , , , , ,

Filed with FERC 26 November 2013:

Sandra Jones, Moultrie, GA.

Sabal Trails has planned the next open house meetings in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida concerning their proposed 36 inch pipeline during the very busy month of December.

In fact, the one planned for Colquitt County is to be held December 12th at 5 pm. This is the same time the traditional Christmas parade is to take place downtown Moultrie.

I am asking FERC to require Sabal Trails to reschedule this meeting and place an ad in the local newspaper to inform the public. Most of the citizens in Colquitt county are not aware of this project. Sabal Trails is failing to neet FERC’s requirements of informing the public of this very dangeruos pipeline.

How to comment with FERC.

-jsq