Tag Archives: John S. Quarterman

PR: SpectraBusters sends Outreach against Sabal Trail pipeline and for solar power to Rally in Tallahassee

February 17, 2015Florida, Solar, WaterFlorida, Fort White, FPL, Houston, John S. Quarterman, Laura Dailey, Leon County, NextEra Energy, Outreach, Rally, Sabal Trail Transmission, Sierra Club, solar, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Tallahassee, Texas, WaterJohn S. Quarterman

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fort White, Florida — Maximizing her speaking skills, Laura Dailey resigned from the SpectraBusters Board to be unanimously appointed Director of Community Outreach & Speaker’s Bureau, with first stop speaking against the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline and for solar power in Tallahassee Wednesday March 18th at the Floridians for Clean Water & Amendment 1 Rally in Tallahassee.

Laura Dailey said, “Who here loves to paddle our rivers and hike our scenic trails? WE are the stewards of these wonders, and we stand dangerously close to losing them to a company from Houston, Texas. A company woefully undereducated about our pristine landscape, and fragile Karst terrain, and who, until they came here, had no idea that our springs heartland is the single largest source of fresh spring water on earth!”

Remembering her excellent questions at the Continue reading PR: SpectraBusters sends Outreach against Sabal Trail pipeline and for solar power to Rally in Tallahassee →

VSU S.A.V.E. protest for fossil fuel divestiture and against Sabal Trail pipeline

February 13, 2015Economy, Georgia, Lowndes CountyAdrianna Taylor, divestment, Economy, Education, fossil fuel, John S. Quarterman, Sabal Trail Transmission, SAVE, SpectraBusters, Students Against Violating the Environment, Valdosta State University, VSU, WCTVJohn S. Quarterman

The cookout at Valdosta State made the news, with SpectraBusters.org No Pipeline signs.

Winnie Wright, WCTV, 12 February 2015, VSU Students Protest Against Controversial Pipeline,

Adrianna Taylor of SAVE [Students Against Violating the Environment] says, “We’re uniting all of the global divestment groups from across the world and trying to make a message to the fossil fuel industry and to local governments that we want change. We want you guys to divest from fossil fuels and make the switch to alternative fuels.”

Taylor also says the organization hopes the University will pledge not to invest any more money in fossil fuels.

Resolutions against the Sabal Trail pipeline have already been passed by Lowndes County, Valdosta, and five other counties and one other city (Albany) in Georgia and Florida. VSU divesting its fossil fuels would send another signal.

Also, how about Continue reading VSU S.A.V.E. protest for fossil fuel divestiture and against Sabal Trail pipeline →

Cookout at VSU for Global Divestment –S.A.V.E.

February 6, 2015Climate Change, Georgia, Lowndes Countydivestment, Education, fossil fuel, John S. Quarterman, S.A.V.E., SpectraBusters, Students Against Violating the Environment, Valdosta State University, VSUJohn S. Quarterman

Fracking for fossil fuels causes new pipelines and LNG export, and without investment none of that will happen.

S.A.V.E. flyer:

Come celebrate with S.A.V.E as we take part in the Global Divestment Day Movement! Come learn about divestment from fossil fuels and how the VSU community can get involved to better our future!!!

Where? VSU Palms Quad

When? Feb. 12, 2015

What time? 1pm-3pm

What is Global Divestment Day? Continue reading Cookout at VSU for Global Divestment –S.A.V.E. →

Would you buy a used car from Sabal Trail?

February 5, 2015Alabama, Colquitt County, Compressor, Corrosion, Dougherty County, Economy, Environment, Explosion, Florida, Georgia, Hazard, Hazards, History, Leak, SafetyAndrea Grover, Brian Fahrenthold, corrosion, credibility, eminent domain, explosion, Hazards, History, insurance, John S. Quarterman, leak, property values, public record, Sabal Trail Transmission, Safety, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Susan WallerJohn S. Quarterman

Why should we accept any risk from a pipeline company that has repeatedly claimed not to be familiar with the public record of its long list of corrosion, leaks, and explosions? A pipeline company that has claimed land values wouldn’t be affected? That it’s “hard to believe” its own law firm sent threats of eminent domain to landowners, despite copies of those letters being sent to newspapers and FERC? That Georgia counties need its gas, after those same counties had already passed resolutions wanting Sabal Trail’s pipeline out of their county and state? A pipeline company that claims the Sunshine State needs its gas when its own figures show half the acreage could produce just as much solar power? Why should anybody in Albama, Georgia, or Florida accept any risk from that company from Houston, Texas?

Sabal Trail claimed theirs is a safe company and leaks and explosions seldom happen, until confronted on-camera with a list of incidents. Continue reading Would you buy a used car from Sabal Trail? →

What Sabal Trail wants to do to our rivers

February 5, 2015Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Hazard, Hazards, History, Noise, Safety, Wateraquifer, Black Warrior River, Cahaba River, Chattahoochee River, Chattahoochee Riverkeeper, Coosa River, Dirty Dozen, drilling, Flint River, Flint Riverkeeper, Floridan Aquifer, frac-out, Georgia Water Coalition, Hazards, HDD, Horizontal Directional Drilling, John S. Quarterman, Ochlockonee River, Our Santa Fe River, Sabal Trail Transmission, Santa Fe River, sinkhole, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Suwannee River, Tallapoosa River, Tombigbee River, Withlacoochee River, WWALS, WWALS Watershed CoalitionJohn S. Quarterman

After a long string of safety incidents and later-contradicted assertions in the media, would you trust Sabal Trail to drill under your rivers in your aquifers and near your farms, schools, homes, and springs?

Here’s stage two of Sabal Trail’s three-stage horizontal directional drilling (HDD) method, according to its document How We Cross Rivers and Streams,

The second stage involves enlarging the pilot hole to a diameter that will accommodate the pipeline. The enlargement process involves the use of hydraulic cutting with drill bits and jet nozzles and hydraulic motors Continue reading What Sabal Trail wants to do to our rivers →

Time to comment to FERC on Sabal Trail ignoring springs on Suwannee and Withlacoochee Rivers

February 1, 2015Florida, Hamilton County, Madison County, Safety, Suwannee County, Wateraquifer, conservation, Debra Johnson, dye, Ellaville Spring, Falmouth Cathedral Cave System, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Hamilton County, John S. Quarterman, Lime Spring, Lowndes County, Madison County, Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, Our Santa Fe River, pipeline, river, Sabal Trail Transmission, Safety, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Suwannacoochee Cave System, Suwannacoochee Spring Lime Run Spring, Suwannee Alliance for Sustainable Growth, Suwannee County, Suwannee River, Suwannee River Water Management District, SWRMD, Thomas S. Edwards Jr., Water, watershed, Withlacoochee River, WWALS, WWALS Watershed CoalitionJohn S. Quarterman

Here’s why you should ecomment to FERC and your elected officials right now. Sabal Trail filed key materials after FERC’s stated deadline, a Suwannee County, FL landowner points out in a FERC ecomment, also revealing Sabal Trail still didn’t address key springs upstream and down from its proposed new pipeline path, and said nothing about connecting caverns beneath the Suwannee and Withlacoochee Rivers.

Here’s a call to action from Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson:

Good Morning,

I realize many of you have seen me (and a few others) navigate through a enormous amount of meetings, letters, social media announcements to stop the Sabal Trail Gas (fracked)Transmission Pipeline cutting through one of our most vulnerable areas of our World, the Florida Springs Heartland.

You have watched and read from the sidelines for nearly 2 years. It is time for you to act. Call it my Continue reading Time to comment to FERC on Sabal Trail ignoring springs on Suwannee and Withlacoochee Rivers →

NTSB tells PHMSA to fix its horrible pipeline safety methods

January 30, 2015California, Corrosion, Explosion, Florida, Hazards, Kentucky, Leak, New Jersey, PHMSA, SafetyAmerican Gas Association, California, corrosion, explosion, Federal Geographic Data Committee, Florida, Hazards, Interstate National Gas Association of America, John S. Quarterman, Kentucky, leak, National Association of Pipeline Safety Representatives, New Jersey, NTSB, PHMSA, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, Safety, SpectraBusters, US Department of TransportationJohn S. Quarterman

Tired of reporting on explosions unprevented by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). just issued a damning set of recommendations to PHMSA, plus to an alphabet soup of other organizations to ride herd on PHMSA to try to get some improvement. How about instead we stop building new pipelines and get on with solar power?

NTSB said its motivation was three recent explosions it reported: the 2009 Palm City, Florida flying pipeline that almost hit a high school, the 2010 San Bruno, California PG&E Pipeline Rupture and Fire, and the 2012 Sissonville, West Virginia I-75 house destruction, about which NTSB said:

These three accidents resulted in 8 fatalities, over 50 injuries, and 41 homes destroyed with many more damaged.

And NTSB reporting on PHMSA’s failures goes back way farther than that, Continue reading NTSB tells PHMSA to fix its horrible pipeline safety methods →

New England doesn’t need more gas pipelines: stockpile instead

January 21, 2015Alabama, Florida, Georgia, MassachusettsAlabama, Florida, FPL, Georgia, ISO New England, ISO-NE, John S. Quarterman, LNG export, Massachusetts, New England, price, rate, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, stockpileJohn S. Quarterman

Still more evidence that new natural gas pipelines are an unneeded boondoggle.

Kathryn R. Eiseman, Commonwealth Magazine, 20 January 2015, New gas pipelines can be avoided: Back-up fuel incentives are the way to go,

LAST WINTER’S NATURAL gas price spikes, and resultant electric rate hikes, continue to be used to justify the push for massive expansion of gas infrastructure. Yet a successful program to incentivize New England’s power generators to contract for back-up fuel for this winter undermines the argument for more pipelines. This winter’s lower wholesale gas and electric prices indicate that the rate hikes themselves could have been avoided had such measures been more fully implemented for the 2013-2014 winter.

Measures like contracting to buy gas from peak load plants that sometimes sat idle last winter. And measures like storing gas when it’s cheap to use in the winter.

In fact, ISO-NE intentionally excluded LNG storage incentives from last winter’s winter reliability program, telling the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that gas-market-related solutions “would lower gas prices and send the wrong signal about the relative scarcity of natural gas. These lower prices would also be reflected in the electricity market.” In other words, allowing prices to rise would help convince the public Continue reading New England doesn’t need more gas pipelines: stockpile instead →

Radar saw fracked methane pipeline explode near reservoir, Jackson, MS

January 19, 2015Explosion, Mississippi, TreesBarnett Reservoir, explosion, Gulf South Pipeline, Jackson, John S. Quarterman, Mississippi, SpectraBusters, TreesJohn S. Quarterman

If a pipeline explodes and only trees are burnt, does anybody care? This one was picked up by National Weather Service radar. Have you ever heard of solar panels exploding?

Josh and Toni Hardy, MSNewsNow, 14 January 2015, Pipeline fire burns out; leaves behind scorched patch of forest, Continue reading Radar saw fracked methane pipeline explode near reservoir, Jackson, MS →

Oil pipeline leak into Yellowstone River, upstream from Little Missouri National Park, Williston, and Bismark

January 19, 2015Leak, Montana, North Dakota, WaterBismark, Bridger Pipeline, Glendive, John S. Quarterman, Lake Sakakawea, leak, Little Missouri National Grassland, Makoshika State Park, Missouri River, Montana, North Dakota, SpectraBusters, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, Williston, Yellowstone RiverJohn S. Quarterman

The oil may never reach Bismark because it will pollute Lake Sakakawea on the Missouri River first. Or it could go all the way down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico and join BP’s oil. Pipelines leak. Let’s stop building more of them. Solar power is faster, cheaper, and far safer.

Jessica Summers, Bloomberg news, 18 January 2015, Oil Spills Into Yellowstone River After Montana Crude Pipe Leak,

Oil pumped in the Bakken leaked from a pipeline into the Yellowstone River near Glendive in Montana on Saturday.
Continue reading Oil pipeline leak into Yellowstone River, upstream from Little Missouri National Park, Williston, and Bismark →