Tag Archives: WWALS

Petition Florida Congress members to oppose Sabal Trail

January 25, 2016Florida, Safety, SolarFlint Riverkeeper, Florida, Government, Green Swamp, Gulf Restoration Network, John S. Quarterman, Safety, Santa Fe River, Sierra Club, solar, SpectraBusters, Suwannee River, WWALSJohn S. Quarterman

It’s time for Florida members of Congress to join the four Georgia Congressmen who have told FERC to fix its broken process or deny a permit for Sabal Trail.

Citizens of Florida can petition their members of Congress either by:

Printing and signing a PDF petition from the website of WWALS Watershed Coalition. (Petitions for Georgia and Alabama are also on there.)
Signing online a form put up by Gulf Restoration Network that will send directly to your members of Congress.

SpectraBusters continues to assist these and an increasing Continue reading Petition Florida Congress members to oppose Sabal Trail →

Hike to the Suwannee River with Sierra Club against Sabal Trail – Jan. 16, 2016

January 11, 2016Florida, PR, Suwannee CountyFGT, Florida, Florida Gas Transmission, Jacksonville, Jacksonville Expansion Project, JEP, John S. Quarterman, Maryvonne Devensky, OSFR, Our Santa Fe River, PR, river, Sabal Trail Transmission, Santa Fe River, Sierra Club, SpectraBusters, Suwannee River, Suwannee River State Park, Suwannee-St Johns Group, WWALSJohn S. Quarterman

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Live Oak, FL, January 12, 2016 — Stepping up its support for local and larger groups opposing the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline, this Saturday Sierra Club is hosting a meeting culminating in a hike to the Suwannee River to see where Spectra Energy of Houston, Texas proposes to drill under the iconic Suwannee River into Suwannee River State Park. Media are invited to see people from Florida and south Georgia stand up for our rivers and our Floridan Aquifer.

When: Saturday, 16 January 2016 – 11 AM with hike at 1 PM

Where: Suwannee River State Park

3621 201st Path, Live Oak, FL

15 miles west of Live Oak on US 90 Continue reading Hike to the Suwannee River with Sierra Club against Sabal Trail – Jan. 16, 2016 →

Confirmed: Resolution against Sabal Trail today at Suwannee County Commission 2015-11-17

November 17, 2015Compressor, Florida, Suwannee County, WaterBeth Gordon, compressor, Debra Johnson, Falmouth Cathedral Cave System, Florida, Hildreth, John S. Quarterman, Outstanding Florida Water, Sabal Trail Transmission, Santa Fe River, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Suwannee County, Suwannee River, WWALSJohn S. Quarterman

Suwannee County residents please come speak, and everyone else please come be seen (you can speak, too). Facebook event. Come defend property rights, water, and air in Suwannee County from the Sabal Trail invader, and that helps defend where you are, too.

When: 6PM Tuesday 17 November 2015

Where: 218 Parshley Street Southwest, Live Oak, Florida, 32064

From the draft minutes of the Nov. 3rd meeting Continue reading Confirmed: Resolution against Sabal Trail today at Suwannee County Commission 2015-11-17 →

FL Gov. Scott Sabal Trail permit conflict of interest –FloridaBulldog

August 4, 2015Ethics, Florida, Hamilton County, Law, Suwannee CountyAdam Putnam, Agriculture Commissioner, conservation, Dan Christensen, Department of Environmental Protection, Energy Transfer, Energy Transfer Equity, Environmental Resources Permit, ERP, Ethics, FL-DEP, Florida, FloridaBulldog, Gulfstream, Hamilton County, Jeff Atwater, John S. Quarterman, Kelcy Warren, Law, north Florida, Pam Bondi, PVR Partners, Regency Energy Partners, Rick Scott, river, Sabal Trail Transmission, south Georgia, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, submerged state lands, Suwannee County, Transco, watershed, Williams Company, WWALS, WWALS Watershed CoalitionJohn S. Quarterman

Florida’s Governor Rick Scott owns Williams Co. and other pipeline company stock, and that’s an issue with FL-DEP’s intent to issue a permit for Sabal Trail, says the reporter who broke the Rick Scott conflict story a year ago.

Dan Christensen, FloridaBulldog, 4 August 2015, Gov. Scott’s pipeline investment gets a boost from Florida environmental regulators,

The Board of Trustees of Florida’s Internal Improvement Trust Fund owns the submerged lands, according to DEP’s notice. The board is comprised of the governor and Cabinet — Scott, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and state chief financial officer Jeff Atwater.

There’s much more in the story, including that WWALS Watershed Coalition intends to file a protest with FL-DEP by this Friday, August 7th. WWALS confirms that, and adds: Continue reading FL Gov. Scott Sabal Trail permit conflict of interest –FloridaBulldog →

Against Sabal Trail in Savannah 2015-05-21

May 19, 2015Chatham County, Environment, Georgia, Law, Wateraquifer, Chatham County, conservation, Economy, environment, Georgia, Jacksonville, John S. Quarterman, Kinder Morgan, Law, LNG, Lowndes County, north Florida, Palmetto Project, pipeline, Push Back the Pipeline, river, Sabal Trail Transmission, Savannah, Sierra Club, south Georgia, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, T. Boone Pickens, Water, watershed, WWALS, WWALS Watershed CoalitionJohn S. Quarterman

Maybe Push Back the Pipeline can help convince Georgia Governor Nathan Deal and GDOT to oppose Sabal Trail like they successfully opposed the Palmetto pipeline. In Savannah Thursday May 21st a landowner affected by Sabal Trail and WWALS Watershed Coalition President John S. Quarterman will make the case at the Coastal Group of the Georgia Sierra Club. More details and background from WWALS, and see below about the event. All opponents of the Sabal Trail and Palmetto pipelines are invited.

Connect Savannah, today, (also on Push Back the Pipeline), Georgia’s Other Unwanted and Unneeded Pipeline,

When: Thu., May 21, 7 p.m.
Phone: 912-961-6190
Price: Free
Where: First Presbyterian Church
520 Washington Ave Savannah-Eastside
912-354-7615
www.fpc.presbychurch.net
The Palmetto Pipeline is not the only pipeline project in Georgia Continue reading Against Sabal Trail in Savannah 2015-05-21 →

Sabal Trail as environmental and property rights issue @ LCDP 2015-06-01

May 11, 2015Environment, Georgia, Law, Lowndes County, Politics, Watereminent domain, environment, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, Law, LCDP, Lowndes County, Lowndes County Democratic Party, property rights, SAVE, SpectraBusters, Valdosta, WACE, Water, WWALSJohn S. Quarterman

SpectraBusters board member Debra Johnson will be a panelist at the June 1st Lowndes County Democratic Party monthly meeting about environmental issues and property rights, 6PM 1 June 2015, at the Lowndes County Board of Elections office, 2808 North Oak Street, Valdosta, Georgia. This topic obviously includes among other issues the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline. Other panelists will be from the Lowndes County Commission, WWALS, WACE, and SAVE.

Anyone can speak up from the audience, and local TV covered Continue reading Sabal Trail as environmental and property rights issue @ LCDP 2015-06-01 →

Georgia has no use for new pipelines –AJC

April 6, 2015Colquitt County, Compressor, Dougherty County, Environment, Georgia, Law, Lowndes County, WaterAtlanta, Atlanta Gas Light, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Colquitt County, compressor, conservation, Coweta County, Dalton Expansion Project, Dan Chapman, Dan Coleman, Don Theime, Dougherty County, environment, Georgia, Greenlaw, Houston, John S. Quarterman, Law, Lowndes County, Palmetto Pipeline, Palmetto Project, pipeline, Push Back the Pipeline, river, Sabal Trail Transmission, Savannah Riverkeeper, south Georgia, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Steve Caley, Ted Turner, Texas, Transco, Water, watershed, Williams Company, Withlacoochee River, WWALS, WWALS Watershed CoalitionJohn S. Quarterman

Four pipeline projects surround Atlanta, and Georgia’s governor won’t comment. Spectra’s Andrea Grover did, though, saying the Albany compressor station would be no louder than “a modern-day dishwasher.”

Dan Chapman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 3 April 2015, Pipeline project fuels fight on state’s future,

VALDOSTA — Southwest Georgia is roiling mad over a proposed gas pipeline to Florida that virtually nobody in Atlanta, except Ted Turner, has heard about.

John Carlton looks over a gopher tortoise hole a few feet away from a 1954 easement for an 8 inch natural gas line on his property at Morrison Pines Plantation in Moultrie. The planned Sabel Trail pipeline would run 50 feet over from the existing line. Carlton is undecided on the proposal.
Photograph credit: Curtis Compton, AJC

Electric Power & Light has more of the text: Continue reading →

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 →

Avoid the Withlacoochee River and karst limestone –Hamilton Co. FL to FERC

August 26, 2014FERC, Florida, Hamilton County, Wateraquifer, Chris Mericle, FERC, FL-DEP, Florida, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Hamilton County, John S. Quarterman, karst, limestone, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, SRWMD, Suwannee River Water Management District, Water, Withlacoochee River, WWALSJohn S. Quarterman

After citizens familiar with the springs, shoals, and sinkholes of the Withlacoochee River and the fragile karst limestone that contains them and the Floridan Aquifer, source of drinking water for all of Florida and south Georgia, the north Florida county of Hamilton passed a resolution asking FERC to have the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline avoid those geological formations. According to a letter already forwarded to FERC by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and also quoted in part to FERC by the Suwannee River Water Management District, that would mean there’s basically nowhere that pipeline would be safe in north Florida (or south Georgia, which has the same limestone substrate).

Joyce Marie Taylor updated in the Suwannee Democrat 25 August 2014, Hamilton fights back against Sabal Trail pipeline,

A special meeting was called on Friday, Aug. 22, and the board voted to pass Resolution 14-10 that expressed their concerns about the proposed pipeline route across the Withlacoochee River that forms the western boundary of Hamilton County.

A portion of the resolution states, Continue reading Avoid the Withlacoochee River and karst limestone –Hamilton Co. FL to FERC →