Tag Archives: Mitchell County

Citizens oppose Sabal Trail in Albany, Moultrie, and Valdosta this week –WTOC, Albany, GA

September 28, 2015Brooks County, Colquitt County, Compressor, Dougherty County, Environment, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Hamilton County, Law, Lee County, Lowndes County, Safety, Suwannee CountyAlbany, Brooks County, Colquitt County, compressor, Dougherty County, environment, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Hamilton County, John S. Quarterman, Law, Lee County, Lowndes County, Mitchell County, Moultrie, Safety, SpectraBusters, Suwannee County, Terrell County, Valdosta, WTOCJohn S. Quarterman

Property rights, environment, health, and safety are why citizens oppose Sabal Trail, including tonight in Albany or Tuesday in Moultrie or Wednesday in Valdosta. Be sure to show up by 5:30 PM to sign up to speak.

Caitlyn Chastain, WTOC, 28 September 2015, Public meetings ahead for Sabal Trail Pipeline, starting today,

It’s a project that has gained a lot of attention and a lot of criticism.

Many people are concerned Continue reading Citizens oppose Sabal Trail in Albany, Moultrie, and Valdosta this week –WTOC, Albany, GA →

Deny Sabal Trail, said U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, and FERC ignored him

June 19, 2015Agriculture, Alabama, Compressor, Dougherty County, FERC, Florida, Georgia, Hazards, Law, Lee County, Safety, Stewart County, WaterAgriculture, Air, Alabama, Albany, aquifer, compressor, Dougherty County, eminent domain, FERC, FGT, Florida, Florida Gas Transmission, GDOT, Georgia, Georgia Department of Transportation, Hazards, John S. Quarterman, karst, Kinder Morgan, KMI, Law, lawsuit, Lee County, Mitchell County, noise, Palmetto Pipeline, pollution, Sabal Trail Transmission, Safety, Sanford Bishop, sinkhole, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Stewart County, Transco, trespass, Water, Webster CountyJohn S. Quarterman

Citing the GDOT denial of KMI’s Palmetto Pipeline and numerous specific hazards of Spectra Energy’s proposed Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline (sinkholes in karst limestone and a compressor station next to Albany’s water wells, all for no benefit to Georgia, by a company with a poor safety record), U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop (GA-02) wrote to FERC (PDF):

I believe that FERC should deny STT’s application for a Certificate of Public Necessity.

And he told FERC to tell Sabal Trail to stop suing his constituents for eminent domain.

A year after Rep. Bishop listened in Albany for two hours to complaints about Sabal Trail, Dougherty County and Albany, Georgia filed followup letters to their resolutions against that pipeline. Neither FERC nor Sabal Trail answered them, so their Representative in the U.S. Congress forwarded their letters with that sharp cover letter. Three weeks later, FERC still hasn’t even filed his letter in their e-comment system, much less responded to it.

Just how lawless is FERC, anyway? Doesn’t a member of the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations give them pause? Continue reading Deny Sabal Trail, said U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, and FERC ignored him →

Sabal Trail repeatedly sent letters to landowners claiming Georgia eminent domain authority –SpectraBusters to judge

April 17, 2015Brooks County, Colquitt County, Dougherty County, Georgia, Law, Lee County, Lowndes County, Stewart CountyAlton Paul Burns, Bell, Brooks County, Case number 14CV208RS, Colquitt County, criminal trespass, Dougherty County, eminent domain, Georgia, John S. Quarterman, Judge Rucker Smith, Law, Lee County, Leesburg, Lowndes County, Mitchell County, O.C.G.A. 22-3-88, SpectraBusters, Stewart County, trespassJohn S. Quarterman

SpectraBusters sent examples of Sabal Trail’s many threats of eminent domain, in this letter to Leesburg for the ongoing eminent domain and criminal trespass trial.

Re: Case number 14CV208RS
Judge Rucker Smith

To: Cindy Clark
Civil Deputy Clerk
County Courthouse
100 Leslie Highway
Leesburg, Georgia 31763

If it please the court,

SpectraBusters, Inc. is a Georgia nonprofit corporation with board members and other participants in all three states directly affected by the Sabal Trail proposed pipeline: Georgia, Florida, and Alabama. The SpectraBusters board voted Monday March 30th 2015 to send this letter to the court to express our concerns about Sabal Trail’s attempts to claim Georgia eminent domain long before it tried to claim customers in Georgia, as well as possible ill effects throughout the pipeline route, especially in Georgia, if the judge were to rule in this case for application of Georgia eminent domain. Even with Sabal Trail’s claimed agreement with the Metropolitan Gas Authority of Georgia (MGAG), Sabal Trail is still “a long way” Continue reading Sabal Trail repeatedly sent letters to landowners claiming Georgia eminent domain authority –SpectraBusters to judge →

Grasping at semicolons: Sabal Trail fail in Leesburg

March 25, 2015Georgia, Law, Lee Countyeminent domain, evidentiary, fraud, Georgia, hearing, John S. Quarterman, jury, Law, Lee County, Mitchell County, propaganda, puppeteer, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBustersJohn S. Quarterman

Semicolons and disjunctive ands vs. propaganda, subterfuge, and fraud yesterday in Leesburg, GA, and evidentiary briefs will be received by the judge over the next 20 days.

After patiently listening to Spectra attorneys detail how a 1920s version of Georgia pipeline eminent domain law had a semicolon that they claimed separated “in the State of Georgia” from their pipeline, Judge Smith later remarked that the legislature passing a bill that removed the semicolon could be used to infer that they intended to remove the semicolon. Sabal Trail also tried to argue that the “and” in the same sentence was a disjunctive that similarly separated. The judge seemed more interested in the basic question: does Sabal Trail provide gas to customers within the State of Georgia?

The landowners’ attorney made it even more interesting, referring to Continue reading Grasping at semicolons: Sabal Trail fail in Leesburg →

Return to Leesburg, GA for Sabal Trail legal hearing against landowners

March 22, 2015Georgia, History, Law, Lee CountyAlton Paul Burns, Bell, eminent domain, Georgia, History, John S. Quarterman, Law, Lee County, Mitchell County, SpectraBusters, Superior Court, Thomas CountyJohn S. Quarterman

Last summer Sabal Trail limped away from Leesburg, Georgia without any ruling about eminent domain. They’re heading their pipeline posse back to town this Tuesday, 24 March 2015, for an 11:30 AM hearing on a motion of summary judgment against the same landowners, the Bells. This is an opportunity for pipeline opponents to show up at the hearing or write a letter of support for the Bells. Send your letter here and we’ll probably also publish it.

If you can’t come in person, for letters here is contact information Continue reading Return to Leesburg, GA for Sabal Trail legal hearing against landowners →

South Georgia pipeline trials

June 13, 2014Georgia, Lee County, Stewart CountyGeorgia, John S. Quarterman, Lee County, Mitchell County, Sabal Trail Transmission, Spectra Energy, SpectraBusters, Stewart County, survey, trespassing, trialJohn S. Quarterman

11AM 10 July 2014, Leesburg, Georgia, according to the Clerk of Court in Lee County: Sabal Trail Transmission v. James E. Bell II and Robert Bell, Case number 14CV208RS. Others tell me the Bells are countersuing Sabal Trail for going on their property despite being told not to. Whatever is decided there will affect every other pipeline land access case. This is an opportunity for pipeline opponents from everywhere to help: show up at the hearing, write a letter of support for the Bells, maybe even file a legal brief, or demonstrate nearby.

There was another case Continue reading South Georgia pipeline trials →