Tonight we get to hear twice about the long-awaited
flooding study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers:
once with no citizen input at the Valdosta City Council Work Session,
and then with citizen input at Valdosta City Hall Annex.
Presumably this study will say something about the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), the new
force main to prevent manhole overflows, and
maybe some upstream measures to keep quite as much water from getting there.
This study only addresses issues within the city limits of Valdosta,
not the larger watersheds upstream on the Withlacoochee and Little Rivers
and downstream: that will take more funding.
People
downstream in Florida may be relieved to hear something is being done.
Tag Archives: John S. Quarterman
Videos: Candidates Forum, Hahira Historical Society @ Hahira 2014-04-26
Hear your potential elected officials speak for themselves,
last Saturday at the Hahira Historical Society.
These videos are presented without commentary, except for a special
prize to the candidate who spoke the longest by far,
Richard Raines, who first promised to be brief, then spoke for
14 minutes.
He made some other promises, too,
and left without listening to his opponents.
Candidates and others may use these videos as-is or they may edit,
provided they cite the source: Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).
Contente
Here’s a table of contents by what they are running for. Continue reading
Videos: Candidates, Landowners, Methane and Solar Power @ SpectraBusters 2014-03-29
Candidates for Lowndes County Commission went on the record ( Mark Wisenbaker and Tom Hochschild both running for District 3, and Norman Bennett and Gretchen Quarterman both running for District 5), plus a statement by County Chairman Bill Slaughter, in addition to essential background information from directly affected landowners in the audience and from the panelists on why the proposed Sabal Trail methane pipeline is bad for property values, is hazardous here and elsewhere, and will be obsolete in a few decades, all at a SpectraBusters panel on the Sabal Trail pipeline at VSU, Saturday 29 March 2014.
The panelists were Continue reading
Annexation and watershed monitoring @ Hahira 2014-04-03
The
rezoning
and
annexation
previously recommended by
the Planning Commission
and
discussed by the Lowndes County Commission.
And there’s a Proposal for Long-term Watershed Monitoring from TTL, which may or may not be related to the flood risk management study or flood mapping previously discussed by the city of Valdosta and the Lowndes County Commission.
Curiously, both Wikipedia and the Hahira City Council’s own web page seem to think Wayne Bullard is still mayor. I read in the VDT that Bruce Cain was sworn in as mayor in January.
Thanks to City Manager Jonathan Sumner for the agenda.
Hahira City CouncilContinue reading
April 3, 2014
Agenda
7:30 pm-Hahira Courthouse
Lowndes County Democratic Party opposes the Sabal Trail Methane Pipeline –Gretchen Quarterman @ FERC 2014-03-04
Gretchen Quarterman stood up for local landowners, the economy,
and the environment,
by reading the statement against the pipeline recently
approved by the Lowndes County Democratic Party, of which she is the chair,
at the
Valdosta FERC Scoping Meeting 4 March 2014.
Here’s the video:
Lowndes County Democratic Party opposes the Sabal Trail Methane Pipeline –Gretchen Quarterman
Sabal Trail Methane Pipeline,
Scoping Meeting, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC),
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 March 2014.
Here’s the text she was reading: Lowndes County Democratic Committee Opposes Sabal Trail Methane Pipeline Continue reading
Sierra Club Chapters Oppose Sabal Trail Gas Pipeline –read by Danielle Jordan @ FERC 2014-03-04
Danielle Jordan, VSU student and president of Students Against
Violating the Environment, stood up for local landowners and
the environment against Spectra’s Sabal Trail pipeline
at the
Valdosta FERC Scoping Meeting 4 March 2014,
by reading a statement against the pipeline by the
Sierra Club chapters of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia.
Here’s the text she was reading:
TRI-STATE SIERRA CLUB CHAPTERS OPPOSE GAS PIPELINE:
Statement of the Georgia, Florida, and Alabama Sierra Club
Chapters Opposing the Sabal Trail Pipeline.
Here’s the video:
Sierra Club Chapters Oppose Sabal Trail Gas Pipeline –read by Danielle Jordan
Sabal Trail Methane Pipeline,
Scoping Meeting, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC),
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 4 March 2014.
-jsq
Corporate power comes home –Jim Parker
Letter to the Editor in the Valdosta Daily Times yesterday. -jsq
How is it that one foreign corporation, that has just come into existence to do this project, can have greater power than all of the thousands of citizens affected, and their elected governments?
No, I’m not talking about the Keystone XL pipeline, but he issues are the same. This one wants to run a 36-inch gas pipeline through a number of states and counties, including Lowndes, affecting thousands of landowners. It’s known as Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC, and is the unholy offspring of Spectra Energy Corp. and NextEra Energy.
How can one foreign corporation (they’re from out of state), have so much power vis-avis the thousands of landowners and citizens of Lowndes County, that the citizens must give up a hundred-foot-wide swath of their land, along with the depreciation of their property values, not to mention their personal safety, and allow this pipeline to come through? The gas is not even for use in Lowndes County, or even the State of Georgia. However, the general feeling is we have to give in to the corporation’s demands. County Commission Chairman Bill Slaughter is quoted as saying, “There’s nothing we can do.”
Does anyone else see the problem here? Continue reading
Videos: Moultrie FERC Scoping Meeting @ FERC 2014-03-05
Here are videos of the whole thing.
Updated 31 March 2014: Who stood up.
Updated 4 June 2014: Fixed video links.
Not only did Colquitt County pass a resolution about pipeline depth;
a County Commissioner the county attorney stood up and reminded FERC about it,
which got John Peconom to admit that FERC has required a deeper minimum
pipeline depth in some other states.
So far that’s speaking against the pipeline:
- Gilchrist County Commission, FL: 5 Commissioners + County Administrator + County Attorney
- Dougherty County Commission, GA: 1 Commissioner + County Attorney
- Lowndes County Commission, GA: 0 (zero, none, zip)
-
Colquitt County Commission, GA:
1 CommissionerCounty Attorney + a resolution
Only one of those county commissions claims there’s nothing you can do; the rest are all doing something.
See also:
- Tackle the Pipeline at the Root: Alabama FERC Scoping Meetings; Seale, Alexander City, or Butler Alabama, 10,11,12 March 2014. Continue reading
VDT redacted Sabal Trail pipeline FERC Scoping Meeting story @ FERC 2014-03-04
Amusingly, when the VDT fixed the typos in their online story,
they redacted me and Gretchen right out of it.
I’m flattered!
Still, congratulations to the VDT on quoting a lot of landowners
(and a few others who remained unredacted),
and on putting this story on the front page.
Here’s an extract from the online version showing changes from the printed version (pictured) as if the newspaper had used standard blogging markup for changes after posting. Starting with the pullquote in the printed version, which they edited heavily in the online version:
Affected Land ownerLandowner Larry Rodgers said he has been trying to sell his property for a long time, and once heHe had an interested buyerand they found out about, but upon learning of the pipeline running through his propertythey dropped their, the interested party withdrew the offer.“Where do I go to file that complaint
!? Andwhosewho’s responsible for value lost due to property damage?” Rodgers asked. Peconom replied, “I don’t have an answer for you tonight, butwellwe’ll look into it.”
Concerned citizens Gretchen Quarterman said she was concerned about the pipeline moving Natural Gas that has been fracked, and the taking of property from private land owners to benefit a company that does not do business in Georgia. She also brought up safety concerns regarding sink holes, and proposed Florida use an alternate way of producing energy, such as solar “because as we all know Florida is the sunshine state.”Continue reading
Videos: Valdosta FERC Scoping Meeting @ FERC 2014-03-04
Here are videos of the whole thing.
Update 2014-03-08: Fixed date.
See also:
-
FERC holds meeting to discuss Sabal Trail pipeline by Colter Anstaett, WALB
“I just lost a contract on the sale of part of my property because of this pipeline,” said Larry Rodgers, a Lowndes County landowner.
“Why is it set in stone that you pay one price forever for the value of the property they use when they’re gonna be makin’ profits on it forever…the landowner has to continue to pay property taxes. So, I don’t understand why they can’t share the profits,” continued Rodgers….
One concerned landowner, Rick Hastings, questioned whether any information that the third party collected and presented Continue reading