Tag Archives: Sabal Trail Transmission

Valdosta City Council member Tim Carroll files with FERC



Tim Carroll, District 5, has filed a request based on property
rights and water issues for the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) to deny the Sabal Trail Transmission methane
pipeline that Spectra Energy wants to run through Lowndes County.
Here’s the letter:
Property rights and water: please deny the Sabal Trail methane
pipeline –Tim Carroll, Valdosta City Council,
5th District

Valdosta is the county seat of Lowndes County, Georgia, and at
least one landowner with land in the path of that proposed pipeline
lives in the City of Valdosta in Council Carroll’s district.

-jsq

Adapt natural gas pipeline to renewable resources? –Laura Dailey @ GCC 2014-02-20



Spectra was unwilling to consider adapting
their Sabal Trail pipeline plan to include renewable energy,
other than to continue reiterating that they do natural gas pipelines,
and to refer to renewables only as “alternative” energy.

Laura Dailey asked at the

Gilchrist County Commission meeting 20 February 2014:



Will the pipelines be adaptable to future use of
other forms of energy besides the transmission of fossil fuels.
Anybody know that?

Brian Fahrentholdt of Spectra answered: Continue reading →

1,000 feet is not enough –Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson @ GCC 2014-02-20



The President of Our Santa Fe River said even much more distance
than the pipeline company was proposing wouldn’t be far enough away from
her river,
and the Chairman said specific answers were lacking from the pipeline company,
at the

Gilchrist County Commission meeting 20 February 2014.




Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, President of
Our Santa Fe River, said:

I don’t think a thousand feet on either side is going to deal
with the impacts on the Santa Fe River.

She asked for the Commission’s support.




Chairman D. Ray Harrison Jr (District 2) thanked her and added: Continue reading →

FERC Scoping Meetings on Sabal Trail Pipeline –Joe Pitchard @ LCC 2014-02-25



County Manager Joe Pritchard told everyone about the FERC Notice of Intent
and Scoping Meetings

starting next week
(Albany Monday 3 March, Valdosta Holiday Inn on West Hill Ave.
Tuesday 4 March, Moultrie 5 March, all at 6PM).
at the

25 February 2014 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

7. Reports-County Manager

He said materials were on the county’s website,

and they are:

Continue reading →

Sabal Trail interrogated in Gilchrist County, Florida @ GCC 2014-02-20



Here’s

a video playlist of the

real questions asked at the Gilchrist County Commission
where everybody could see Sabal Trail and Spectra Energy answering
about their proposed 36-inch fracked methane pipeline in a 100-foot right of way:
or not answering.
This is 1 hour and 27 minutes worth of video.
I didn’t get all of it because both camera batteries ran down
and it took a bit to find a plug.
This interrogation went on for more than two hours total.
Well done, Gilchrist County, staff, citizens, and everybody who asked questions.

Update 28 Sep 2014: A couple of notable questions:

As mentioned in this

PR,
Gilchrist County put this in the “Time Certain” part of their

agenda:

5:00 p.m. Sabal Trail Workshop



As mentioned in
local government pipeline responsibilities,
other local governments could do this, and more.
For example,
Lowndes County, Georgia

with 114,552 population compared to 16,815 for Gilchrist County (2012 est.)
could do more.

Here’s

the video playlist:

Continue reading →

Small town in Michigan votes to oppose nuclear waste dump across the lake in Canada


It’s unlikely a U.S. town has any direct power over a siting decision in Canada,
but a small Michigan town made its views known anyway, because it would be affected.
Local governments affected by the Sabal Trail methane pipeline could do the same.

Lori Maranville wrote for the Milan News-Leader 22 February 2014,

MILAN: Council approves resolution opposing nuclear waste site in Canada,

In October, U.S. Senators Debbie Stabenow and Carl Levin sent a
letter to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry showing their concern
for the proposed nuclear waste site.

“The placement of this nuclear waste storage facility is of
great concern given its location near Lake Huron and the importance
of the Great Lakes to tens of millions of U.S. and Canadian citizens
for drinking water, fisheries, tourism, recreation, and other
industrial and economic uses,” they wrote in the letter.

In passing a resolution opposing the site, Milan elected officials
brought the issue to light for the city’s residents.

Continue reading →

Local government pipeline responsibilities

Make pipeline companies answer questions, motivate implementation of safety standards, announce FERC Scoping meetings, and enforce reasonable local zoning restrictions:
these are things local governments can do, and NTSB and FERC say they should do
most of them.
Gilchrist County Commission in Trenton, Florida has done most of them,
and plans to continue doing more.
The Lowndes County Commission and the Valdosta City Council still can, too,
plus all the other county and city governments along the proposed pipeline path,
and their statewide county and city government associations.
Will our local elected officials represent we the people?

Make pipeline companies answer questions



There were

Real questions at the Gilchrist County Commission meeting in Trenton, Florida Monday.
Two hours of first questions from a citizens committee with
Spectra’s reps expected to answer right there in front of everybody,
then questions from locals and people from many counties around,
including attorneys representing landowners and other county
commissions cross-examining Spectra on the spot. The Chairman of the
Gilchrist County Commission said there was a general opinion among
the populace that they were asking specific questions and getting
only general answers. Congratulations, Chairman, Commission, staff,
Committee, and everyone who asked questions for showing the world
how it’s done, and for exposing Spectra’s evasions to public
scrutiny.



This is in sharp contrast to Continue reading →

Lowndes County attorney has been discussing the pipeline with other county attorneys

As usual, the citizens of Lowndes County are the last to know.



Alan Mauldin wrote for The Moultrie Observer 8 February 2014,

County commission meetings to focus on Sabal Trail pipeline,

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.



That would be
the

alleged
Lowndes County
attorney Walter G. Elliott.

Meanwhile, Colquitt County attorney Castellow is on the agenda
for today’s noon Work Session in Moultrie, and again at 7PM
Tuesday in the Colquitt County Commission Regular Session,
with Sabal Trail pipeline reps in attendance.
More

here.

Which is something the Lowndes County Commission has never done.
Sure, the Lowndes County Commissioners asked four questions and forwarded citizen questions in writing, which got
cut-and-paste PR answers from Spectra.
From one of the same Spectra reps who was “not familiar” with

Spectra’s sorry rap sheet of corrosion, leaks, and fines.

-jsq

America’s Dangerous Pipelines –Center for Biological Diversity


7,978 fatalities by in 2013 – 4,199 by 2001 = 3,779,
which is more than the 2,977 killed by the hijackers on 9/11.
If the fossil fuel industry was a foreign country, we would have invaded it by now.
Why should we let that industry invade our lands for their profit?
Let’s not permit

a fossil fuel disaster here.

Center for Biological Diversity
wrote on YouTube 31 July 2013

America’s Dangerous Pipelines: Continue reading →

Nottinghill resolved, Spectra profit sharing? Planning Commission transparency? @ LCC 2013-12-10



The Commission’s designated first speaker

confused order with good.
Chairman Bill Slaughter
required a sitting judge to go to the podium to speak,
even though he had not required that for multiple Spectra pipeline reps
the previous morning.
Nottinghill is finally resolved,
after yet more probing questions by Commissioners; more than they
asked the Spectra reps.
A

VSU professor
and

a landowner
asked very good questions about the pipeline,
a

KLVB board member gave a report,
and

Gretchen asked the Commission to post Planning Commission minutes online.

Two people were

appointed; one spoke.
The two

beer licenses, a

liquor license,
the

decorative special tax lighting district for Windstone,
the

contracts,
the

resolution to ask the legislature for an additional judge,
and the

bids were all approved with little discussion.
The

settlement for back pay it turns out didn’t
actually involve
employees having to sue to get paid.

Here’s

the amended agenda with the

two added items,
plus links to the videos and a few notes.
See also

the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

AMENDED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street — 2nd Floor

Continue reading →