Tag Archives: Sabal Trail Transmission

Spectra reps unfamiliar with Spectra fines @ LCC 2013-12-09



Both of Spectra’s principal representatives to the Lowndes County Commission
and the Dougherty County Commission claim not to be familiar
with Spectra’s well-known public record of safety violations,
and some of what they say contradicts the public record,
so how can we believe any of their safety assertions about
Spectra’s proposed Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline?

Update 3PM: more evidence from Pennsylvania and elsewhere.

As I’ve mentioned
before,
Spectra’s Andrea Grover told us that
everyone in Pennsylvania was happy now, after I asked her
about

the Steckman Ridge compressor station leak
in front of reporter Matthew Woody,
at the

16 October 2013 Spectra meeting at Wiregrass Tech in Valdosta.
There’s more beyond
the article about pipeline fines and incidents

Woody wrote 24 November 2013 for the Valdosta Daily Times (VDT), the local
newspaper of record.

Her excuse for the compressor leak, if I recall correctly,
was that Continue reading →

Duke spokesman for closed nuke rate hikes touts new plant for Sabal Trail gas

Would you trust a salesman of failed nukes to sell you a gas plant?
Is eminent domain on your property and your community “reasonable and prudent”
so Duke can make

another bad bet, this time on methane,
after Citi GPS and Edison Electric Institute and former FERC Chair Jon Wellinghoff all warned them that solar is going to overtake every other power source within only a few years?



That’s the same Sterling Ivey who announced 2 August 2013 that
Duke’s Levy County nuclear plants were cancelled
(
Duke Energy Cancels $24.7B Florida Nuke Plant Project,
ENRSoutheast,
08/02/2013,
by Scott Judy).
A few days later,
Florida PSC approved a rate hike to pay for Duke’s

forever-closed Crystal River nuclear plant.
Dave Heller wrote for WTSP
5 August 2013,

Florida regulators OK Duke Energy nuclear rate hike,

“These are reasonable and prudent costs as Continue reading →

Sabal Trail answers: Commissioners did forward questions @ LCC 2013-12-09



Nobody said
last Monday
that Commissioners had asked for a written response from Sabal Trail.
All we knew was

the four questions Commissioners asked.
Maybe the county should hire a public information officer;
I see they no longer
have one listed on their website front page,
and the last
website public notice is from April.
Fortunately, Commissioner Demarcus Marshall forwarded Spectra’s answers
yesterday. He also copied the Valdosta Daily Times, with
attached PDF.
-jsq



From: Demarcus Marshall

Date: December 13, 2013, 3:01:32 PM CST

Subject: FW: Sabal Trail/Lowndes County Commissioner response FINAL 12122013.pdf

Concerned Citizens,

These are the responses from Sabal Trail regarding the questions
forwarded to me. Please forward to those in opposition of the
surveys and those that have agreed to them.

Commissioner Demarcus Marshall, M.P.A.



From: Fahrenthold, Brian C

Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2013 9:46 PM

To: Demarcus Marshall

Cc: Bill Slaughter; Joyce Evans; Richard Raines; Crawford Powell; John
Page; County Manager; Belinda Lovern

Subject: Sabal Trail/Lowndes County Commissioner response FINAL 12122013.pdf

Commissioner Marshall, Mr. Chairman, Commissioners and County
Manager Pritchard:

Attached is a more detailed summation to the questions posed to the
Commission by Ms. Singletary.

Should you need Continue reading →

I don’t want to have to fear for my children as they sleep at night –Mindy Bland on WCTV @ LCC 2013-12-10



The Commission didn’t let citizens speak after

Spectra’s sales pitch for the Sabal Trail Pipeline Monday,
but some citizens spoke up in Citizens to Be Heard Tuesday
and WCTV covered that.

Winnie Anne Wright wrote for WCTV yesterday,

Citizens Address Lowndes County Commission About Sabal Trail Pipeline,

Residents covered topics such as the lack of economic impact on
Lowndes County, the legality of the pipeline, and also the safety.

“As a mother of three, I don’t want to have to fear for my children
as they sleep at night. And you hear a lot of people say that
natural gas line explosions don’t happen, and for those that feel
that they don’t, I really encourage them to go on the internet and
google gas line explosions and then tell me that they don’t happen.
As a mother, I feel like I have to step up and do what I can to
protect my children”, says Mindy Bland, an impacted homeowner.

Continue reading →

Landowner list for Sabal Trail pipeline?



Later

that same day, in Williston, Florida,
Beth Gordon asked a Sabal Trail blueshirt a simple question.
Here’s

the non-answer:



Landowner list for Sabal Trail pipeline?
“I’ve never been asked for that.”

Video by Beth Gordon, Williston, Levy County, Florida.

Oh, look, it’s Andrea Grover!

To be continued….

This was at one of the

Open Houses required by FERC.
Coming up tonight, Tuesday, December 10, 2013, 5:00pm to 7:30pm: Continue reading →

Spectra Sales Pitch, Nothing about Nottinghill, etc. @ LCC 2013-12-09



Given

dozens of questions submitted by citizens
and every opportunity,
Commissioners asked only four perfunctory questions after
Spectra Energy’s

Sabal Trail pipeline sales pitch.
Chairman Bill Slaughter repeatedly let multiple Spectra reps
speak from the audience without having them come to the podium,
or even identify themselves before they spoke.
They were pointed at by the chief Spectra speaker when he named them,
but they did not stand up or raise their hand at the time,
so it was quite hard to tell which was which.
The Chairman never allows that sort of behavior from local citizens.
Why is he granting extra courtesies to a company from Houston
that wants to exercise eminent domain on local citizens’ lands?
Who does the Lowndes County Commission represent?

At least
WALB
and
WCTV
let a landowner speak: that’s more than the County Commission did.

Nottinghill is back yet again.
A Commissioner did ask staff whether it was really ready,
and it isn’t, but no Commissioners asked any such probing
questions of the Spectra reps.

The three

beer licenses, a

liquor license,
the

contracts, and the

bids were glossed over in almost as
perfunctory a manner.
There were some questions from Commissioners about
costs to the county government.
But there were none from Commissioners about costs to landowners
from gashing a pipeline through their property.

Given that there’s a

settlement for back pay for some county employees,
it appears that the employees maybe had to sue to get paid.

Staff did express concern about

“customer service” for a decorative
special tax lighting district, but none about service to the
landowners of the county whose land Spectra proposes to run through,
or for that matter to the taxpayers of the county to whom the
Commission and staff cannot be bothered to show what they’re voting
on before they vote.

Here’s

the agenda plus links to the videos and a few notes.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED-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 →

Check your Pipeline, Dollar General, 3 special tax lighting districts, and mosquitos @ LCC 2013-11-12



Sabal Trail pipeline presentation
is

December 9th like
the front page of the VDT said.
The online agenda

is still incorrect a month later
about

Green Lane
which is still listed as “For consideration” when it should be listed
as a Public Hearing.
Alapaha Water Treatment Plant
was voted on this time,
as was mysteriously appearing
“Consideration of Back Pay for 911 Employees”.

Like the

the Planning Commission,
they tabled
Nottinghill.
With much less discussion than the

Planning Commission,
they approved
yet another Dollar General.
Plus
three decorative special tax lighting districts,
mosquito control,
pump replacement, the annual

MIDS bus service
contract,
a

beer license,
something about

NOAA, and an agreement with the Lowndes County
Board of Elections
for paying employees.

Here’s

the agenda.
See also the

videos of the previous morning’s Work Session.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

AMENDED AGENDA

WORK SESSION, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2013, 8:30 a.m.

REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2013, 5:30 p.m.

327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor

Continue reading →

Pipeline and Nottinghill, VLMPO, lawyers and alcohol @ LCC 2013-12-09



The proposed

Sabal Trail pipeline
presentation is really on this time,
with
citizen questions asked by the Commissioners.
Nottinghill is back yet again.
Two appointments to the
VLMPO Citizens Advisory Committee.
All that plus three beer licenses, a liquor license,
and a bunch of contracts and a couple of bids.

Here’s
the agenda.

LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS

PROPOSED-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



  1. Call to Order



  2. Invocation

    Only in the Regular Session, Tuesday at 5:30 PM.



  3. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag

    Only in the Regular Session, Tuesday at 5:30 PM.



  4. Minutes for Approval



    1. Work Session — November 11, 2013



    2. Regular Session — November 12, 2013


  5. Appointment



    1. MPO Citizens Advisory Committee (2)


  6. Public Hearings


    1. REZ-2013-11
      Nottinghill, Orr Rd R-A to R-21, Community Well and Septic, 14.71 acres



    2. Decorative Special Tax Lighting District – Windstone Subdivision (Orr Rd)



    3. Beer and Wine License — Twin Lakes Ventures, LLC — 4878 HWY 41 South



    4. Liquor License — Big Al’s — 4991 HWY 41 S. Lake Park


  7. For Consideration



    1. Approval of the 2014 Commission Meeting Schedule



    2. 2014 Public Defender Services Contract & 2014 Operating Contract



    3. Land Application Site (LAS) Bar Screen Replacement



    4. Budget Calendar FY 2014-2015



    5. Beer and Wine License — Parnish Corporation — 3119 Madison HWY



    6. Beer and Wine License — Jay Brahamani, LLC — 2601 Madison HWY



    7. Back Pay for 9-1-1 Center Employees



    8. Second State Court Judge — Resolution & Act


  8. Bids



    1. Repair of Damaged F150- LCSO



    2. Repair of Damaged Fire Tanker- LCFR


  9. Reports-County Manager



  10. Citizens Wishing to be Heard Please State Name And Address

    Only in the Regular Session, Tuesday at 5:30 PM.



  11. Sabal Trail (Work Session)

-jsq

Hear Sabal Trail Transmission answer questions from the Lowndes County Commission

PDF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Valdosta, December 5, 2013
—Representatives from Spectra Energy or its LLC Sabal Trail
Transmission will speak at the Monday morning Lowndes County
Commission Work Session and answer questions from
Commissioners.



When: 
8:30 AM
Monday, December 9th, 2013

Where:
Commission Chambers
327 North Ashley Street, 2nd Floor
Valdosta, GA 31601
229-671-2442

Questions:
commissioner@lowndescounty.com

Why: Spectra Energy
proposes a hundred-foot-wide gash through our lands for
their huge 36 inch Sabal Trail gas pipeline from
Alabama through Georgia to feed Florida Power and Light
(FPL) for no benefit to local citizens. A one-time payment
is nowhere near adequate for permanent destruction and
hazards when FPL and Spectra would continue to profit
forever.

Property values: A
pipeline through your property isn’t Continue reading →

SpectraBusters Informational Meeting 2013-11-16



Standing room only while

Ellis Black (GA Dist. 174),
Bill Slaughter (Lowndes County Chairman),
and
Tim Carroll (Valdosta City Council) spoke after
Gretchen Quarterman
gave an introduction
at the

first SpectraBusters Informational Meeting last Saturday.
A second meeting is scheduled for

this Saturday morning at 10AM at the Valdosta City Hall Annex.



Video.

Gretchen asked if there were any representatives from the pipeline
company present.
Nobody spoke up.
Several affected landowners did speak:
Beth Gordon from Levy County, Florida
and Larry Rodgers and Carol Singletary from Lowndes County, Georgia.




Video.

Elected officials spoke.

Bill Slaughter (Lowndes County Chairman) said Continue reading →