Tag Archives: Sabal Trail Transmission

America’s largest college mutual fund VA529 owns Spectra Energy, a stranded investment

Parents and grandparents buy 529 college savings plans as safe investments, so VA529 chose poorly in Spectra Energy, the very risky company behind the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline now plowing through the Floridan Aquifer drinking water of south Alabama, Georgia, and all of Florida and under the Withlacoochee and Suwannee Rivers against growing opposition. Maybe you’d like to mention that to Mary G. Morris, the Chief Executive Officer of Virginia529 College Savings Plan, the biggest mutual fund investor in both Spectra Energy and in Enbridge, which is buying Spectra. There’s a handy VA529 contact form or you can call or write:

1-804-371-0766
Toll-Free: 1-888-567-0540
9001 Arboretum Parkway
North Chesterfield, VA 23236

Spectra is so risky it just sold itself so Enbridge would take on about $22 billion of Spectra debt. Debt especially racked up since Continue reading

Videos: Water, VSU bonds, 3 road abandonments, 1 widening, MIDS bus, Comprehensive Plan @ LCC 2016-10-11

Two weeks ago, County Manager Joe Pritchard announced that Commissioner Joyce Evans is now serving as Vice Chairman, yes, the resolution to approve the VSU bonds was requested by the South Regional Joint Development Authority (SRJDA), and John Stevens is the new VDT reporter. Citizen Shirley Moore said she’d like a connection to county water and sewer. They tabled the Comprehensive Plan update, apparently because the Commissioners wanted to “dig into it deeper”.

The rest was mostly approving what they already discussed the previous morning. They meet again Monday morning.

Below are links to each LAKE video with a few notes, followed by a video playlist.

Continue reading

Sabal Trail new Contractor Yards, Stewart Co.. and Hog Creek, Colquitt Co. GA Variance Requests 2016-10-17

[CY2-7, Aerial, Stewart County, GA] Here are small, big, huge, and PDF maps from Sabal Trail’s variance request yesterday to FERC asking for more contractor yards, to drill under a dam in Terrell County, GA, and to change its easement on a tributary of Hog Creek (tributary of Okapilco Crek) in Colquitt County, GA, in FERC Accession Number: 20161017-5157, “Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC Request for Notice to Proceed and Variance Request under CP15-17.”

It includes a notice of Administrative Appeal Process by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and it looks like the deadline has not expired. Continue reading

Videos: Meet the Candidates –VLCoC 2016-09-27

Here are LAKE videos of the candidates running in the November general election at “Meet the Candidates” by the Valdosta-Lowndes County Chamber of Commerce September 27th 2016. It seemed less attended than usual, but that may have been due to the larger venue of Mathis Auditorium dwarfing the audience. Each got a few minutes to say something, and nobody took questions. There were tables with information before they spoke.

James Neil Harris said he was curious about the Sabal Trail pipeline, Teresa K. Moffit said she was against it, Clay Griner voted to sell Sabal Trail an easement through the closed Lowndes County landfill, and Dexter Sharper voted in the Georgia House against river-drilling easements for Sabal Trail.

Below are links to the LAKE video of each candidate speaking, followed by a video playlist. See also Continue reading

Videos: Art, hurricane, engineering reports, VSU bonds, 3 road abandonments, 1 widening, MIDS bus, Comprehensive Plan @ LCC 2016-10-10

The Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline and others already in the county came up in the Comprehensive Plan approval discussion, as you can see in these LAKE Videos from Monday morning; they vote tonight 5:30 PM.

Stephen Spradley and Georgia Forestry were still helping after Hurricane Matthew, but Ashley Tye reported on evacuees, Chad McLeod reported on engineering projects including the Naylor Boat Ramp at the Alapaha River, and Angela Crance reported on an art district; actually Buddy Boswell did that.

They also heard about a self storage rezoning, three road abandonments, a road widening, the annual MIDS bus service renewal, and a county resolution about bonds for another private LLC by the South Regional Joint Development Authority (SRJDA), different from the one with the public hearing October 21st at a private law firm. What does the resolution say? It’s not in the documents with the agenda.

Below are links to each LAKE video with a few notes, followed by a video playlist. Continue reading

Sabal Trail Alignment Maps from April 2016

Rivers, creeks, roads, and counties in Alabama, Georgia, and Florida, labelled on small, big, huge, and PDF versions of each and every one of the 527 alignment maps Sabal Trail filed with FERC in April 2016 are on the LAKE website.

[STA. 0+00 TO STA. 53+00, PIPELINE BY STATION, PIPING PLOT PLAN ALEXANDER CITY COMPRESSOR STATION (CS-1), COMPRESSOR STATION WORKSPACE PLOT PLAN, 10+81 CL OAKTASASI ROAD, 4+70 CL STREAM (OAKTASASI CREEK), COMPRESSOR STATION, TALLAPOOSA COUNTY, ALABAMA]
STA. 0+00 TO STA. 53+00, PIPELINE BY STATION, PIPING PLOT PLAN ALEXANDER CITY COMPRESSOR STATION (CS-1), COMPRESSOR STATION WORKSPACE PLOT PLAN, 10+81 CL OAKTASASI ROAD, 4+70 CL STREAM (OAKTASASI CREEK), COMPRESSOR STATION, TALLAPOOSA COUNTY, ALABAMA
PDF

Follow the link for details of what, and how you can help.

Investigative reporting costs money, for open records requests, copying, web hosting, gasoline, and cameras, and with sufficient funds we can pay students to do further research. You can donate to LAKE today!

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Florida state-owned uplands crossed by Sabal Trail

FDEP is fine with Sabal Trail boring through the Marjorie Harris Carr Cross Florida Greenway in Marion County, FL, Marjorie Carr Cross Florida Greenway State Recreation and Conservation Area, FLORIDA NATIONAL SCENIC TRAIL, Marion Co., FL as well as drilling under Suwannee River State Park in Hamilton and Suwannee County, FL.

For that Greenway, see the maps shown here (click on any one of them for a larger image), pulled from Sabal Trail’s Continue reading

Sabal Trail path, Mitchell County, GA

Update 2016-09-25: Added google map.

3 * Raccoon Creek & 8555 GRAVEL HILL RD, Doerun, GA 31744, STA. 9277+00 TO STA. 9330+00, 31.3789230, -84.0439910 Sabal Trail must really like Raccoon Creek, the number of times they cross it (at least eight times). Or they really don’t like that creek, considering the destruction bulldozing for that pipeline is causing.

See the google map and the individual alignment maps shown here (click on any one of them for a larger image), pulled from Sabal Trail’s alignment sheets of 7 April 2016, filed with FERC as Continue reading

Sabal Trail protests continue –VDT 2016-09-23

Front page today in the newspaper of record in the largest city in the Suwannee River Basin: the WWALS protest against DAPL and Sabal Trail at the US 84 Withlacoochee River bridge last Saturday, between Quitman and Valdosta, GA.

Vdt Desiree Carver, Valdosta Daily Times, Friday, September 23, 2016, front page, Sabal protests continue,

The WWALS Watershed Coalition stood on the bridge between Brooks and Lowndes County Saturday to show solidarity with Dakota Access Pipeline opponents in Dakota and to continue its battle against the Sabal Trail natural gas pipeline.

That’s the US 84 bridge over the Withlacoochee River, on the Continue reading

Sabal Trail destruction at Bell property, Mitchell Co., GA 2016-09-13

See for yourself what Jeb Bell was talking about to GPB, in these videos he sent of the destruction Sabal Trail is doing on his property. His father, James Bell, says it started immediately after a small protest Monday, and is plowing through gopher tortoise burrows, rare pitcher plants, large pine trees bulldozed and burned, and today within 300 yards of his house. James Bell the elder will be at the US 84 Withlacoochee River bridge 9AM this Saturday, September 17th 2016, to join the WWALS Watershed Coalition protest against Sabal Trail and the Dakota Access Pipeline, which are now owned by the same companies. That’s between Quitman and Valdosta, GA; see you there.

Sam Whitehead, GPB News, 15 September 2016, Sabal Trail Pipeline Plows Through Southwest Georgia, Local Opposition, Continue reading