Tag Archives: Safety

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

Broadband, outsourcing, trash, and fire @ LCC 2014-02-28

The second day of the Commission retreat is finished. Reporting from location, Gretchen noted:

1PM: BroadBand

Chairman Bill Slaughter has a five year goal of making broadband available. Some possibility of creating a fibre ring. He says he’s working with the City of Valdosta.

Well, a year ago in February he said broadband was “one of the number one issues”, but in October he said “we have broadband”, so it’s anyone’s guess what his opinion will be in a few months.

1:06PM: Outsourcing

Commissioner Crawford Powell wants to outsource more county services.

That’s working so well, after all; see the next note.

1:19PM: Trash evaluation

Continue reading →

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 →

More the county could do about the pipeline –John S. Quarterman @ LCC 2014-02-25

I thanked the County Manager but mentioned something else the county could do about that pipeline, at the 25 February 2014 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

I thanked County Manager Joe Pritchard for notifying constituents like FERC had recommended about the FERC Scoping Meetings starting next week.

Then I read the recommendation of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) after Spectra Energy’s 1994 Durham Woods pipeline fireball in Edison, New Jersey that burnt dozens, evacuated thousands, made hundreds homeless, and literally scared one woman to death:

The public will not benefit from the safety improvement recommendations developed in RSPA’s public safety risk study without guidance containing implementation procedures and without motivation from associations representing local governments.

I suggested Lowndes County Commissioners might want to talk to the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG) about that.

Here’s the video:

Continue reading →

Objections and Sabal Trail pipeline reader –Danielle Jordan @ LCC 2014-02-25

A local native and VSU student voiced her objection to the proposed Sabal Trail pipeline in the 25 February 2014 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.

8. Citizens Wishing To Be Heard – Danielle Jordan

And she handed the Commission a pipeline reader. The VDT summarized:

During the citizens to be heard portion of the meeting, Danielle Jordan voiced her opposition to the Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline because “it violates personal property rights, causes safety concerns, and causes troublesome environmental impacts.” She then presented the commission with a packet of research.

Here’s the video:

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 →

Earthquake busts Augusta water tower: what about Plant Vogtle?

Less than two years after Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning assured us

It is not in a seismic-sensitive area.

Fanning also claimed the technology was safe, before SO failed to get a reactor vessel from Savannah to the site, and before a renewed scandal revealed Korea’s document-forging Doosan supplies that “safe” nuclear technology. How safe will Plant Vogtle be in a bigger earthquake? How safe is it even without an earthquake? Not safe for the ratepayers or the taxpayers of Georgia or the U.S.

Mark Sandritter wrote for SBNation yesterday, Augusta National water tower leaking after Georgia earthquake, per report, Continue reading →