No geotechnical study was seen from the developer before drawing the sinkhole buffers shown in the the Air Force Draft Environmental Assessment for the proposed Moody Housing on Val Del Road, just rezoned as REZ-2013-09, PDF courtesy of Prof. Michael Noll of VSU. You can see sinkholes and wetlands in its maps:
Most of the site area, including all of the Phase I area subject of REZ-2013-09, is colored for medium wetland habitat quality: Continue reading
A VSU professor
said he was in favor of the economic benefits,
but geotechnical issues should determine whether
the new Moody Housing on Val Del Road
(REZ-2013-09)
should be built, and those were still unclear,
at
the 13 August 2013 Lowndes County Commission Regular Session.
Dr. Michael Noll of VSU said he was speaking because he had been referred to by previous speakers (Jason Davenport and Tom Kurrie), and he was neither for nor against REZ-2013-09. Dr. Noll’s neither-in-favor-nor-against position seemed to puzzle County Engineer Mike Fletcher. Noll said he and his colleagues had looked at the Environmental Assessment (EA) which has been available at the public library and concluded that they had a number of questions they’d like answered, and he was sure the developers had similar concerns for safety of the project.
Dr. Noll said they’d been trying to get a copy of the geotechnical analysis Continue reading
Entergy announced August 8th that its Arkansas nuke was back up after a man died there in March, but it only made it to 87% power on August 12th and then back to zero yesterday. There’s no NRC event for yesterday’s downtime: what’s going on? Meanwhile, the dead man’s family is suing Entergy, and Entergy is suing its contractors. Sounds like the Plant Vogtle circular firing squad.
THV11 wrote 8 August 2013, Nuclear One unit back on after deadly accident and EBR staff wrote more detail for Energy Business Review 9 August 2013, Entergy restarts Unit 1 at Arkansas Nuclear One power plant,
Prior to restart, the unit needed an extensive restoration, including damage evaluation, repairs to non-nuclear plant components and rescheduling its refueling activities.
The restoration was made compulsory following the collapse of a contractor’s crane on 31 March 2013, while shifting a generator stator out of the turbine building.
Hm, “made compulsory” by whom? NRC? OSHA, which also investigated? Arkansas? Other? Continue reading
Lowndes County has no press release about today’s Perma-Fix fire, but as promised VDT has pictures and video, and here’s City of Valdosta PR, Valdosta Fire Department Responds to Chemical Fire with Support of Mutual Aid,
The City of Valdosta Fire Department responded to a chemical explosion on August 14 at PermaFix Environmental Services, located at 1622 James Rodgers Circle. The call came in at 2:22 p.m. and within minutes more than 40 firefighters and other first responders were on scene. The fire was under control by 4:30 p.m. with the assistance of the Lowndes County Fire Department and the Moody Air Force Base Fire Department. Also responding with aid were the Valdosta Police Department, Lowndes County Sheriff’s office, the Georgia State Patrol and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Due to the nature of the chemicals at the facility, the area was evacuated within a one-mile radius. At least three injuries have been reported, but no fatalities are known at this time.
The fire is under investigation. An update will be provided when more information is available.
-jsq
Update 4:18 PM 14 August 2013: Lowndes County
Sheriff, Police, Fire and EMS on the web (thanks Carolyn). They just said Moody is bringing a truck down to help.
Perma-Fix of South Georgia,
located in the Gil Harbin Industrial Park,
is apparently on fire,
according to
the VDT,
Update: Explosions blast local Industrial Park,
Updated 3:06 p.m.: Explosions continue from Perma-Fix at the Gil Harbin Industrial Park. Times staff at the scene reports that the industrial park is being shut down. Emergency personnel are attempting to turn off gas mains at the site, according to preliminary reports.
No injuries reported at this time.
It’s good nobody has been injured; let’s hope it stays that way.
Gretchen took these pictures of the smoke from the County Extension office four miles away on US 84 East.
Oh, my, this could be ugly Continue reading
Before
tonight’s vote on Moody Housing on Val Del Road,
maybe somebody should review
these administrative waivers from county staff for Nelson Hill,
one for the minimum lot size, and the other for setbacks for the lots along the “lake”.
I haven’t yet found who waived
the requirement for condominiums,
or for their fronts to be staggered,
or for them to be at least 1800 square feet,
or the traffic calming measures,
or how all this fits the submitted site plans,
nor for that matter what happened to
the gate or guards or the road connecting to Grove Point.
Maybe you can find those things in
the materials about Nelson Hill received in response to
an Open Records Request.
If staff can waive all these things without any of them coming up
again for a vote before the elected Commission in a public hearing,
why do we have the elected Commissioners vote in the first place?
Here’s a waiver for lot setbacks next to the pond
by Joe Pritchard “In my official capacity as County Manager”,
22 September 2009, for AAW-2009-06.
Here’s a waiver for minimum lot sizes by Jason Davenport, County Planner, 18 July 2011, for AAW-2011-16:
Good afternoon. Based on recent questions from multiple parties regarding Nelson Hill we thought it best to respond in writing to all. For us the question is “Will the County require a minimum lot size in Nelson Hill?” and our answer is Continue reading
Staff promises evaporated, many of 13 conditions voted by elected Commissioners didn’t get implemented: what happened at Nelson Hill, the subdivision County Planner Jason Davenport referred to as the neighborhood on Val Del Road for REZ-2013-09 Moody Housing? Well, it has a reputation, as someone nearby said in opposing another development:
And we’re certainly not interested in what they built out on Val Del Road.
What happened at Nelson Hill?
As
Gretchen Quarterman mentioned to the Planning Commission,
there were supposed to be condominiums and a gated community there, but:
if you go out to Nelson Hill now you don’t find anything resembling a gated condominium community; you find ticky-tacky houses where they cut down the swamp.
So what was supposed to be there? In the Minutes for the Work Session of 12 February 2007 condominiums are mentioned: Continue reading
If business is so good,
why did CCA
lose two contracts for new prisons in Georgia last year
when neither the state nor the feds had enough prisoners to fill them?
And why was
the private prison in Ocilla nearly sold at auction?
Why this year was
Gladiator School closed and two other CCA prisons cancelled?
And all that was before
U.S. DoJ announced today it will “avoid charging certain low-level and nonviolent drug offenders with crimes that carry mandatory minimums”.
Ed Arnold wrote for Memphis Business Journal 23 July 2013, Corrections Corp. of America debunks Anonymous report,
As reported on Monday, the computer hacking collective known as Anonymous Analytics published a blog warning investors that a declining prison population and reforms designed to reduce incarceration rates in the U.S. point to shrinking revenue for Corrections Corporation of America (NYSE: CXW) going forward.
CCA flatly denied the Anonymous Analytics conclusions in a statement.
CCA apparently didn’t dare link to the actual report. Anonymous Analytics wrote 9 July 2013, Corrections Corporation of America: The Dismantling of a National Disgrace, Continue reading
Friday a reactor tripped off, and NRC got around to telling us about it today:
Millstone 3, 3.2 miles WSW of New London, Connecticut,
about half way between Boston and New York.
I hear a few people live around there.
That’s its second downtime in six months.
Why is nuclear considered reliable baseload?
Distributed solar power wouldn’t all be down at once,
and wouldn’t risk irradiating millions of people.
Here’s Event Number 49260: Continue reading
Unlike Moody AFB’s last go at privatizing housing,
no mold or unpaid contractors this time,
or so we’re told.
But not so solid assurances that local contractors will be used.
And what if this new thing turns into something radically different
like Nelson Hill did only a short way up Val Del?
Speaking for that proposed privatized Moody housing on Val Del Road, Lawyer Tom Kurrie said this was “an opportunity for our community”. He spelled out that the proposal was “90 homes for off-base houses, for enlisted personnel, non-commissioned officers, and officers”, with gates. He went on about Balfour Beatty‘s experience in building such housing, and their option to build Phase II, although at the moment they’re only requesting Phase I. He said “the unfortunate issue that took place with the prior development” would not occur with this one.
I can guess he’s referring to the mold issue,
Beth Mahoney detailed in Little Rock Military Families Examiner 6 April 2009.
Or since he lauded Balfour Beatty’s credit rating, maybe
he was referring to the
nonpayment of subcontractors,
as Kari L. Sands wrote for VDT, 4 March 2007,
Military housing woes:
Non-payment forces work on military housing project to stop.
Preferred Builders and Renovators, LLC., the Home Builders Association of South Georgia and CMS/ Dumpster Co. are among those affected. Subcontractors are alleging that Continue reading