Tag Archives: Safety

Valdosta Fire Department Responds to Chemical Fire with Support of Mutual Aid

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

Perma-Fix on fire

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,

Covering the sky

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.


Zoomed in
Oh, my, this could be ugly Continue reading →

Nelson Hill waivers by staff @ LCC 2013-08-13

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 →

What happened at Nelson Hill on Val Del Road? @ LCC 2013-08-12

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 →

Dump CCA and other private prison stocks now –smart analysts

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 →

Millstone 3 nuke down since Friday, NRC tells us Monday

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 →

No mold or unpaid contractors this time for Moody Housing @ GLPC 2013-07-29

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?

GLPC Voting

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 →

Gated Moody housing on Val Del Road, REZ-2013-09 @ GLPC 2013-07-29

Only 81 of 396 proposed units have been built at current Moody Family


Housing on Roberts Road.
Why should we build more on Val Del Road?

At the 29 July 2013 Greater Lowndes Planning Commission meeting,
County Planner Jason Davenport said that in addition
to the

initial materials for GLPC,
he’d provided an update
about Magnolia Grove, which was Phase I of

Moody Family Housing.
The real reason for the rezoning wasn’t stated in the initial materials given
to GLPC.
In

the materials obtained through open records request,
we can see that
the

GLPC agenda item
contained the boilerplate
“The general motivation in this case appears to be so that the subject property
can be developed at a greater residential density.”
In the update
it’s assumed that the real reason is housing for Moody personnel,
since Magnolia Grove is the existing Moody housing off of Roberts Road.
Which isn’t even built out yet, as you can see in

this map from the county Tax Commissioners,
so why does Moody need more housing?


Lots of interesting back history in that

July 29th GLPC Lowndes County Rezoning Update – 2,
to which
I’ve added Continue reading →

TRC and GLPC recommended subdivision that doesn’t improve traffic or safety, REZ-2013-09

What is so important about yet another subdivision
of
360,910 square feet in 173 houses


when we have

a glut of houses that the TRC unanimously
recommended it despite significant defects and omissions?
According to

Technical Review Committee (TRC) analysis,
REZ-2013-09 Moody Family will not lessen congestion in the streets
or secure safety from fire, panic, and other dangers.
TRC also said the application didn’t meet ULDC standards and

in somewhat tortured language:
“although not a proposed condition, it should be
noted on this request that a future traffic study will be required.”
Why not require these things before even sending the application
to the Planning Commission?


In email to the Greater Lowndes Planning Commissioners of 23 July 2013,
forwarded to the applicants 29 July 2013,

July 29th GLPC Lowndes County Rezoning Materials,



2) REZ-2013-09 Moody Family, 0072 191, Val Del Rd, 64.92 ac., 2
lots, R-1 to Residential PD, County Utilities

a) The TRC recommended approval of the request unanimously.

b) Additionally, although not a proposed condition, it should be
noted on this request that a future traffic study will be required.
Acceleration lanes/Deceleration lanes and/or a dedicated left turn lane
may be required.

Rumor has it that this development is being pushed not by Moody AFB,
rather by Continue reading →

Fukushima has contaminated its aquifer; what about our aquifer?

Fukushima is dumping radioactive water into its aquifer.
Plant Hatch is the same design and sits above the Floridan Aquifer
we drink out of.


Can’t happen here?
On 19 December 2001

TEPCO said there was no possibility of a tsunami large enough to knock
out Fukushima Daiichi.
Plant Hatch is the same design as Fukushima, and while a tsunami
really is unlikely at Hatch, for all we know Hatch
still has substandard fire protection
and the risk if Hatch does go bad is like the risk if a French reactor
goes bad:

soil contamination the size of France and Germany
(or larger than Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and north Florida) plus radioactive contamination of
the aquifer we drink out of.

Harvey Wasserman wrote for the Progress today,

The Fukushima Nightmare Gets Worse, Continue reading →