What hazardous waste was accepted at Veolia’s Pecan Row Landfill
that got a $27,500 fine from GA EPD this January?
Veolia is ADS now, the same company to which
Lowndes County granted an exclusive franchise for waste pickup.
We already knew that landfill accepts
coal ash from TVA.
What else is in there,
seeping into our drinking water aquifer,
and with runoff going into the Withlacoochee River?
Under authority of the Comprehensive Solid Waste Management Act :
Facility:
Veolia ES Pecan Row Landfill/Valdosta; order issued to Veolia ES Pecan Row Landfill, LLC
Location:
Lowndes County
Order Number:
EPD-SW-2564
Date of Issue:
January 30,2013
Cause of Order:
Violations of Rules for Solid Waste Management/regulated hazardous waste acceptance; failure to properly conduct inspections
Requirement(s) of Order:
Implement plan to prevent acceptance of regulated quantities of HW and PCB wastes at facility; ensure all employees handling waste recognize/identify labeled HW and PCB wastes at facility
The slides for the SPLOST VII presentation have appeared on the county’s website;
here’s a link, with the text from that website.
Videos are to come from
last night’s Regular Session SPLOST VII Presentation.
Meanwhile you can see
video from Monday morning’s Work Session, in which they actually said more.
Nothing seems to be in the VDT about this today, which is odd,
since I’m pretty sure that’s the VDT reporter in the left
foreground of this picture from last night. -jsq
What is Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST)?
As of July 1, 1985, Georgia law enabled local governments to collect
SPLOST proceeds for capital improvement projects that would
otherwise be paid for with General Fund or property tax dollars.
SPLOST stands for Continue reading →
Talked about for a while, now it’s happened: a compressed natural gas (CNG)
fueling station; first one in Georgia, apparently.
I’m used to natural gas pipelines (the AGL pipeline pictured runs through
my property).
Unfortunately, natural gas increasingly comes from fracking.
How about an electric car charging station? -jsq
ATLANTA—July 23, 2013—The first compressed natural gas
(CNG) fueling station developed under the Atlanta Gas Light (AGL)
CNG Program is now open in Valdosta, GA. Approved by the Georgia
Public Service Commission (PSC) in 2012, the program is designed to
expand public access to the CNG fueling infrastructure throughout
the state and enhance Georgia’s role in the emerging CNG market in
the southeastern U.S.
Built and maintained by Langdale Fuel, an affiliate of The Langdale
Company, the new station is the first of five CNG stations awarded
contracts to go into service under the AGL CNG Program. The station
will offer public access to CNG fuel for transportation vehicles,
adding two fueling islands to the company’s existing service station
located at 1628 James P. Rogers Drive.
Idelle Dear handed the Commission a thank-you card on behalf of library users
for providing additional funding that reduced furlough days.
She tried to speak at the meeting two weeks ago,
but the Chairman
stopped her then on a technicality.
Ms. Dear reminded the Commission that she did speak to them
at the beginning of the year,
and she appreciated the card she got from the Chairman after that.
She appreciated even more that the number of furlough days had
been reduced, since, as she explained again this time,
people use the library for everything from job hunting to course assignments.
Valdosta Mayor Gayle was standing next to the video ghetto
after the county’s rather rudimentary SPLOST VII presentation
Monday morning, so I asked him why I hadn’t seen anything about Internet
access either Valdosta’s or Lowndes County’s SPLOST lists?
He said that was because it was being handled by the Community Assessment Group (CAG).
What’s that?
Mayor Gayle said CAG is a group of representatives from the county
and all the local cities, the two school districts (Valdosta and Lowndes County),
VSU, Wiregrass Tech, the Industrial Authority, the Chamber, and he may have
said others.
It’s an attempt at better local cooperation, specifically about issues
that cross all the various local governmental and non-governmental groups.
So far they’ve had two meetings, Continue reading →
First public update since
May:
Valdosta has had several recent meetings with other governmental groups
and has agreed to co-fund a flooding study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The City of Valdosta hosted a Regional Flood Preparedness meeting
with the Georgia Silver Jackets on June 25—a continuation of
discussions that began earlier in the year focused on regional
interests and on maximizing area resources.
Representatives from the cities of Moultrie, Sylvester, Tifton and
Valdosta and from the counties of Lowndes and Turner attended the
meeting to discuss current and future flood monitoring and
forecasting issues throughout the Little River and Withlacoochee
River watersheds. These two watersheds are part of the overall
Suwannee Basin that is approximately 10,000 square miles in Georgia
and Florida.
Here’s
the agenda, with links to the videos and a few notes.
LOWNDES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS
PROPOSED AGENDA
WORK SESSION, MONDAY, JULY 22, 2013, 8:30 a.m.
REGULAR SESSION, TUESDAY, JULY 23, 2013, 5:30 p.m.
327 N. Ashley Street – 2nd Floor
Chairman Bill Slaughter recognized Valdosta Mayor John Gayle,
who was sitting in the back.
Invocation
Only in the Regular Session.
Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
Only in the Regular Session.
Minutes for Approval
Work Session — July 8, 2013
Regular Session — July 9, 2013
County Manager Joe Pritchard was also confused as to
what did the Commissioners approve
regarding the “conjoined” items in the 9 July Regular Session:
For Consideration
Video Arraignment for Magistrate and Juvenile Court Contract
Enterprise and Backup Storage Solution Scope of Work
Pritchard noted County Attorney Walter Elliott referred to the
purchase orders
for item 6.a., saying purchase orders item 6.b. were “not present”.
Pritchard wanted to know if Commissioners approved both of them.
Commissioner Crawford Powell said he thought the way “Walter”
stated it they didn’t approve either one of them.
Little joke.
“Walter” got it, and eventually Pritchard did, too, after everyone
else laughed.
Then Powell clarified that they had approved both items.
Which anyone can see in
the LAKE video of those items.
Hm, if the Commission kept their own videos, Pritchard could have
just looked at those and seen.
Three details at $39,500 each, no increase from last year, said Public Works Director
Robin Cumbus;
see
other post for what Commissioners Marshall, Slaughter, and Powell had to say.
It’s because of a notice of violation from GA EPD, said Utilities Director Mike Allen,
and he’d been working with Lovell Engineering on a letter to say the problem
of disinfection byproducts would be fixed by the end of March 2015.
Commissioner Demarcus Marshall wanted to know if
Lovell Engineering would be submitting “on our behalf, or would we be submitting it?”
See
separate post for more.
The county has received a grant from GDOT for striking, signs, and
raised pavement markers for 30.79 miles of road, for $142,491.75.
I will also give you a copy of the roads that will be restruck
under this contract.
Commissioners had no questions.
Why wasn’t that copy in the board packet and online with the agenda?
How can you find out if your road is on that list?
File an open records request.
Adopt Resolution accepting infrastructure for Barrington Subdivision Phase I
Engineer said it was mostly complete but they were waiting on a punch list
from the developer before signing off on it.
Commissioners had no questions.
Videos: SPLOST, Children’s Appointment, Prisoners, and Water @ LCC 2013-07-22
Work Session, Lowndes County Commission (LCC),
Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 July 2013.
The county does have liability insurance that covers
all employees, including Commissioners, we learned
at the
Monday 22 July 2013 Lowndes County Commission Work Session; they vote tonight.
And the county is also adopting an ACCG plan for retirement for
a couple of new employees.
7.3. ACCG IRMA Liability Program Renewal
Someone (I couldn’t interpret the Chairman’s mumble) said
it’s for both property and personal liability.
This
Interlocal Risk Management Agency (IRMA)
program from the Association of County Commissioners of Georgia (ACCG)
offers Continue reading →
The County has another wastewater violation, this time at the Alapaha River,
and is late in doing something about it.
Don’t be surprised if we see an emergency change order in a future session.
This was at the
Monday 22 July 2013 Lowndes County Commission Work Session; they vote tonight.
7.b.
Letter to Environmental Protection Division concerning Alapaha Water Treatment Plant Upgrade
It’s because of a notice of violation from GA EPD, said Utilities Director Mike Allen,
and he’d been working with Lovell Engineering on a letter to say the problem
of disinfection byproducts would be fixed by the end of March 2015.
Veolia is ADS now, the same company to which
Lowndes County granted an exclusive franchise for waste pickup.
We already knew that landfill accepts
coal ash from TVA.
What else is in there,
seeping into our drinking water aquifer,
and with runoff going into the Withlacoochee River?
