Tag Archives: Valdosta

Video of Biomass Air Quality Hearing, Valdosta, 27 April 2010

A video of a hearing about the biomass plant Wiregrass Power LLC proposes to build in Lowndes County just outside of Valdosta was held in Valdosta on 27 April 2010 by the Air Protection Branch (APD) of the Environmental Protection Division (EPD) of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources (DNR).

Eric Cornwell of APD explains location, process flow, and specific items covered by the permit (soot, SO2, NOX, CO, VOC, HCL, etc., but not CO2). He remarks that Wiregrass Power LLC is building a small plant with a “lower emission limit in order to avoid some of the red tape” by getting a minor permit instead of a major permit. The first half hour concludes with Bob Turner, the plant manager, presenting similar material, ending with:

“No new carbon is added to the atmosphere when burning woody byproducts.”
I beg to differ on that: in the time it takes trees to grow back, there is indeed new carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere. More from Dr. William Sammons on that.

Back to the video of the hearing. Questions start at 00:29:44. Here are some time markers and very brief summaries of Q and A; see the video for the full questions and answers. Continue reading →

jsq VDT LTE pro Solar GA

The VDT printed my LTE today. It doesn’t seem to be online yet. Appended is what I submitted, annotated with some links and pictures. The last picture shows the solar panels on my farm workshop.

-jsq

Re: Forester R. Wayne Bell’s points of May 20, 2010. (Hi Wayne; I’ll get those dibbles back to you soon.)

Where does Georgia Power say Albany’s biomass plant will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 95 percent? Biomass proponents usually say what Forester Bell says: trees are carbon neutral. That ignores the time gap between clearcutting and new growth. That gap from 15 to 100 years or more can produce a lot of CO2.

As a tree farmer myself, I know the pulpwood market is down in Georgia due to the recession and foreign competition. I’d like to be convinced that biomass is the new market we need, but the more I look into it, the more obfuscation I encounter.

Forester Bell seeks a study showing solar will work in Georgia. Georgia Power’s web pages (renewable energy -> solar -> solar potential)
http://www.georgiapower.com/spotlightsolar/solar_potential.asp
include a map of Georgia’s Solar Potential, Continue reading →

First Friday, Valdosta, 3 Sep 2010

Downtown Valdosta was bustling Friday night:

That’s Albert in the hat bending my ear.

There was food, there was blown glass and much other artwork, and bands. As previously mentioned, SAVE was educating people about the problems with biomass. More pictures in the flickr set.

First Friday, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 3 September 2010, Pictures and videos by Gretchen Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange.

-jsq

SAVE educates about biomass at First Friday

Students Against Violence Against the Environment (SAVE) educate people about the proposed Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant in Lowndes County just outside of Valdosta.

On the right, Natasha Fast is explaining it to somebody.

First Friday, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 3 September 2010, Pictures and videos by Gretchen Quarterman.

-jsq

Where the biomass plants are

For months I’ve been asking who at least knows where all the biomass plants in Georgia are proposed to be. Valdosta Lowndes County Industrial Authority (VLCIA) doesn’t know. National Geographic knows some, but not all. The State of Georgia maybe knows, but isn’t telling where they all are.

Who does know?

Energy Justice Network!

We are mapping all of the existing, proposed, closed and defeated dirty energy and waste facilities in the United States. We are building a network of community groups to fight the facilities and the corporations behind them.
The detail map shown includes the Wiregrass Power LLC proposed plant (the orange oval I just south of Valdosta), two plants in Hamilton County, Florida Continue reading →

Biomass plant air quality permit approved, but is that final?

Georgia EPD approved the air quality permit for the Wiregrass Power LLC biomass plant on Perimeter Road just outside Valdosta in Lowndes County, with an effective date of July 19, 2010 (PDF, Word). Somebody may want to do the exercise of comparing the approved permit with the application to see if the process was entirely rubberstamp or whether any changes at all were made after the many questions people asked at the public hearing.

Meanwhile, is that it? Will the plant be built? Not necessarily: Continue reading →

Water Planning

In 2004 the state of Georgia adopted a water planning system, and in 2008 adopted a water plan, with regional councils appointed in 2009 by the governor, lieutenant governor, and Speaker of the House. While I wonder why this organizational setup inserted a regional layer of government that is unaccountable to the people in the region, it’s good somebody is doing some water planning.
In the event “gaps” between available water and future (or current) demands are identified, the Council will determine which water and land use management practices should be employed to ensure there is sufficient water and assimilative capacity to meet future needs. EPD will use computer models to test the ability of the recommended practices to close any identified “gaps.”
If you remember Atlanta running out of water a few years ago Continue reading →

On behalf of local workers

From: George Boston Rhynes
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 16:21:27 -0400
Subject: Citizens To Be Heard At Valdosta City Council Meetings, Mr. Roy Taylor on behalf of local workers!

August 13, 2010

George Boston Rhynes (229-251-8645) Valdosta, Georgia 31605

TO: All Editors and Beyond

The Valdosta Daily Times Article on Aug 11 that read; “Order in the Court, a look at the Lowndes County Court House.” It highlighted the history and benefits of the old 1905 Lowndes County Court House but did not address diversity, gender, and who mostly benefited through employment from building this new facility. That is except for the employers and immigrants from Mexico. Continue reading →

Valdosta in bottom 10 metro areas for wages

Richard Florida writes about The Geography of High-Paying Jobs, including this map based on Bureau of Labor Staistics (BLS) data:

The Valdosta Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) comes in the bottom 10 nationwide. That’s for overall average wages.

It doesn’t look quite as bad for specific classes of jobs (creative, service, and working class), but that’s mostly because there are almost no MSAs in the lowest pay tier. However, for service jobs, Valdosta is not as good as Tallahassee, and makes it into the bottom 10: Continue reading →

Candidates, Lowndes County Commission, District 2, at LCDP BBQ

Every year the Lowndes County Democratic Party (LCDP) has a barbecue to which it invites candidates for public office. These include local candidates. Here we have the two Democrats running for Lowndes County Commission in District 2, in alphabetical order: Debra M. Franklin and John S. Quarterman. Notice the two candidates dining amicably side by side.

Debra M. Franklin: Continue reading →