Here are the plans for the new catch basin at the entrance of Valdosta’s Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) (see also PDF), obtained via open records request from Valdosta. At least we finally know how big it is: 7.26 million gallons. But is that big enough?
The catch basin is a good idea, and I commend Valdosta on implementing it. However: Continue reading
“We reiterate our concern and position that an appropriate project review for 401 water quality certification is not yet possible since complete substantive and important information about the proposed hydrogeologic effects of this project relative to the surrounding landscape has not yet been submitted by the applicant. …So substantial, so massive, so transformative is the effect to wetlands contemplated at the Twin Pines site that you no longer have in place the original wetland to be impacted.” The Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA-EPD) wrote that to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in response to the thousands of pages of low-level data but only a few pages of analysis that Twin Pines Minerals (TPM) has sent those agencies.
Twin Pines Minerals is still failing to hoist its burden of proof that its propsosed titanium strip mine would not jeopardize this national treasure, the Okefenokee Swamp, the headwaters of the Suwannee and St. Marys Rivers.
![[Tribal Grounds west along GA 94 to TPM equipment, 12:38:38, 30.5257540, -82.0411100]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-10-05--equipment-tpm/triba-grounds-to-TPM-equipment.jpg)
Photo: John S. Quarterman for WWALS, of Tribal Grounds west along GA 94 to TPM equipment, 12:38:38, 30.5257540, -82.0411100, on Southwings flight, pilot Allen Nodorft, 2019-10-05.
See also
pictures from that flight by Wayne Morgan.
Maybe the City of Folkston and Charlton County Development Authority (CCDA) might want to rethink its assertion in the Charlton County Herald that “We would not support anything that would jeopardize this national treasure.” GA-EPD’s opinion is much like what U.S. EPA said, that the mine would have “substantial and unacceptable impact”.
CCDA wrote, Continue reading
In the Charlton County Herald, December 31, 2019:
Dear Editor,
The burden of proof is still on the miners to show their mine would not damage the Swamp or the Rivers, and they have not met that burden.
U.S. EPA still finds that “the proposed project will have a substantial and unacceptable impact on aquatic resources of national importance.”
![[Distant 2019-11-23]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-11-23--drone-tpm/74335863_496999617569694_628442505263710208_n.jpg)
Anonymous drone aerial of heavy equipment on the mining site 2019-11-23.
River Styx is in the background, Okefenokee Swamp is on the horizon.
St. Marys River flows out top left horizon. Suwannee River flows out far side of Swamp.
That’s about “the permit application submitted by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC” for a titanium strip mine. “The proposed 2,414-acre mine area lies in proximity to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), and the potential secondary effects of the mine on the NWR have not been demonstrated by the permit applicant.”
This is the second letter EPA has sent to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers saying the mining application is deficient. We obtained a copy through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. The entire letter is here: http://wwals.net/?p=50931.
You, too, can still comment to the USACE, and all comments they receive before the Corps announces a decision can be used in any potential lawsuits. The addresses are: Continue reading
U.S. EPA still finds that “the proposed project will have a substantial and unacceptable impact on aquatic resources of national importance.”
That’s about “the permit application submitted by Twin Pines Minerals, LLC” for a titanium strip mine. “The proposed 2,414-acre mine area lies in proximity to the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (NWR), and the potential secondary effects of the mine on the NWR have not been demonstrated by the permit applicant.”
You, too, can still comment to the USACE, and all comments they receive before the Corps announces a decision can be used in any potential lawsuits.
Sent via email and filed online today. See also PDF.
You can still send in your own comment or come to the SRWMD Board meeting tomorrow morning, 9 AM, Tuesday, December 10, 2019.
December 9, 2019
To: Hugh Thomas, Executive Director
Suwannee River Water Management District
9225 Co Rd 49, Live Oak, FL 32060
Hugh.Thomas@srwmd.org
386-362-1001
Cc: Lindsey Garland
Public Communications Coordinator
SRWMD
Lindsey.Garland@srwmd.org
![[Please Deny Seven Springs permit renewal, Ginnie Springs, Santa Fe River]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-09--wwals-srwmd-nestle/2019-12-09--wwals-srwmd-nestle-0001.jpg)
Please Deny Seven Springs permit renewal, Ginnie Springs, Santa Fe River
Re: Please deny and review Nestlé water withdrawal permits
Director Thomas,
Suwannee Riverkeeper for WWALS Watershed Coalition asks the Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) to act for the public good by denying the Seven Springs Water Company permit renewal request at Ginnie Springs on the Santa Fe River, and by reviewing the Nestlé permit for Madison Blue Springs on the Withlacoochee River, among others.
You can help oppose Nestlé’s water withdrawals from the Floridan Aquifer, at the next Suwannee River Water Management District (SRWMD) board meeting in Live Oak.
You can sign one of many petitions, such as one by SumOfUs.
Even better, you can come object to that extension. I ask people to come to every SRWMD board meeting, and maybe you can make this one.
Best, you can file a comment with SRWMD.
When:
9:00 AM, Tuesday, December 20 10, 2019
Where: SRWMD Headquarters, 9225 County Road 49, Live Oak, FL 32060-7056
What: SRWMD Board meeting
You can also ask SRWMD to review Nestlé’s withdrawal permit at Madison Blue Spring on the Withlacoochee River.
These are Nestlé’s landholdings next to Madison Blue Spring, according to the Madison County Property Appraiser:
![[Nestle-madison-blue-spring]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-12-10--srwmd-packet/nestle-madison-blue-spring.jpg)
For comparison, this little bit on the Withlacoochee River is Madison Blue Spring State Park, smaller than Nestlé’s main bottling plant. Continue reading
The cause of this flight was the titanium mine Twin Pines Minerals wants to put near the southeast corner of the Okefenokee Swamp. We documented they have heavy equipment on that site now:
031Equipment Twin Pines Minerals mine site T Model Road
The Georgia Water Coalition Dirty Dozen, used one of these aerial pictures taken by Wayne Morgan for WWALS on a Southwings flight for Suwannee Riverkeeper, pilot Allen Nodorft, October 5, 2019.
The mine site is less than three miles from the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge, and about the same distance from the Cherokee of Georgia Tribal Grounds:
029Cherokee of Georgia Tribal Grounds
For more about why that mine is a bad idea, see the Waterkeepers Florida resolulution against the mine.
For how bad it can get, see Continue reading
“Just imagine driving up to an entrance to the swamp and seeing nothing but a barren, parched, and arid dead zone,” wrote a local citizen in the Charlton County Chronicle.
You can still comment to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or write your own letter to the editor.
![[WC6165, 22:38:58]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-08-24--jim-tatum-southwings-okefenokee-tpm/WC6165.jpg)
Chemours North Maxville Mine, Baker County, Florida.
Photo: Jim Tatum for WWALS on Southwings flight, pilot Allen Nodorft 2019-08-24.
Do not allow Twin Pines to wreak havoc on Okefenokee
Dear Editor, Continue reading
Local citizens consider the full page ad by the miners to be fighting words. They see the miners can provide no guarantees, so they should leave the Okefenokee Swamp alone, and the rivers that run from it, too.
You can still comment to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers or write your own letter to the editor.
![[River Styx & Okefenokee NWR --Wayne Morgan 2019-10-05]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-10-30--charlton-co-herald/WAM_0931.jpg)
River Styx & Okefenokee NWR from above Twin Pines Minerals mine site Photo: Wayne Morgan for WWALS on Southwings flight, pilot Allen Nodorft 2019-10-05
Leave it this way and leave it alone
Dear Editor,
As a family with a long history in this area, it is imperative that Continue reading
Testimony sent as PDF yesterday, for the Georgia Power rate hike Public Hearings continuing today at GA-PSC.
November 5, 2019
|
To: |
Jason Shaw, Commissioner, District 1 Georgia Public Service Commission 244 Washington Street, SW Atlanta GA, 30334-9052 jshaw@psc.ga.gov |
|
|
Re: Docket 42516 Georgia Power Company’s 2019 Rate Case
Commissioner Shaw,
It was good to meet with you Thursday.
I have not met anyone unaffiliated with the electric power industry who supports a rate hike for Georgia Power, especially not a mandatory connection fee. Many people around here are already struggling to balance electric bills, grocery bills, and gas bills. A mandatory connection fee would most greatly affect those least able to afford it. Despite Georgia Power’s arguments, the beneficiaries of such a rate hike would not be its customers, rather its investors, following a playbook spelled out by the electric utility industry think tank Edison Electricity Institute back in 2013.
I urge the Georgia Public Service Commission to reject Georgia Power’s request for a connection fee raise, or at the least to make it as minimal as possible. Georgia Power as a regulated public utility should be “A Citizen Wherever We Serve,” not an agent for its investors to get more profit at the expense of its customers.
![[Urge reject connection fee raise]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-11-05--wwals-shaw-ga-psc-ga-power-rate/2019-11-05--WWALS-Shaw-GA-PSC-GA-Power-Rate-0001.jpg)
Urge reject connection fee raise
It is not surprising that Georgia Power is in need of funds, due to Southern Company’s failing Big Bet on Continue reading
![[FORWARD FLOW SCHEMATIC]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-09-01--catch-basin-vld-wwtp/ORR-2019-357-John-Quarterman-Secondary-EQ-DDR--Final-123019-0007.jpg)
![[the proposed project will have a substantial and unacceptable impact on aquatic resources of national importance.]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-10-03--epa-usace-tpm/SCAN0007-0001.jpg)
![[2016 Peak Day Marginal Costs]](http://www.wwals.net/pictures/2019-11-05--wwals-shaw-ga-psc-ga-power-rate/Exhibit-A-0002.jpg)