At FERC’s Scoping Meeting for Spectra’s proposed Sabal Trail methane pipeline, about 100 people, not counting FERC or Spectra. Lots of good questions. Not many answers. John Peconom of FERC said afterwards the comments were mostly about the big picture. Except questions from local government officials: there were none. Video to come.

WALB was there for a long time, so they’ll probably cover it (they did). Matthew Woody of the VDT had heaps of material and went off to file by 10PM (here’s his story).

Three Lowndes County Commissioners were there: Chairman Bill Slaughter, Joyce Evans, and Crawford Powell, and County Engineer Mike Fletcher and Utilities Director Mike Allen. Not one of them spoke.

In Gilchrist County, Florida, all five County Commissioners, plus the County Administrator and the County Attorney, questioned the pipeline. In Dougherty County, Georgia, Commissioner Gloria Gaines was vociferously against. So on a scale of Gilchrist to Dougherty, Lowndes is a minus one. Maybe if Lowndes Commissioners spent as much time actually trying to represent the people as they did claiming there’s nothing they could do, they might get something done.

The people represented themselves, with many cogent arguments, ranging from specific route details to the big questions FERC wasn’t taking seriously to the huge Halliburton loophole in federal water quality protection that permits the fracking that this pipeline is intended to market. The audience clapped loudly after almost every speaker. Except when FERC or the contractor spoke. Then nobody clapped. Video of the entire meeting will be up today or tomorrow.

Next: Moultrie, tonight.

-jsq

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