Due to requests from Greenlaw in Atlanta and Save Our Suwannee in Florida, WWALS Watershed Coalition asked the City of Valdosta for a presentation on their wastewater situation. Valdosta presented less than two weeks later, and brought their entire hierarchy related to this issue, from the mayor on down. Plus Lowndes County, which isn’t even responsible for Valdosta’s wastewater, was represented by their Chairman and a Commissioner. Not all questions could be answered that quickly, but many were.

The slides are on the LAKE website and the videos are on the LAKE YouTube channel; see below. See also Valdosta’s Sanitary Sewer System Improvements web page.

At the meeting, clockwise from Tim Carroll (introducing), were:

• Tim Carroll, Valdosta City Council District 5
• John S. Quarterman (behind the camera), WWALS Watershed Coalition President
• Sementha Matthews (under the camera), Valdosta Public Information Officer
• Bill Slaughter, Lowndes County Commission Chairman
• Scottie Orenstein, Lowndes County Commission District 2
• Louie Goodin, Hamilton County Coordinator
• Chris Mericle, WWALS Board Member
• Deanna Mericle, WWALS member and Hamilton Co. FL resident
• Emily Davenport, Valdosta Assistant Director of Utilities
• Henry Hicks (presenting), Valdosta Utilities Director
• John Gayle, Valdosta Mayor
• Larry Hanson, Valdosta City Manager

On the phone:

• Erich Marzolf, Suwannee River Water Management District, FL, Director, Division of Water Resources
• Merrillee Jipson, Save Our Suwannee President
• Hutton Brown, Greenlaw Attorney, Water Issues

Other interested parties:

• Stephanie Stuckey Benfield, GreenLaw Executive Director
• Steven Lumbert, Save Our Suwannee Board Member
• Drew Bartlett, Florida Department of Environmental Protect,
• Randy Harris, Suwannee County Administrator

Here are the individual videos, followed by a video playlist.

• Background Information –Henry Hicks, Valdosta Utilities Director

  Video.

• Sewer System Overview

  Video.

• Withlacoochee 2/3 Alapaha 1/3

  Video.

• Sewer Improvements Update with dates

  Video.

• Gornto Road Pump Station visible from YMCA

  Video.

• Current locations of pipe projects: $36 million project

  Video.

• Headworks and EQ Basin at New Site

  Video.

• Smoke Testing Sanitary Sewer System

  Video.

• Additional Information, including manhole replacement

  Video.

• Emergency Repairs at WWTP

  Video.

• Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP)

  Video.

• Regular repairs and SPLOST funding: $250 million 1992-2016

  Video.

• Online information at Valdosta website and direct notifications

  Video.

• Case Study Illustrations

  Video.

• Rainfall dilutes overflows (2013 event)

  Video.

• Erich Marzolf of SRWMD agrees with estimates, yet perception trumps that

  Video.

• We want to fix this problem as much or more than you do –Larry Hanson

  Video.

• Getting the word out: USGS flyer –Emily Davenport, Valdosta Ass. Dir. of Eng.

  Video.

• LiDAR started yesterday via NOAA and USACE + SRWMD –Emily Davenport

  Video.

• Army Corps flooding study: regional inundation maps, Madison Co. –Emily Davenport

  Video.

• Valdosta fronted LiDAR money to get it done –Tim Carroll, Valdosta City Council

  Video.

• Above-average rainfall, NWS regional flooding update –Emily Davenport

  Video.

• Any questions? Time, commitment, and importance –Henry Hicks and Larry Hanson

  Video.

• Mercury, fecal matter from above Valdosta cleaned up at Mud Creek WTP

  Video.

• Impairment map from SGRC –Emily Davenport

  Video.

• Significant compared to what? Online table, VALORGIS map? –John S. Quarterman

  Video.

• Spills lots of places, but we’re under the spotlight –Tim Carroll

  Video.

• Thanks for the presentation in addition to the website –Chris Mericle

  Video.

• Does FL Dept. of Health even sample on non-event? –Sementha Matthews

  Video.

• Chicken litter for fertilizer –Bill Slaughter, Lowndes County Chairman

  Video.

• Huge investments moving as fast as they can –Bill Slaughter, Lowndes Co. Chair

  Video.

• Glad to hear of efforts being made –Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, Save Our Suwannee

  Video.

• All of our presentations are on Valdosta’s website –Larry Hanson

  Video.

• The Force Main site on Gornto Road is not the new WWTP –Tim Carroll

  Video.

• My phone rings off the hook –Louie Goodin, Hamilton County Coordinator

  Video.

• They hear spill: business and ecotourism –Deanna Mericle, Hamilton Co. resident

  Video.

• Valdosta didn’t say Knights Creek to Alapaha River –John S. Quarterman

  Video.

• Florida could do more testing, before, after, during –Deanna Mericle

  Video.

• Especially when you consider the river sinkholes into the aquifer –Tim Carroll

  Video.

Here’s the video playlist:

-jsq

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