Later
that same day, in Williston, Florida,
Beth Gordon asked a Sabal Trail blueshirt a simple question.
Here’s
the non-answer:
Landowner list for Sabal Trail pipeline?
“I’ve never been asked for that.”
Video by Beth Gordon, Williston, Levy County, Florida.
Oh, look, it’s Andrea Grover!
To be continued….
This was at one of the Open Houses required by FERC. Coming up tonight, Tuesday, December 10, 2013, 5:00pm to 7:30pm: Continue reading
WCTV isn’t just publishing Spectra press releases or sales pitches,
unlike the Lowndes County Commission.
Winnie Anne Wright for WCTV today, Sabal Trail Addresses Lowndes County Commission,
“Gas needed to come from one point and end up at another. We looked for those existing corridors that are already in place, to be able to run adjacent and parallel to those so we are lessening the impact on stake holders and the environment and this path that we are currently on, is over 80% adjacent or parallel to those types of things”, says Andrea Grover, Director of Stakeholder Outreach for Sabal Trail.
Well, no it doesn’t need to. Some fat cats in Houston and Juno Beach, Florida want to pump methane through here for their profit and our hazard, but that’s not the same as “needed to”.
But not everyone believes Sabal Trail has Lowndes County’s best interest at heart.
The proposed pipeline would run through Larry Rodgers’ property. He says he gave Sabal Trail access Continue reading
WALB did what the Lowndes County Commission did not after Spectra’s sales talk this morning: let local citizens speak.
Robert Hydrick on WALB today,
Sabal Trail gives information on pipeline project,
quoted Spectra rep. Brian Fahrenthold (one of five Spectra sent)
about Spectra’s feint of a former route through Valdosta,
now aimed through rural Lowndes and Brooks Counties instead:
This updated route, Fahrenthold pointed out, reduces the amount of the city of Valdosta that would be affected as well as reduces the overall area of Lowndes County that would be affected.
“The first route was 31.3 miles and the [new route] is 15.6. That’s a fifty percent reduction in our proposed route,” said Fahrenthold.
Well, no, it’s a shift in Spectra’s proposed route for their Sabal Trail Pipeline to go farther west, past Clyattville and through Brooks, Colquitt, Mitchell, and Dougherty Counties. How does it feel to be expendable, rural landowners?
Fahrenthold also emphasized Continue reading
Andrea Grover of Sabal Trail Transmission has been telling Florida
landowners about another proposed pipeline route that completely
bypasses Georgia.
Received yesterday on
Request pipeline town hall –Tim Bland to LCC:
For those that are against having the pipeline run through their property, go to Ocala Star Banner on the web where there is a map with the proposed route for the pipeline from Alabama to Florida. This route barely touches the southwest corner
of Georgia (if at all). Why did Sabal change the route? I don’t either. The newspaper is dated October 24, 2013.
-Ronald Kicklighter
Contracts for natural gas pipeline through Florida get initial OK, by Morgan Watkins for Ocala StarBanner picked up a story first run in the Gainesville Sun,
A $3.5 billion, 600-mile natural-gas pipeline system that will stretch from Alabama into Florida is still in the planning stages, but homeowners near the Ichetucknee and Santa Fe rivers are concerned because the routes being proposed might run through their neighborhoods.
Landowners in Georgia don’t want it crossing their land or the Flint or Withlacoochee Rivers, either.
Florida Power & Light selected Continue reading
Spectra said “more rural” “lessens stakeholder impact”.
What do you think about that, rural landowners whose land Spectra wants?
County Chairman Bill Slaughter said
the most positive thing he’s said so far,
“we’re going to be looking out for the citizens of Lowndes County”,
about this
natural gas pipeline potentially ripping a 100 foot right of way
through this county and many others in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama
for the benefit of Florida Power and Light.
And Valdosta, you’re not for sure out of the pipeline path:
remember
FERC could choose that Option B through Valdosta that is Spectra’s
alternate route.
James Buechele wrote for WCTV yesterday, Pipeline Would Cut Through Florida & Georgia, Continue reading
The Sabal Trail roadshow rolled on to Florida, but hasn’t bowled over at least one landowner.
Dave D’Marko wrote for mynews13.com yesterday, Pipeline bringing gas, concerns to Floridians,
A new gas pipeline is coming to Florida that will pump up to a billion cubic feet a day to Florida Power and Light customers.
But some property owners aren’t happy. The company plans to take the pipeline right through their land. Sabal Trail Transmission met with landowners in Kissimmee Tuesday night. Another meeting is planned at South Lake High School in Groveland Wednesday.
Gertrude Dickinson, 82, got her first letter in June, warning her a company was bidding to bring a gas pipeline to Florida and her property was being considered. She didn’t wait for the project to gain approval, which it did later in the summer, and started fighting it immediately.
“I said I want a map of exactly where you are putting that pipe on my land and how much you are going to use,” Dickinson said.
She said what she got in return was this map showing all three states the 465 mile pipeline would go through, and a dot showing the general area she lived in Sumter County. What it didn’t explain is why they wanted to go through her land, and not the state-owned prairie across the street.
Well, that all sounds familiar. And look who’s down there speaking for Spectra:
Andrea Grover, a spokesperson for Sabal Trail Transmission, is part of the “Right of Way” team meeting with 3,000 landowners along the corridor. She said so far 80 percent have given permission for land surveying.
But Dickinson posted no trespassing signs, refusing to let surveyors on her land. Signs on her property point out she suffers from a condition known as auditory recruitment, which means noise from construction would be greatly amplified in her ears. She says previous episodes have led to heart attacks.
The company said it will reimburse owners fair value for their property, but Dickinson doubts that would be much in this economy.
“I can buy a few bags of groceries with the money and that’s it, and for what? They’ve taken my property, and my entrance, and my life possibly who knows,” she said.
-jsq
The VDT got some good quotes from Spectra and from landowners, and even from a Lowndes County Commissioners at the Spectra dog and pony at Wiregrass Tech last week. Not the whole story, though; this one has legs.
Matthew Woody wrote for the VDT today, Lowndes residents oppose Fla. pipeline,
Sabal Trail Transmission held an open house at Wiregrass Georgia Technical College last week to explain the Florida natural gas pipeline expected to run through South Georgia.
Sabal Trail had bulletin boards depicting aerial photos with the proposed 600-foot corridor mapped out with two red dotted lines running parallel to one another. In the center of these dotted lines, there was a brown line which highlighted an existing pipeline.
He got a bit more detail from Spectra rep Andrea Grover about Option A (the current proposed pipeline path) vs. Option B: Continue reading
Spectra Energy subsidiary Sabal Trail Transmission held
a landowner one-on-one at Wiregrass Tech last night.
Matthew Woody of the VDT was there, as was one Valdosta City Council
member, one Lowndes County Commissioner, and at least two county staff,
plus some landowners (“might as well get something out of this”,
several said at the food bar), one of whom was a match for Andrea Grover.
Matthew Woody, VDT:
Continue readingMonday in Albany, Tuesday in Moultrie, and tonight in Valdosta, the pipeline roadshow is rolling through Georgia towards Florida. These are not public hearings or town halls: the pipeline company seems to be trying to get landowners in the path to show up, but anybody can attend.
Brad McEwen wrote for the Albany Herald yesterday, Residents attend pipeline forum,
Sabal Trail Transmission LLC, which is a joint venture between energy giants Spectra Energy Corp. and NextEra Energy Inc., hosted the event to give citizens an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the proposed project.
Set up like an open house, the forum had 15 Sabal Trail subject matter experts on hand to greet residents and Continue reading
Spectra Energy will tell us how great their proposed pipeline will be,
as it
cuts a 100-foot wide path from Anniston, Alabama to Orlando, Florida
through south Georgia,
using eminent domain to make you sell your land,
to deliver gas
from fracking in Pennsylvania
for the benefit of
Florida Power and Light.
Maybe you’d like to ask Spectra reps
Brian Fahrenthold
or
Andrea Grover a few questions,
like can we see a map of the proposed route, with parcel numbers,
and what about those
fines for violating federal regulations and Spectra’s own corporate operating procedures?
Added: facebook event.
Tonight (Wednesday) 16 October 2013 5:00-7:30 pm.
The Wiregrass Tech contact is Christy Cobb; she wasn’t in when I called yesterday. Tech’s web server still seems to be down, but Google has cached her as: Continue reading