Tag Archives: Planning

What the sewer system is currently doing to our backyards —Gabe Fisher

Received today in response to Tim Carroll’s email.

All, Gabe Fisher here—2420 Meadow Brook. I do not currently have the time, nor mental capacity to fully think through this issue, but I want you all to see what the sewer system is currently doing to our backyards. This video was taken today, in by backyard, after the flood. It has been spilling at least at this same rate for the last 7 days.

What the sewer system is currently doing to our backyards —Gabe Fisher
Video by Gabe Fisher, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 3 March 2013.

This contaminated water breached my crawlspace, around 24″ deep, and must absolutely be dealt with ASAP. What is the city going to do for me, and my neighbors who are in this same situation??

There is no other word for it—I am pissed. I have seen zero results since the flood in 2009. Yes, maybe receiving 12″ inches of rain is an act of God, but that does not account for all the man made structures that force the flood waters higher at my location, nor other obstacles it must overcome to quickly and efficiently escape our area—such as the train trestle along Gornto. And it absolutely does not account for the city’s poorly planned sewer system..

This isn’t the first sewage spill since the flood of 2009—there have been countless others in my area. I have photos and video evidence of at least 5 that would likely be classified as ‘major’.

This cannot and will not be ‘swept under the rug’.. I am still currently upside down on my property due to the flood of 2009 and this current flood has only further degraded my property’s value.

Gabe

Looking at his address in the Lowndes County Tax Assessor’s maps, and turning on Flood Map, Lakes and Rivers, and Aerial Photos, you can see that his property and most of all his neighbors’ lots are in the flood plain:

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The rest of the story on waste water —Tim Carroll

Received today from Valdosta City Council Tim Carroll, who sent it to a long list of people, apparently responding to the VDT's recent article and editorials.

All,

During my tenure as a city councilman, I have tried to keep everyone updated on events and issues with our city. I want to share and email I sent out recently that hopefully you will agree is important information. In regards to today's paper — the story has some serious errors and omissions. First of all in 2009- all we saved from the flood was the pump station. No sewage treatment was taking place and contrary to what the VDT says, then as we are now — raw sewage was going into the river. It lasted about a month in 2009. With the decision to pull equipment/tanks etc so they would not be destroyed this year — we not only saved a lot of tax payer money….but we will be able to bring the plant back on line in about a week. Reducing by several weeks the amount of sewage going into the river. In regards to city water systems being compromised — considering our water plant is 10-15 miles north of the WWTP and the amazing fact that the river flows south — your water is completely safe. Do we like discharging raw sewage into the river? Of course not. During the flood it was going to happen either way.

I want to add one other note — the men and women in our Utility department, fire, police, sanitation, engineering etc, etc Floridan Aquifer have been working long days this past week trying to manage flooding issues. They deserve our thanks. It is very frustrating for those whose homes and businesses were threatened by the flood. It is very frustrating to our city employees who have worked so hard to manage this crisis.

So as Paul Harvey says — “here is the rest of the story”.

I think Council Carroll is a bit cavalier about the city's wells being upstream of the wastewater treatment plant, because while the river may flow south, it's not clear how the Floridan Aquifer flows, especially with multiple 800 foot deep wells sucking water out of it. Also I wonder what people downstream of the Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant think of all that raw sewage coming down at them, especially considering some of them have wells downstream.

However, he makes a number of points that the VDT omitted, including a plan to do something about the situation, and appended is his "rest of the story".

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VDT v Valdosta Re Wastewater

The VDT has apparently decided the City of Valdosta is to blame for the Withlacoochee Wastewater Woes, and has made its case in a story and two editorials. They seem to have forgotten about the overflow in 2012 already. And the VDT seems to have forgotten about it and its editor's own apparent roles in the loss of the recent SPLOST election that would have funded a new wastewater plant.

Jason Schaefer wrote for the VDT today, Money saved at river's expense: EPD investigates cause of sewage release as waters recede,

When the flooding occurred in April 2009, the City made extraordinary efforts to hold back the flooding, bringing in dirt and heavy machinery to build a berm around the influent pump station and other treatment equipment, working round the clock.

The efforts were successful. The treatment plant remained on during the duration of the flood, and Valdosta's raw sewage remained contained, though the facility incurred damages to its electrical and biological purification systems, according to Utilities Director Henry Hicks.

This year, the City opted for a different approach—cut electricity to the underwater portions of the plant, submit to the flooding and clean up afterwards.

The plant was “taken offline” Thursday at 9 a.m. “to prevent further damage to equipment and associated electrical and control systems,” according to a statement issued by the Department of the City Manager.

The City stated that as a result of the shutdown, “untreated sewage will be discharging directly into the river” at a rate of between five and six million gallons of raw sewage per day.

In addition, the floodwaters were allowed into the plant and around the remaining portions of the berm that was constructed in 2009 during the rising flood. Only half of the berm now remains, as the other half was removed to allow access to the lower portions of the plant, Hicks said.

So far, this year's response strategy seems to have saved the City money. In 2009, about $500,000 was spent in manpower, equipment and supplies to build the berm alone, and the plant, kept running, incurred significant damages though raw sewage was kept out of the river. This year, the money was not spent on the berm or to prevent the flooding, and at least 15 to 20 million gallons of raw sewage will have been released into the Withlacoochee by the time the plant is back online.

There's more in the story, which is well worth a read. Also note this inserted in the middle of the story:

Editor Kay Harris contributed to this story.

The VDT cites the EPA report, National Enforcement Initiative (FY 2011 – 2013) Keeping Raw Sewage and Contaminated Stormwater Out of Our Nation’s Waters, (more about that EPA initiative here) and continues:

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Videos of the Withlacoochee River in flood

Here are pictures and videos of the Withlacoochee River at GA 122 18 Feb 2013 Withlacoochee River @ GA 122 27 Feb 2013 Withlacoochee River @ GA 122 on 18 February 2013 (on the left when the river was rising) and 27 February 2013 (on the right, when it was clearly in flood stage).

Pictures and videos of the Withlacoochee River at GA 122 by John S. Quarterman and Gretchen Quarterman for WWALS Watershed Coailition.


Brandon Powers for the VDT
And the Valdosta Daily Times has discovered video! VDT posted 25 February 2013, The effects of rain, which includes video of numerous locations around Lowndes County. This is all relevant to the Withlacoochee Wastewater Woes for Valdosta and Lowndes County.

-jsq

Withlacoochee Wastewater Woes for Valdosta and Lowndes County

AP picked up the story about flooding at Valdosta's Withlacoochee wasterwater treatment plant, citing the VDT and the City as sources. The City of Valdosta thinks the County should contribute to replacing the plant, or maybe the legislature will authorize a municipal option sales tax (MOST).

AP in GPBNews 1 March 2013, Valdosta Treatment Plant Floods,


Authorities shut down a Valdosta wastewater treatment plant as a river flooded critical buildings and structures. The city estimates an average of 5 million to 6 million gallons of untreated sewage will discharge daily into the Withlacoochee River until the flood waters recede and the plant can resume operation. (Photo Courtesy of John S. Quarterman via Flickr.)
VALDOSTA, Ga. —

Authorities shut down a south Georgia wastewater treatment plant as a river flooded critical buildings and structures.

Valdosta city officials said power at the plant was shut down Thursday to prevent further damage to equipment and control systems.

The city estimates an average of 5 million to 6 million gallons of untreated sewage will discharge daily into the Withlacoochee River until the flood waters recede and the plant can resume operation.

The AP story continues, but let's cut to the sources.

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Nuclear is over —Jeremy Rifkin

Economist, author, and advisor to governments Jeremy Rifkin told an agent of the world's largest uranium field operator at a conference of global investors that there's no business future in nuclear power.

Jeremy Rifkin answered a question at the Wermuth Asset Management 5th Annual Investors Event 26 September 2012, Nuclear Power is Dead,

I don't spend much time on nuclear technology, unless somebody asks me about it, because frankly from a business perspective, I think it's over….

Here's the video, followed by more transcript and discussion.

Nuclear power was pretty well dead in the water in the 1980s after Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. It had a comeback. The comeback was the industry said "we are part of the solution for climate change because we don't emit CO2 with nuclear; it's polluting, but there's no CO2".

Here's the issue though,

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From 15 to 19 months late: Plant Vogtle nukes

Surprise! The already-billing but not-built new nukes at Plant Vogtle are going to be even later and cost even more. In December they were to be 15 months late; now it’s 19 months late, and the cost overrun expected is $740 million. History is repeating itself from the last time Southern Company and Georgia Power built nukes on the Savannah River. How about we pass HB 267 to stop Georgia Power from charging that cost overrun to customers?

Kristi Swartz wrote for the AJC yesterday, Vogtle nuclear project to take longer, cost more,

Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project will take about 19 months longer to complete than originally expected and cost about $740 million more than originally thought, the company said Thursday.

Joseph A. “Buzz” Miller, Executive Vice President – Nuclear Development Southern Nuclear Operating Company Georgia Power said its share of the estimated $14 billion project will rise to $6.85 billion, up from $6.11 billion, because of increased capital costs and additional financing costs. Customers, who have been paying the financing costs since 2011, now will pay them for a longer period of time.

And the amount Georgia Power customers have to pay for Construction Work in Progress (CWIP) keeps ratchetting up:

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Time Warner says you don’t want high speed Internet

After all, if all the people had fast Internet connections, they might provide their own content, ranging from local sports vidoed by fans to parties to local government meetings, and then they wouldn’t be “consumers”, would they? The people would be participants in their own community, ranging from local to state, national, and global. And the big cablecos and telcos wouldn’t be able to monopolize access to information, which is their cash cow now. It will take more than wishful thinking to get TW to help with affordable local high speed Internet access.

Klint Finley wrote for Wired 28 February 2013, You Don’t Want Super-High-Speed Internet, Says Time Warner Cable,

Time Warner Cable chief technology officer Irene Esteves says you don’t really want the gigabit speeds offered by Google Fiber and other high speed providers.

On Wednesday, at a conference in San Francisco, Esteves downplayed the importance of offering a service to compete with Google, as reported by The Verge. “We’re in the business of delivering what consumers want, and to stay a little ahead of what we think they will want…. We just don’t see the need of delivering that to consumers,” she said, referring to gigabit-speed internet connections.

Esteves thinks only business customers will need that kind of bandwidth, and she noted that Time Warner already offers gigabit connections for businesses in some markets.

Right, “in some markets”. How many of you around here can get a gigabit Internet connection? And

Time Warner Cable says Irene Esteves is the Chief Financial Officer, which makes more sense than a Chief Technical Officer spreading this doubtfire.

No, it’s TW CTO Michael LaJoie‘s job to argue against net neutrality. Paul Rodriguez wrote for cabletechtalk at some unknown date, Cable’s internal and external technology picture,

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Internet and Energy at the Bird Supper

Dear Bird Supper attendees,

Two things could greatly help south Georgia: better Internet access and solar power. You could help stop two telecommunications bills and help pass two energy bills for jobs and education in south Georgia.

Internet Access: help stop two telecommunications bills

The local Industrial Authority, Chamber of Commerce, Valdosta City Council, and Lowndes County Commission have recently realized that fast Internet access is essential to attract businesses, for their employees to work at home, for applicants to apply for jobs, for students to submit assignments, and for general quality of life.

  • HB 282 against muni broadband
    This bill would prohibit local governments from providing Internet access if any local census block has 1.5Mbps access. Localities may or may not want to do it themselves, but they shouldn't be prohibited from using this option now that it is obvious to everyone that the commercial incumbents are not doing the job. Legislators please vote this bill down.
  • HB 176 for higher cell towers with less local government oversight
    This really bad bill would let cell telephone companies build towers wherever they want to at any height, taking away local government power to regulate that. It could even let private companies exercise eminent domain. Legislators please vote this bill down.

Energy: help pass two energy bills

Solar power can be a distributed source of jobs in south Georgia. Antique laws and a subsidized nuclear boondoggle are hobbling solar power.
  • GA SB 51, The Georgia Cogeneration and Distributed Generation Act
    Senator Buddy Carter has introduced a Senate bill for the current session of the legislature, SB 51, "The Georgia Cogeneration and Distributed Generation Act of 2001". It attempts to fix Georgia's special solar financing problem, the antique 1973 Territorial Electric Service Act, which says you can only sell power you generate to your one and only pre-determined electric utility, at whatever rate that utility sets.
  • HB 267 Financing costs; construction of nuclear generating plant
    Stop Georgia Power from charging customers for cost overruns for Plant Vogtle, already 15 months behind schedule and a billion dollars overbudget for power that nobody has received, yet Georgia Power has already billed customers about $1.7 billion. Bipartisan cosponsors are Jeff Chapman (R—Brunswick) District 167 and Karla Drenner (D—Avondale Estates) District 85. This boondoggle on the Savannah River is what Georgia Power and Southern Company are doing instead of deploying solar inland and wind off the coast.

-jsq

Agenda: 2 Lowndes County rezonings; 1 Valdosta @ GLPC 2013-02-25

Agenda To get an agenda for tonight’s Planning Commission meeting, apparently you have to go to the meeting; here it is. It’s sloppier than usual: Case REZ-2013-04 has neither a number of acres nor a specific location. Why is the Planning Commission not revealing this information?

Douglas O. Thompson owns two properties on Bemiss Road, but one of them is in Valdosta taxing district, so presumably it’s the other one, of 1.28 acres at 3432 Bemiss Road. Why is this a secret?

Perhaps for the same reason that the county doesn’t just publish PDF of this agenda on the web for all to see?

Here’s a summary of the cases.

Lowndes County,
Final action
Tuesday 12 March 2013 		2. REZ-2013-03 Valler
Knights Academy Road, Valdosta
Request to rezone 10 acres from R-21 (Medium Density Residential) to R-A (Residential Agriculture)
3. REZ-2013-04 Thompson
Bemiss Road, Valdosta
Request to rezone [?] acres from C-H/c (Highway Commercial conditional) to C-H (Highway Commercial)
Valdosta,
Final Action
Thursday, 7 March 2013 		4. VA-2013-01 Turner Brooks LLC
411 West Mary Street, Valdosta
Request to rezone 0.50 acres from R-6 (Single Family Residential) to R-M (Multi-Family Residential)

-jsq