Tag Archives: Safety

State of District 4 Address –Demarcus Marshall @ Town Hall Meeting 2014-12-15

Text published by Demarcus Marshall (PDF)
and LAKE video of his address at the
Town Hall Meeting 15 December 2014. -jsq

For those unaware, Super District 4 was a newly created district in
Lowndes County two years ago. I assumed this office without a
predecessor to this district seat. It was my understanding of this
district to compliment the other districts by adding more
responsiveness and accountability for the citizens of Lowndes
County.

Upon being elected and occupying the seat, I inherited a wonderful
staff; however, the county faced several challenges. The economy was Continue reading →

Valdosta Passes Resolution Against Sabal Trail Pipeline: not in this city, this county, or this state @ VCC 2014-12-11

Go away, Sabal Trail:

NOW THEREFORE,
be it resolved that the City of Valdosta supports the
Lowndes County Board of Commissioners in their opposition to the
construction of the Sabal Trail pipeline in any portion of Lowndes
County. The City’s support includes concerns with fundamental
property rights, the manner in which eminent domain might be
utilized, and the lack of demonstrated benefit to the City and
County. Furthermore, the City of Valdosta supports the Lowndes
County Commission in their formal request to the Federal Energy
Regulation Commission (FERC), and to State and Federal Legislators
in the effort to have Lowndes County and the State of Georgia
bypassed in the construction of the proposed pipeline.

Here is Continue reading →

Resolution against Sabal Trail pipeline + 3-1 ordinances @ VCC 2014-12-11

The resolution against the Sabal Trail pipeline, including to be filed with FERC, was

passed 6 to 1 by the Valdosta City Council Thursday 11 December 2014,
supporting

the resolution the Lowndes County Commission passed unanimously Tuesday,
plus

a clause about protecting our drinking water in the Floridan Aquifer; see
separate post.
John Robinson

thanked the city for a VSEB contract.
The

personal care home rezoning passed.
The

taxicab ordinance was deferred (not all cab company owners had been consulted yet), while two others passed.
Also

some bids rejected
while

others

were

approved,
a reappointment of

Tom Kurrie to the Valdosta Housing Authority,
and
recognized

employee of the month Terrial Small.

Here’s

the agenda.
For background, see the

videos of the Tuesday Work Session,
including

a bomb report by Police Chief Childress.
The videos from the Thursday Regular Session are linked below,
followed by a video playlist.

Continue reading →

Against Sabal Trail pipeline + 3 ordinances + bomb report @ VCC 2014-12-09

The Valdosta City Council

discussed
a

resolution against the Sabal Trail pipeline
at their Work Session Tuesday, as you can see in these videos.
Come see them vote on it tonight at 5:30 PM
at City Hall.

They also heard

a bomb report at the Work Session,
in addition to discussing all the other business,
especially the taxicab ordinance.

At the same time Tuesday,
the Lowndes County Commission

unanimously Continue reading →

Ask Sabal Trail to invest in solar farms instead of pipelines –Alton Paul Burns @ TCC 2014-12-09

He concluded, “There’s nothing beneficial to the state of Georgia in this pipeline.”
Some Commissioners had never heard of Sabal Trail:
now they have, from local resident Alton Paul Burns,
at their

9 December 2014 Thomas County Commission Regular Session,
and they know it could come right through Thomasville.

Discussing

among themselves, one Commissioner remarked that the pipeline
wouldn’t go through her place, but it was still a concern, and they
should ask Sabal Trail to come explain themselves.

Later, Continue reading →

We all live in Lowndes County: Valdosta Draft Resolution Against Sabal Trail Pipeline @ VCC 2014-12-09

Last night, while the Lowndes County Commission
unanimously approved

their

resolution against the Sabal Trail fracked methane pipeline,
the Valdosta City Council

discussed a supporting resolution at its Work Session.
Council Tim Carroll
said Valdosta had added

a clause about the Floridan Aquifer.
Council Robert Yost said he didn’t think such a resolution was something
the City of Valdosta should be doing, and he would not vote Thursday.
No other Council members expressed any reservations.
Council Sonny Vickers said he thought it was worth doing to show unity.
Mayor John Gayle remarked, “We all live in Lowndes County.” Continue reading →

Sabal Trail disappointed in GWC Dirty Dozen; locals disappointed in Sabal Trail –WCTV

Spectra’s Andrea Grover is “disappointed” in Sabal Trail being on the
Georgia Water Coalition Dirty Dozen;
does she also find it “hard to believe” like Sabal Trail’s well-documented
eminent domain threats?

Winnie Wright, WCTV, 26 November 2014,

Sabal Trail Pipeline Environmental Concerns Cited In Annual ‘Dirty Dozen’ Report,

Recently, The Georgia Water Coalition put

the Sabal Trail Pipeline
on their Dirty Dozen Report for 2014.

You can see Cherry Creek sinkhole behind her as she reported.
She was navigated there by VSU professor Can Denizman.

She also interviewed several locals, including me
at the Withlacoochee River.

Continue reading →

Opposes Sabal Trail pipeline in any portion of Lowndes County –Lowndes County Commission

Escalating from

the Chairman’s letter of 11 April 2014,
perhaps after listening to

requests from citizens,
the Lowndes County Commission passed a resolution
wanting no part of Sabal Trail in the county or in the state of Georgia.

Update 2014-11-25: Well, according to

Joe Adgie in the Valdosta Daily Times today,
“Even though the missive has already been mailed [to FERC], the resolution will not be formally voted on until the county commission’s next meeting in December [9th].”

Filed with FERC in docket CP15-17 on 21 November 2014 as

Accession Number: 20141121-5242, but that was a Friday and FERC doesn’t work on weekends, so it actually appeared Monday 24 November 2014.

RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Spectra Energy of Houston, Texas has proposed to build a $3.7 Billion, 460mile natural gas line known as Sabal Trail, and;

WHEREAS, The Lowndes County Board of Commissioners has concerns regarding
personal property rights Continue reading →

Sabal Trail newspaper assertions contradicted by Spectra corporate documents and FERC filings –John S. Quarterman to FERC

“I ask you and FERC to stop Sabal
Trail from telling newspapers things that Spectra
Energy’s own corporate documents refute, and to start
paying attention to multiple requests by county commissions
and other affected parties.”

Back in December, Spectra’s Andrea Grover and Brian Fahrenthold were
“not familiar” with Spectra’s lengthy safety rap sheet (see above picture).
Yesterday’s VDT had
Sabal Trail: Eminent domain accusation ‘hard to believe’
by Joe Adgie. Meanwhile, the Moultrie Observer has picked up
the VDT story.
Maybe some newspapers will also publish better information
than what trained pipeline PR people seem not to remember or believe, despite
copious evidence of the actual facts.

Filed with FERC

19 November 2014 accession Number: 20141119-5232. The attachments are in the PDF, and they’re all in the links in the HTML version below. -jsq Continue reading →

SONAT pipeline break in Berrien County, GA on offshoot of same line Sabal Trail proposes to parallel –John S. Quarterman to FERC

“The SONAT pipeline that broke in
Berrien County, Georgia was only a 9- or 10-inch line,
I’m told at 800PSI. Sabal Trail proposes a 36-inch
line, at much higher pressure. I’m no expert, but that
seems like at least twenty times the explosive capacity. I
don’t want that risk for any of my neighbors anywhere.”

Filed with FERC 15 November 2014 (PDF),
posted by FERC

17 November 2014 as Accession Number: 20141117-5040. Continue reading →

On the LAKE front

Citizen dialog for transparent process by the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange