I attended the Sabal Pipeline meeting this morning at the Government Building on Pine (in downtown Albany). Attendance was glorious, with the large room packed to standing room only by concerned citizens (I was fortunate to get there early enough to grab a seat). Representatives from Spectra, as well as representatives from FERC (Washington, D.C.) were there to make their case for the pipeline. It was a tough room for such hopes, as the crowd of at least 200 were in near unanimous opposition...and quite vocal about it. When it came time for community activists to approach the podium, no one from Spectra, FERC, or even the local government was spared a good dressing down. Carlton Fletcher was there to report for The Albany Herald, and WALB, WFXL and other news agencies were there to film the proceedings. It was an invigorating morning and a great bonding experience for members of the community as we participated in exercising our civic responsibilities. Jen Maloney snapped many pictures, and I look forward to seeing those posted. My heart aches for her, as the compressing station is literally being slated to be built directly behind her home...and the slide presentation made it clear just what a large monstrosity it would be, right on the edge of her property. We should all make every effort to block this pipeline, not only for our friends sake, but also for concern for our community. Nothing good can come of it for Dougherty County...and the risks, as outlined in the meeting, are considerable. Below, I am including my raw notes from the near 2 1/2 hours I spent at the meeting before having to leave for other commitments. I would encourage you to read over them, and get involved. The pipeline affects everyone in Dougherty County, not just those slated to lose their homes to imminent domain. It runs near the city water supply...and should an incident occur and the pipeline become compromised, it has the potential to taint the drinking water of 70,000 citizens with carcinogens proven to cause leukemia, cancer, and other terminal illnesses. RAW NOTES: Sabal Pipeline Public Meeting Government Building 222 Pine Avenue 10 am It is a packed house! The heavy rains this morning were obviously not a deterrent to concerned citizens. Mayor Hubbard introduced City Commissioners, School Board members, and local elected officials. FERC will speak about environmental impact... Citizens want project moved to a less invasive location. County Atty Spencer Lee brought everyone up to speed on history. Ed Gonzales (project director for Sabal Trail) spoke first. Introduced members of his project. Facilities projected to be in service by 2020/2021. Construction projected to begin by 2016. Ed pointed out existing pipelines already in County. (3 others) Existing compressor station for Sonat pipeline. Ed used overhead projections to illustrate path of proposed and existing pipelines. Ed spoke a lot about following existing corridors. QUESTION: Discussing land owner permission... how exactly does that play out? Jen...permission to do surveys/then imminent domain kicks in. 4900 ft directional drill angled approx 50 ft beneath the Flint river. Look into Sasser alternative and Greenlaw alternative. Sasser option ultimately would run east along Gillionville Road. COMPRESSOR STATIONS Approx 20000 hp (!) (additional hp in 2021) If moved out of proposed site, threaten to need a second station/additional pipes. Compressor site is HUGE. It is a monster in Jens back yard. You should see the slide. But dont worry...they plan to plant a tree fence. Noise regs...required not to exceed 55 decibels at nearby designated receptors. AIR QUALITY Emissions must be within federal/state regulations. GA will require ongoing monitoring and reporting to ensure levels are in keeping with Sabals projections. Basically, the compressor station will add .4% to existing levels. Natural gas turbines will be responsible for emissions. Rep tells us the emissions will be at 50% of allowed limits. (Had to leave briefly to move car from 1 hour parking to top floor of parking deck. Still gross outside.) SAFETY Question asked about PCBs...shot down by Jeff Sinyard. Therell be no questions and answers at this time. FERC representative (John Peconom from Washington DC) took the podium... He asked the room how many people, prior to the pipeline issue, had heard of the Federal Environmental Regulatory Commission. Almost everyone raised their hand. He seemed surprised. At this point, Sabal is in the pre-filing stage...application for project has not been submitted to FERC yet. John was asked to be here by Sabal to help inform public about the process through local meetings. FERC sent certified letters to all affected landowners to make them aware of public forums. Jen received her letter the DAY AFTER the first public meeting. Pre-filing comments and communications are all available as a matter of public record. QUESTION: Where do we go to access this public record? ANSWER: ferc.gov Citizens can subscribe to e-mail list to get updates as they are posted. Sabal Trail Project is PF14-1-000 (Docket No.) VERY IMPORTANT! Community leader, Nora Hall, introduced at this time. Asked those opposed to pipeline to raise their hands. Nearly EVERY hand was raised. - Sabal Trail will take peoples private property under threat of eminent domain for private profit. - Sabal Trail will destroy invaluable agricultural areas, hunting lands, fish habitat, wildlife, wetlands, and forest. - Pipeline will not benefit Georgia citizens - all of the natural gas will be used in Florida or exported for profit. - The pipeline is not needed. Energy demand is decreasing and energy efficiency and renewable energy can meet any additional demand. - Natural gas pipelines are not safe. Explosions and fires repeatedly have caused extensive property damage, personal injury, and death including millions of dollars of damage by Spectra Energy, one of Sabal Trails owners. - Sabal Trails preferred route unjustifiably runs through the most populated area of southwest Georgia and the poorest region in the state. - Sabal Trails preferred route runs through miles of unstable karst terrain and sinkhole-prone areas resulting in a high danger of pipeline collapse, explosion, fire, and contamination of drinking water supplies. - Sabal Trails preferred compressor station site is unjustly located in a populated African American residential neighborhood and will pollute Dougherty Countys air. While typing the above, several local community leaders took the podium and chastised FERC, Gonzales, and local officials Mayor Hubbard and Jeff Sinyard for letting things get to this point. Much love from local citizens at this point, sounding like church up in here! Casey Pollock texted me to let me know hed arrived. Good on him for coming out! Pipeline runs through water treatment plant (according to Sabal)... In fact, it is our local water supply. If pipeline is compromised, 70,000 local citizens water supply will be contaminated. Carcinogens release are known to increase risk of cancer, leukemia, and other terminal conditions. Sabal and FERC representatives, basically, got their asses handed to them today. I look forward to seeing how this translates in local media coverage. It was righteous.
Posted on: Mon, 29 Sep 2014 18:54:51 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015