Sabal Trail violations FDEP assured us would not happen are happening

Already under the Withlacoochee River in Georgia there’s been a frac-out and a sinkhole at a drilling site, upstream from the Suwannee River in Florida, under which FDEP told us it couldn’t happen:

Lisa Prather, sole FDEP witness Well, the Suwannee River crossing doesn’t, in fact, have any impacts to an outstanding Florida water….”

“Well, any work within, or could have adverse effects on OFW, is considered. In this case, we determine that there would be no impacts to the OFW.

Apparently not only FDEP’s sole witness Lisa Prather believed Sabal Trail; according to a video yesterday by Cody Suggs at the Suwannee River, Sabal Trail’s own workers seem to believe their company’s propaganda.

Much more about WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP is on the WWALS website, including videos and transcripts of the landowners who also tried to warn FDEP that sinkholes happen like they already have including under at least two public roads in Suwannee County, Florida. And more about what already happened is on the WWALS website, plus things you can do to stop this $3 billion dollar fracked methane boondoggle.

For example, you may want to ask the permitting agencies some of the questions WWALS asked, including this one:

Which of FERC, FDEP, GA-EPD, USACE, SRWMD are working to protect the health, welfare and safety of the communities surrounding this pipeline and how are they doing that?

Given that I asked them for a prompt answer and two weeks later have gotten no answer at all, it sure looks like we the people will have to find and report violations and use other methods to stop this pipeline.

The transcript questions quoted below are by WWALS attorneys William R. Wohlsifer and Leighanne Boone, whom we highly recommend.

-jsq

You can join this fun and work by becoming a WWALS member today!

Filed with FERC 28 November 2016 as Accession Number: 20161128-5230, “WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. comments on the Sabal Trail violations FDEP assured us would not happen are happening under CP15-17.”


WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc.
the WATERKEEPER® Alliance Affiliate for the upper
Suwannee, Withlacoochee, and Alapaha Rivers
a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charity
PO Box 88, Hahira, GA 31632
850-290-2350
wwalswatershed@gmail.com
www.wwals.net

November 28, 2016

To:

Mike Fuller
Resource Management
Environmental Scientist II
MJF@srwmd.org
Noah Valenstein
Executive Director
NDV@srwmd.org
SRWMD

Lisa Prather
Florida Department of
Environmental Protection
Central District Office 3319
Maguire Blvd, Suite 232
Orlando, Florida 32803-3767
lisa.prather@dep.state.fl.us

Georgia Department of
Natural Resources
Environmental Protection
Division
Watershed Protection Branch
Attn: James A. (Jac) Capp
Branch Chief
2 Martin Luther King, Jr. Drive
Atlanta, Georgia 30334
404-463-4911
James.Capp@dnr.state.ga.us

John Peconom
Environmental Project
Manager
Office of Energy Projects
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission
888 First Street, N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20426
John.Peconom@ferc.gov

Cc:

Brooke A. Hall
Enforcement Project
Manager
U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers
Jacksonville District
Regulatory Division
904-232-1061
Brooke.A.Hall
@usace.army.mil

Florida:
U.S.A.C.E.,
Jacksonville District Reg. Div.
Jacksonville Permits Section
Attn: Mr. Mark R. Evans
Post Office Box 4970
Jacksonville,Florida 32232
(904) 232-2028
Mark.R.Evans
@saj02.usace.army.mil

Georgia:
Commander, U.S.A.C.E.,
Savannah District
Attn: Mr. Terry C. Kobs
1104 N. Westover Blvd. Unit 9
Albany, Georgia 31707
(229)430-8566
terry.c.kobs@usace.army.mil

Alabama:
U.S.A.C.E.
Mobile District Reg. Div.
Montgomery Field Office
Attn: Mr. James S. Cherry II
605 Maple Street
Building 1429 Room 105
Maxwell AFB, AL 36112-6017
(334) 953-2172
cesam-pa@usace.army.mil

FDEP Permit Number: 0328333-001

FERC Docket Number: CP15-17 USACE Application Numbers: SAS-2013-00942 (GA), SAJ-2013-03030 (FL), SAM-2014-00655-JSC (AL)

Applicant: Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC, Attn Mr. George McLachlan;

Re: Sabal Trail violations FDEP assured us would not happen are happening

Dear Mr. Fuller, Ms. Prather, Mr. Capp, Ms. Hall, Mr. Peconom et al.,

What we were assured in sworn testimony by Florida DEP would not happen in the Outstanding Florida Waters of the Suwannee, Santa Fe, and Withlacoochee (south) Rivers in Florida has happened under the Suwannee River tributary Withlacoochee River in Georgia: a Sabal Trail horizontal directional drilling (HDD) pilot hole blew drilling mud up through a frac-out in the same kind of karst limestone geology into the river bottom. Sabal Trail has also been caught withdrawing water from the Santa Fe River, and now possibly also from the Suwannee River, with associated petroleum sheen.

I ask your prompt investigation of these anomalies and responses to the included questions.

Sworn testimony in WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP October 19-21, 2016

Sabal Trail in at least one previous filing with FERC has claimed all issues WWALS raised were thoroughly litigated in WWALS v Sabal Trail & FDEP.1 Yet Sabal Trail is now causing effects we were assured by FDEP and by Sabal Trail in that hearing would not occur.

1 “Sabal Trail Transmission, LLC submits its Response to Letter from U.S. Representative Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. under CP15-17.” FERC Accession Number 20160607-5134,
http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20160607-5134

The one witness for FDEP, Lisa Prather, says it outright at Transcript III pages 348 and 349, also in the WWALS videos:

No impacts, testified Lisa Prather

Well, the Suwannee River crossing doesn’t, in fact, have any impacts to an outstanding Florida water….”

“Well, any work within, or could have adverse effects on OFW, is considered. In this case, we determine that there would be no impacts to the OFW.

I have added boldface emphasis to the transcript extracts below. The full transcripts are online here:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/soh8fxzubhh6sua/AABXIHIhEOFhXItEG_TKSNJca?dl=0

The WWALS video of this part of Ms. Prather’s testimony is here:

/2015/10/25/videos-wwals-witnesses-in-day-2-wwals-v-sabal-trail-fdep-2015-10-20/#Lisa-Prather-WWALS-Witness-part-2-DOAH-15-4975-day-2-2015-10-20

Transcript III page 347:


.4. . . .Q. . Are you familiar with the reference of
.5. .outstanding Florida waters?
.6. . . .A. . Yes.
.7. . . .Q. . And what’s your understanding of the use of
.8. .that term?
.9. . . .A. . It’s a classification of our water bodies
10. .under 62302.. It provides special protection for
11. .those.
12. . . .Q. . Is Suwannee River an outstanding Florida
13. .water?
14. . . .A. . It’s an outstanding Florida water body,
15. .yes.
16. . . .Q. . Any other outstanding waterways in the line
17. .of the pipeline, proposed line?
18. . . .A. . The Santa Fe River and the Withlacoochee
19. .South.
20. . . .Q. . You are familiar with 63-302.700, Florida
21. .Administrative Code, right?
22. . . .A. . Yes.
23. . . .Q. . It reads in paragraph 1:. It shall be the
24. .Department’s policy to afford the highest protection
25. .to Outstanding Florida Waters and Outstanding

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS VOLUME III
WWALS WATERSHED COALITION vs. SABAL TRAIL
October 20, 2015
348

.1. .National Resource Waters.. No degradation of water
.2. .quality, other than that allowed in Subsection
.3. .62-4.242(2) and (3), F.A.C., is to be permitted in
.4. .Outstanding Florida Waters and Outstanding National
.5. .Resource Waters, respectively, notwithstanding any
.6. .other Department rules that allow water quality
.7. .lowering.
.8. . . . . . My first question with regard to those two
.9. .outstanding Florida waters, Santa Fe and Suwannee,
10. .are there any Department rules that allow water
11. .quality lowering?
12. . . .A. . There was no allowances for this project to
13. .allow for water quality degradation.
14. . . .Q. . In that you say that this permit was
15. .handled the same as all other permits, is there a
16. .protocol to handle permits that meet the definition
17. .of 62-302.700 differently within the Department?
18. . . .A. . Well, they are handled differently as they
19. .relate to water quality water standards, which water
20. .quality standards apply to which water body you’re
21. .crossing.
22. . . .Q. . So was this then, in fact, treated
23. .differently, the Sabal Trail?

24. . . .A. . Well, the Suwannee River crossing doesn’t, 25. .in fact, have any impacts to an outstanding Florida

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS VOLUME III
WWALS WATERSHED COALITION vs. SABAL TRAIL
October 20, 2015
349

.1. .water because the directional drill commences in
.2. .uplands and terminates in uplands.. So there are no
.3. .surface water impacts at that crossing that would
.4. .affect the outstanding Florida water.

.5. . . .Q. . And that’s the scope of the concern?
.6. . . .A. . At the Suwannee.
.7. . . .Q. . Okay.. At any outstanding Florida water,
.8. .including the Suwannee, the scope of water quality
.9. .concern is only up to the point of drilling?

10. . . .A. . Well, any work within, or could have
11. .adverse effects on OFW, is considered.. In this
12. .case, we determine that there would be no impacts to
13. .the OFW
.

Presiding judge Bram D. E. Canter said he understood Ms. Prather said there would be “no degradation”. See Transcript III, pages 350 and 351:

Judge Bram D.E. Canter

22. . . . . . THE COURT:. Well, she’s answered the
23. . . .question.. She said if it’s outstanding Florida.
24. . . .Water you cannot allow any degradation of the
25. . . .ambient water quality, and then she explained

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS VOLUME III
WWALS WATERSHED COALITION vs. SABAL TRAIL
October 20, 2015
351

.1. . . .why they thought there would be no degradation.
.2. . . . . . That’s a special requirement applicable to
.3. . . .OFWs, and she told you how they thought they met
.4. . . .it.

Not minimal, not a small leak, “no impacts” and “no degradation” of the Suwannee River.

Ms. Prather also took responsibility on page 375:

.2. . . .Q. . When you’re drilling under a river, are you
.3. .likely to adversely affect the navigation of that
.4. .river?
.5. . . .A. . No.
.6. . . .Q. . Are you likely to create shoaling of the
.7. .river?
.8. . . .A. . No, you’re not.
.9. . . .Q. . Are you likely to adversely affect fishing
10. .in the river?
11. . . .A. . No.
12. . . .Q. . Are you likely to affect recreational
13. .values of the river?
14. . . .A. . No.
15. . . .Q. . So in reviewing these applications for
16. .permits, you rely on your own professional judgment,
17. .19 years of experience, to evaluate them?
18. . . .A. . Yes.
19. . . .Q. . And you rely on other experts in the field
20. .to evaluate them?
21. . . .A. . Yes.
22. . . .Q. . Ultimately, is it you that makes the
23. .decision about whether or not reasonable assurance
24. .have been provided?
25. . . .A. . Yes.

FDEP’s one witness, Lisa Prather, also acknowledged that Sabal Trail moved off the Withlacoochee River in Florida due to karst geology concerns. This is the same river Sabal Trail bored under in Georgia and blew drilling mud up from a pilot hole into the river bottom. See Transcript III, pages 226-227,
/2015/10/22/videos-sabal-trails-case-in-wwals-v-sabal-trail-fdep-2015-10-19/#LisaPrather-DEP-Witness-Testimony-DOAH-Hearing-15-004975

24. . . Q.. .Were you aware of any specific karst, a/k/a
25. limestone geology, in that Suwannee River crossing?

TRANSCRIPT OF· PROCEEDINGS VOLUME II
WWALS WATERSHED COALITION vs. SABAL TRAIL
October 19, 2015
227

.1. . . A.. .Yes.
.2. . . Q.. .And you believe that that mitigation plan
.3. will take care of that?
.4. . . A.. .I relied on our experts at the FGS to make
.5. that determination.. That is outside my scope.

.6. . . Q.. .And why did the department decide to avoid
.7. the Withlacoochee and have the crossing over the
.8. Suwannee?
.9. . . A.. .Sabal Trail had made that determination, not
10. the department.
11. . . Q.. .Do you know why they made that determination?
12. . . A.. .I think they spoke to that earlier.. They had
13. several design criteria.. I’m sure impacts to karst
14. features were one of those considerations.. I’m not
15. sure of all of the considerations.

Ms. Prather testified she was not familiar with the geophysical report by David Brown, P.G.,2 that was filed with FERC by the Hamilton County, Florida, Board of County Commissioners in their request to move off the Withlacoochee River in Florida, but it cautioned about exactly the kind of problems that have occurred upstream on the same Withlacoochee River in Georgia.

Potential frac-out due to HDD
Cross-section of the proposed HDD crossing of the Withlacoochee River and hypothetical karst features that could result in a hydrofracture (frac-out).

Dennis Price later extended his hearing exhibits into a geological report, filed with FERC.3

3 Sinkhole formation and collapse due to drilling under the Withlacoochee River, by John S. Quarterman, WWALS, 18 October 2014,
/?p=3929
referencing Hydrogeology Report: Sabal Trail methane pipeline crossing of Withlacoochee River, by David Brown, P.G., 22 August 2014,
/wp-content/themes/pianoblack/img//2014/08/HydrogeologyXreport.pdf

2 “Geological determinations about Sabal Trail and Suwannee River,” by Dennis Price P.G.,25 October 2015,
/?p=18117
FERC accession number 20151027-5034,
http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?document_id=14391904

Sabal Trail called as a witness contractor Greg Jones, who first denied there could be any leakage up into a river from a bore hole, and then admitted there could be. See Transcript VI, page 688:
/2015/10/27/videos-more-wwals-witnesses-rebuttal-spectra-speaks-and-w wals-counsel-summation-in-day-3-wwals-v-sabal-trail-fdep-2015-10-21/#Greg-Jones-Sabal-Trail-Rebuttal-DOAH-Hearing-15-004975-Day-3-2015-10-21

.5. . . Q.. .And, again, from your testimony in this
.6. report, you acknowledge that there will be a certain
.7. amount of leakage into the river from drilling fluid?
.8. . . A.. .I do not acknowledge that.
.9. . . Q.. .You don’t acknowledge that?
10. . . . . .”Therefore, if drilling fluid is forced under
11. pressure upgradient through an active conduit under
12. the river, it is likely to be forced out the conduit
13. and upward through the river bottom.”
14. . . A.. .The key word there is “if,” if it is.. There
15. is a chance that water will — or drilling fluid will
16. come out of the bore hole, because the bore hole is
17. through a karst region under the river.. It is by no
18. means certain that it will, but there is a possibility
19. that it will.

A third independent practicing geologist, Peter J. Schreuder, later also wrote a report indicating that there was more than just a possibility that there would be leaks through the karst geology. WWALS filed this third report with FERC,4 so FERC knows about this further evidence that leaks are likely to occur, as they have in fact done.

4 Directional Horizontal Drilling (HDD) Under the Suwannee River at Suwannee River State Park, Hydrogeologic Issues of Concern, by Peter J. Schreuder P.G., filed by WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. under CP15-17.” FERC Accession Number 20160708-5089,
http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?document_id=14476442
/?p=20976

Sabal Trail also called as witness Spectra Energy executive Alan Lambeth, who said “there are no voids”. See Transcript VI, page 732:
/2015/10/27/videos-more-wwals-witnesses-rebuttal-spectra-speaks-and-wwals-counsel-summation-in-day-3-wwals-v-sabal-trail-fdep-2015-10-21/#Alan-Lambeth-Sabal-Trail-Rebuttal-DOAH-Hearing-15-004975-Day-3-2015-10-21

Spectra Energy executive Alan Lambeth in the middle of nowhere

.3. . . Q.. .I want to get back to the HDD crossings at
.4. the Suwannee and the Santa Fe River.
.5. . . . . .In your opinion, do you believe the pipeline
.6. can be installed underneath the Suwannee and Santa Fe
.7. Rivers using HDD?
.8. . . A.. .I am very confident we can do that.. We have
.9. installed much more difficult crossings.
10. . . . . .Will the karst possibly make things a little
11. more tricky during construction?. Yeah, that — but
12. HDD — all HDDs can be a little difficult for one
13. reason or another.. The karst condition is one minor
14. risk.

15. . . . . .The core borings we did actually found no
16. voids..
I won’t say there aren’t, but
17. . . Q.. .The core borings for these crossings?
18. . . A.. .Yes.. That’s correct.. Yeah, I reviewed them
19. myself and looked those over.. There are no voids.

Actually, Sabal Trail’s own test drilling reports said drilling mud was lost at both the Withlacoochee and Suwannee RIvers.

Further evidence of voids, cracks, and crevices, is in the testimony of WWALS expert witness Dennis Price P.G., Transcript III, starting page 386:
/2015/10/25/videos-wwals-witnesses-in-day-2-wwals-v-sabal-trail-fdep-2015-10-20/#Dennis-Price-WWALS-Witness-DOAH-15-4975-day-2-2015-10-20
/2015/10/25/videos-wwals-witnesses-in-day-2-wwals-v-sabal-trail-fdep-2015-10-20/#Dennis-Price-WWALS-Witness-Part-2-cross-examination-DOAH-15-4975-day-2-2015-10-20

For example page 398:

13 ….And so you can be
14. .sure, because I’ve drilled in them, that some of
15. .these sinkholes in these areas are 300 feet deep or
16. . the effects of them.
. They filled in, and you can
17. .drill through them and see the sediments.. There’s
18. .no limestone.. I’ve done that several times here on
19. .some of the big lakes that are sinkhole lakes.
20. . . . . . So that’s what I’m saying here.. I’m saying
21. .that this is created by karst activity.. The karst
22. .activity is ongoing.. Those photographs in there
23. .that we took on the day that we went out there
24. .showing active sinkholes right along the lineation
25. .of their pipeline route.. And I think it’s very easy

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS VOLUME III
WWALS WATERSHED COALITION vs. SABAL TRAIL
October 20, 2015
397

.1. .to identify, especially if they’re active.. There
.2. .was actually a couple where — you know, you have
.3. .water seeping and then going and then going down
.4. .into the ground right near by, trickle, but that’s
.5. .what it is.. It’s found its way into the aquifer.

And Volume III, page 405:

.3. .BY MS. BOONE:
.4. . . .Q. . Specifically, with a pipeline coming
.5. .through this area, what specific concerns do you
.6. .have?

.7. . . .A. . Specifically, removing clay in this karst
.8. .area is the most significant thing about causing
.9. .sinkholes; storm water ponds; and drilling
10. .horizontally.. I would admit I have no experience
11. .drilling horizontally.. I can tell you it’s got to
12. .be a million times harder than drilling vertically.
13. . . . . . Drilling vertically, in these areas, is
14. .difficult because of the movement, shifting of the
15. .rocks.. You get your bit stuck.. And people who
16. .the water well drillers, obviously, have hammers to
17. .pound their caisson with.. So this thing is going to
18. .be going horizontally in this spear [sphere] of influence, of
19. .karst activity with — and pumping fluids and you’re
20. .drilling fluids in there.. It’s going to be washing
21. .your clays away.. Washing your sands away.. And then
22. .we get into the cavities.. It’s going to flood
23. .cavities.. You know, things
24. . . . . . I can tell you what else might happen.. As
25. .you finish up and you’re dragging that caisson back

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS VOLUME III
WWALS WATERSHED COALITION vs. SABAL TRAIL
October 20, 2015
406

.1. .through, rocks are going to shift, and you’re going
.2. .to be stuck on those rocks.. It happens all the
.3. .time.. It’s not even a once in a while thing.. It’s
.4. .a very, very common thing to get your bit stuck and
.5. .your caisson stuck trying to withdraw.
.6. . . . . . And you’re doing this in this particular
.7. .area where things are mobile to begin with.
.8. .Something may not happen right now, but sooner or
.9. .later something will happen.. It can’t help it.
10. .It’s impossible along this route.. You’re now going
11. .to be encountering problems with karst activity.
12. . . . . . To me, looking at the map on the other
13. .side, this entire pipeline route is conveniently
14. .located in the karst area of Florida.. If you look
15. .at all the drastic maps, which are maps produced by
16. .the water management district, showing where
17. .where close susceptible to groundwater
18. .contamination, they pick a route right through it,
19. .all the way down south.

FDEP previously mapped Sabal Trail’s route through the most vulnerable area of the Floridan Aquifer.5

Sabal Trail through most vulnerable Floridan Aquifer recharge area --FDEP

5 “Florida State Clearinghouse comments on Dockets # PF14-1, et al Notice of Intent to Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement for the Planned Southeast Market Pipelines Project (Sabal Trail and Florida Southeast Connection Projects).” FERC Accession Number: 20140418-5237,
http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20140418-5237

Finally, see the re-rebuttal testimony of WWALS expert witness Dennis Price P.G., pointing out that Sabal Trail’s Karst Mitigation Plan would, in the case of a leak into Falmouth Cathedral Cave System, require filling the cave to the top. See Transcript VI, pages 747 and 748:
/2015/10/27/videos-more-wwals-witnesses-rebuttal-spectra-speaks-and-wwals-counsel-summation-in-day-3-wwals-v-sabal-trail-fdep-2015-10-21/#Dennis-Price-WWALSRebuttal-to-Rebuttal-DOAH-Hearing-15-004975-Day-3-2015-10-21

A significant risk to Falmouth Cathedral Cave System --Dennis Price P.G.

.1. . . . . .MS. BOONE:. And what I am narrowed to again?
.2. . . The grouting?
.3. . . . . .THE COURT:. The idea that there won’t be
-4. . . there’s no — there will not be an adverse effect
.5. . . to the cave system because there’s a large
.6. . . separation, vertical separation between the pipe
.7. . . and the cave system.
.8. WHEREUPON,
.9. . . . . . . . . . . DENNIS PRICE
10. having previously been sworn to tell the truth,
11. testified further upon his or her oath as follows:
12. . . . . . . . . .DIRECT EXAMINATION
13. BY MS. BOONE:
14. . . Q.. .Mr. Price, do you believe that there could be
15. a significant risk to the Falmouth system?
16. . . A.. .Am I understand oath still?
17. . . . . .THE COURT:. Yes.
18. . . Q.. .Yes.
19. . . A.. .I believe that — the characterization of
20. there being 100 feet of sediment on top of the cave
21. system probably isn’t true, based on some elevations
22. that you see here, and that the sands and clays
23. don’t — you know, probably extend down 60 or 70 feet,
24. which makes it somewhat easy to — you know, those are
25. all in — I think that there are sinkholes already

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS· ·Vol. VI
WWALS WATERSHED vs. SABAL TRAIL TRANSMISSION
October 19, 2015
748

.1. occurring on that trace.
.2. . . . . .Falmouth itself is a sinkhole.. There’s
.3. limestone exposed — I’ve been there many times.
.4. There’s limestone exposed in that sinkhole.. So that
.5. limestone is not 100 feet down from the surrounding
.6. elevations.. And so the closer that limestone is to
.7. the surface, the easier it is to have a sinkhole
.8. occur.. And there are many, many stormwater ponds that
.9. are only dug four, five, six, seven feet deep that
10. cause changes to occur and sinkholes to occur.
11. . . . . .And if one did fall in, if it did — and I’m
12. not saying it would — if it did fall into that cavern
13. system, their karst mitigation plan couldn’t readily
14. resolve that problem, if their solution is that you’re
15. pumping grout into that cavern, because — you know,
16. that cavern has been dove before.. So it’s fairly
17. large and extensive.. The grout would essentially plug
18. that conduit system.. It is the main conduit system,
19. and it would block the flow.. And yes, it would go out
20. into the surrounding limestone and find its way, but
21. it would be very slow.
22. . . . . .So the actual flow to the spring could
23. definitely slow down because of a blockage of that
24. magnitude, because the only way to actually stop the
25. sinkhole from widening and widening and widening is to

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS· ·Vol. VI
WWALS WATERSHED vs. SABAL TRAIL TRANSMISSION
October 19, 2015
749


.1. make sure that the limestone cavern is filled all the
.2. way to the very top of it so there’s no more room for
.3. anything to fall in.
.4. . . . . .So that’s my short answer to that question.
.5. . . . . .MS. BOONE:. Thank you.. And I believe with
.6. . . the narrow limits I’ve been given, that’s about
.7. . . all I can ask.. So thank you.
.8. . . . . .THE COURT:. Any cross?
.9. . . . . .MR. RILEY:. Nothing, Your Honor.
10. . . . . .MR. CHISOLM:. Nothing.
11. . . . . .THE COURT:. Thank you, sir.

Questions from WWALS

Given that FDEP assured us all in sworn testimony that mud drilling frac-outs and sinkholes would not occur, yet a frac-out did occur in the same type of geology at the Withlacoochee River in Georgia,6 and sinkholes are occurring in Florida, for example in CR 49 in Suwannee County:

Who specifically at FERC has read and reviewed the documents cited herein?

Who specifically at USACE has read and reviewed the documents cited herein?

Who specifically at GA-EPD has read and reviewed the documents cited herein?

Who specifically at FDEP has read and reviewed the documents cited herein?

Who specifically at SRWMD has read and reviewed the documents cited herein?

What is FERC doing to detect such frac-outs, sinkholes, or other violations?

What is USACE doing to detect such frac-outs, sinkholes, or other violations?

What is GA-EPD doing to detect such frac-outs, sinkholes, or other violations?

What is FDEP doing to detect such frac-outs, sinkholes, or other violations?

What is SRWMD doing to detect such frac-outs, sinkholes, or other violations?

What is FERC doing to stop such frac-outs, sinkholes, or other violations?

What is USACE doing to stop such frac-outs, sinkholes, or other violations?

What is GA-EPD doing to stop such frac-outs, sinkholes, or other violations?

What is FDEP doing to stop such frac-outs, sinkholes, or other violations?

What is SRWMD doing to stop such frac-outs, sinkholes, or other violations?

Which of FERC, FDEP, GA-EPD, USACE, SRWMD are working to protect the health, welfare and safety of the communities surrounding this pipeline and how are they doing that?

6 “Sabal Trail drilling mud into Withlacoochee River and two unauthorized yards: Supplemental Information of WWALS Watershed Coalition, Inc. under CP15-17.” FERC Accession Number: 20161109-5153,
http://elibrary.ferc.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?document_id=14510971

Prompt response requested

Waiting for Sabal Trail’s next biweekly report is not prompt and is not adequate for a response, because according to Sabal Trail’s schedule it could be finished with the relevant activities, especially at the Suwannee River, before that time.

WWALS requests prompt written responses to all these questions, preferably via email.

Thank you for your attention to these questions. I await your prompt reply.

Sincerely,
[/s]
John S. Quarterman, President

WWALS Watershed Coalition advocates for conservation and stewardship
of the Withlacoochee, Willacoochee, Alapaha, Little, and Upper Suwannee River watersheds
in south Georgia and north Florida
through education, awareness, environmental monitoring, and citizen activities