Residents in Florida, and hopefully many from Standing Rock (including the Vets), are starting to rally behind the next big environmental cause: stopping the Sabal Trail Transmission pipeline from slicing through Alabama, Georgia, and North Central Florida.
Many families in these states are being impacted (by losing their land or living dangerously close) by the $3 billion project that experts and activists agree isn’t necessary: other pipelines, already in existence, aren’t running at full capacity.
There’s also “serious environmental justice issues” with Sabal Trail, as well as potential health problems that residents in its vicinity could encounter. In fact, four Georgia Democratic congressmen wrote a letter written to the Federal Environmental Regulation Commission last October, to express their concerns:
“Sabal Trail’s proposed pipeline and compressor station will further burden an already overburdened and disadvantaged African-American community in this area. Sabal Trail’s proposed route will go through Albany and Dougherty County and will run through low-income African-American neighborhoods. The proposed industrial compressor station facility would sit right in the middle of an African-American residential neighborhood comprised of two large subdivisions, a mobile home park, schools, recreational facilities, and the 5,000-plus member Mount Zion Baptist Church, a predominantly African-American congregation.”
While this is nothing new, it’s still not ok.
And remember, for Floridians, the danger to citizens, the environment, water, etc. is courtesy of our governor- Rick Scott.
The Miami Herald reports that in 2013 Scott owned $53,000 in Spectra Energy stock, the same year he signed into law two bills designed to speed up permitting for the Sabal Trail Transmission. The stock was part of a blind trust, but members of the trust were close friend’s of Scott.
The companies behind the project are Spectra Energy Corp, NextEra Energy, Inc., and Duke Energy; the natural gas will be provided to Florida Power and Light, owned by NextEra and Duke.
How safe is it?
Activists and environmentalists are worried that more damage would be done than is presented in the Environmental Impact Statement because it does not include sinkholes. To drive the point home, the Sierra Club and other groups took elected officials on a site visit to the Suwannee River State Park, where sinkholes already exist and would be exacerbated by a pipeline.
And while Spectra Energy claims that their incident rate is half that of the industry average, according to the Florida Bulldog, a public interest investigative news outlet, Spectra has recorded 25 incidents causing $12 million in damage over the last decade- most recently, in April.
The land in question
Not all the land was free and available for the taking. So, thanks to a 2005 Supreme Court decision, the FERC was able to grant the Sabal Trail Transmission a “certificate of public convenience and necessity”: or eminent domain, a right usually reserved for government projects.
From the Tallahassee Democrat article:
“People don’t take lightly to private companies being given eminent domain power, and they certainly don’t take lightly to a Texas company condemning land in Georgia when there’s no benefit for anybody in Georgia,” said Mark Woodall, the legislative chairman of Sierra Club Georgia.
In all, Sabal Trail has filed 160 eminent domain lawsuits, including one against the Bell brothers. While they countersued on the grounds of trespassing (they found men out surveying their land), the Bells lost. And after more back and forth in settlements, Spectra sued the Bells for $47,000 in court fees.
The brothers aren’t sure how they are going to pay for it but in the mean time they are hoping to raise a bit via GoFundMe. If you gave ANY money toward Standing Rock, please consider helping these brothers out who are not only losing their land but having to pay for trying to stand up against a bully.
What can be done?
All hope is not lost- yet. SpectraBusters and the Sierra Club have both been heavily involved in fighting the pipeline.
In fact, events are planned for Dec. 29 in St. Petersburg, Jacksonville, and Orlando and a mass civil disobedience is planned for Jan. 17 at Suwannee River State Park, near the spot the pipeline will pass under the river.
And so, it’s time to get to work again because the environment is already vulnerable and fragile and Spectra Energy began pushing pipe under the Santa Fe and began drilling under the Suwannee this week, likely because they are starting to feel the pressure of attention.
Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, a Sierra Club organizer, wants people to know that while there are similarities between Standing Rock and Sabal, there are also big differences; unlike the Dakota Access pipeline, permits have already been issued so environmental groups are now focused on legal challenges to reverse that.
From the Tallahassee Democrat article:
“THEY ARE OUT THERE DIGGING IN THE DIRT TRYING TO LAY DOWN PIPE AS FAST AS THEY CAN BECAUSE THE PUBLIC IS NOW GETTING WIND OF IT,” SHE SAID. “THEY KNOW WE ARE GOING TO BE DEMONSTRATING AND PROTESTING AND RALLYING WRITING LETTERS TO CONGRESS, WHO WE FEEL ARE ULTIMATELY IN CHARGE OF FERC.”
Activists are writing letters to members of Congress to put pressure on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to stop the project for further review. There’s also a federal environmental justice lawsuit in federal court pending against FERC.
In Florida, most of the topography is karst, the crumbly crust of the Floridan aquifer that supplies drinking water to 20 million people in Florida and Georgia and is known for its caverns and sinkholes. In light of that, this pipeline doesn’t make sense and comes with too make risks.
Source: Newsweek and Tallahassee Democrat
