Standing Rock/Sabal Trail Solidarity Protests–OSFR at ST Crossing on SFR

On Tuesday, Sept. 13, there will be several gatherings in Florida to protest the Sabal Trail gas pipe and to stand in unison with the Standing Rock protectors of the water.

OSFR will host, along with co-hosts Suwannee-St Johns Group Sierra Club and
Sierra Club Organizer Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, a meeting at the US Hwy 129 bridge on the Santa Fe River.  The group will meet at 5:30 pm at the boat ramp and paddle a short distance upriver to the site of the Sabal Trail pipe crossing.

The pipe will be  buried under the riverbed through an area of fragile limestone karst prone to fissures, cracks and sinknoles.  Sabal Trail Transmission has no sound contingency plan to fix any problem which might occur in case they break through into an underground cavern or  void.

OSFR member and Sierra Club organizer Merrillee Malwitz-Jipson, who is the foremost environmental expert on Sabal Trail’s activities in Florida and Georgia, will be on hand to answer any questions about the pipeline, the eminent domain seizures of citizens’ lands and the threats and dangers of the pipeline.

Sabal Trail Transmission has forced itself into Georgia and Florida against huge opposition by hundreds of citizens who are nearly unanimous in opposing the pipeline, which has been shown to be unnecessary as an energy source for Florida.  Along the way they have misrepresented and intentionally omitted facts in their Environmental Impact Study, and when called out on it they have done nothing.  Government agencies have rubber-stamped permit applications without questioning vital errors and overlooked the obvious motive of export.

Agencies which purportedly exist to protect and conserve such as the DEP and the water management agencies do not see any threat and give their blessing.  They also overlook and disregard the false information which environmental groups and municipalities point out to them.

WWALS, based in Georgia, is also sponsoring a protest at the same time on the Suwannee River where the pipeline will cross at that point.  Details can be found at this link. 

This is the site of multple Sabal Trail walks where environmentalists, geologists and authorities have viewed the sinkhole-ridden terrain.

Another protest will be held in Gainesville on the same day at 3:30 near the county commission chambers, at 12 SE 1st St, near University and Main.  See details here.