ATLANTA — The Environmental Protection Agency has recommended the Sabal Trail Pipeline be redirected away from the Floridan Aquifer, and that would mean the proposed pipeline would not come through Lowndes County. 

The EPA cited concerns Monday with the karst topography in South Georgia and Florida — topography that makes the area prone to sinkholes.

The EPA also expressed concerns about encroachment on wetlands in the aquifer and impacts to designated conservation areas.

In a strongly-worded letter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Christopher Militscher, chief of the National Environmental Policy Act Program Office, wrote the pipeline would harm the areas in the aquifer.

“The proposed pipeline is expected by the EPA to have significant impacts to karst areas in the State of Georgia and Florida and represents a potential threat to groundwater (and surface waters) resources,” Militscher wrote. “The EPA is requesting that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission develop an alternative route to avoid impacts to the Floridan Aquifer and its sensitive and vulnerable karst terrain.”

The Floridan Aquifer runs through all three states the Sabal Trail Pipeline is proposed to run through — Alabama, Georgia and Florida — and includes the areas of Valdosta and Albany, whose residents have submitted the loudest complaints about the proposed pipeline, specifically a compressor station to pump natural gas through the pipeline.

The EPA’s analysis discovered potential sinkhole hotspots in a number of Georgia counties, including Lowndes.

“The proposed route crosses southeastern Brooks and southwestern Lowndes counties where the Floridan Aquifer’s confining units have been eroded, resulting in increased prevalence of sinkholes in the area,” the analysis says.

The EPA comments were applauded by Dr. Michael Noll, President of Wiregrass Activists for Clean Energy.

“The comments by the EPA are right on target and confirm the concerns thousands of local and regional citizens have expressed,” Noll said. “It is simply insane to even conceive a pipeline project that runs through areas of active Karst topography, crosses several rivers, and runs near cities like Albany.”

Noll said the project serves as a threat to property rights of residents in the three states.

Andrea Grover, director of stakeholder outreach for Sabal Trail, said the group has no comment at this time.

Joe Adgie is a reporter for the Valdosta Daily Times.