LETTER
Supervisors: Read Your Own Report, Ditch Sewer Plan
December 8, 2014
DEAR EDITOR,
I have sent the following letter to the Board of Supervisors:
Dear Northampton County Board of Supervisors,
In considering the need for a central sewer system, I’d like you to study the attached report, produced by Northampton County. You’ve probably heard before that Northampton County is losing population. The attached report illustrates how the county population has declined steadily from 18,565 people in the 1930 census to just over 12,000 today (see Figures 3.2 and 3.3 in the attached report). We currently have less people in our county than in any time in the past century. We are nearing the point where we will have lost 50% of our population. This trend is predicted to continue for the forseeable future. Projections going out to 2040 predict a continued decline in population (see Table 3.3). [CLICK to download report.]
Population density has a direct bearing on the ability of an area to treat sewage effectively with septic systems as opposed to centralized sewer systems. “On June 28, 2013, EPA released a model program for onsite wastewater treatment systems in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to help states more effectively prevent nutrients from entering the Bay from onsite or septic systems, which will improve water quality. When properly designed, sited and maintained, decentralized systems like septic systems can treat wastewater effectively and protect surface water and groundwater.” (http://water.epa.gov/
The EPA also “concluded in its 1997 Response to Congress that “adequately managed decentralized wastewater systems are a cost-effective and long-term option for meeting public health and water quality goals, particularly in less densely populated areas.” (http://water.epa.gov/
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When Hurt and Proffitt held their public hearing in the Cheriton firehouse I asked them if they had ever designed a sewer system for an area with a declining population. They were unable to answer that question. Similarly, when Bob Panek, acting as Chairman of the PSA, was asked about the cost per person given this shrinking population, his answer was, “Per capita cost is an interesting metric, but we do not believe it is appropriate for evaluating the proposed project” (page 3, http://www.co.northampton.va.
It is very important to keep in mind our drinking water comes from a sole source aquifer. As long as much of the county is on septic systems, the effluent from those systems serves to recharge the aquifer and maintain our water supply. If sewage is diverted to a central treatment facility and the discharge pumped into the Bay, as in the case of the Cape Charles wastewater treatment plant, our aquifer does not get recharged and we may eventually run out of water.
I think it is time we consider the cost to our citizens, as well as the ability of a less complicated system to adequately serve our, and our environment’s, needs.
Thank you for you attention to this matter.
DAVID BOYD
Tower Hill
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