One Last Option: Abandon Route 13 Sewer Plans

(EDITOR’S NOTE: The following report is reprinted by permission from the January 2015 issue of ShoreLine, the Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore newsletter.)

CBES STAFF REPORT

January 5, 2014

The Eastern Shore of Virginia Public Service Authority, after recently giving itself authority to contract for the $2.4 million sewer pipeline from the Route 13 Cheriton area to the Cape Charles wastewater plant, was given yet more directions from the Northampton County Board of Supervisors. Board Chairman Larry LeMond, representing District 2, which includes Cheriton, has on more than one occasion said that he wanted to see all the optons for service to that area. But the PSA has provided engineering information on only one option – piping sewage to the Cape Charles treatment plant.

The Supervisors recently approved $10,000 for another engineering study and requested that the PSA provide figures for construction and costs to pipe sewage to the nearby Bayview system, which is operated by the county. The engineering for the Bayview option, which may well be a less expensive alternative, will be done by Hurt and Proffitt, a Lynchburg firm – the same firm which has in-hand the PSA’s multi-million-dollar projected contract for the Cape Charles option.

Even though the Board of Supervisors has requested that all options be brought to the table by the PSA, there are at least two more alternatives for which engineering and cost estimates have not been submitted. First, at least 10 years ago research was done on a stand-alone, on-site wastewater treatment system often used in rural commercial areas, especially where there are few users in a small locale. These small, but expandable plants are usually funded and maintained either by the users themselves, or by a locality’s public works department.

A recent EPA report has stated that small, decentralized sewer systems, including septic and alternative systems, are an effective and efficient way to protect water quality where population density is small: “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 . . . . 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/infrastructure/septic/index.cfm)

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The EPA also concluded in another report 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/infrastructure/septic/index.cfm)

And there is one last option: abandon commercial wastewater treatment for the Cape Charles intersection project altogether. There are reportedly as few as five committed participants – and all are currently served by their own on-site facilities.

[CBES] will continue to report on the PSA’s actions and the Board of Supervisors directions, and will relay information and documents as they become available.