Wachapreague Sewer

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Dear Editor:

This letter is regarding the article on the Wachapreague “sanitary” public sewer.

With a new system, the home waste will flow directly — through a connection pipe the residents will pay approximately $5,000 for — into the collection piping (which the town will pay for) and then into the Hampton Roads Sanitation District force main (which the town partially pays for) where it then flows into the HRSD Highway 13 pipeline which transports it to the Onancock plant where it will be treated and from there into Onancock Creek.

Why would HRSD pay for the installation of the major portion of the force main from the town to Highway 13 for only the three or four commercial concerns in the town that have committed “so far” to hook up? They need as many hookups as possible (i.e., the whole town) to make this a viable project.

Of course, they could just raise rates since they will have total control over rate structures after the installation. I might mention that the town and HRSD have the power of eminent domain and that once there is a nearby pipeline system, the townspeople might have no control over whether they sign up or not.

Does anyone have a survey of the locations of the wells and septic tanks and drain fields at each residence, as well as a history of previous wells and septic systems on that property? How many people have experienced wastewater backups? Wachapreague will have higher tides. Explain the effect of them on our septic systems now and in the future, and give examples of this.

Based on a recent study, the problems the town has to prioritize are inadequate cell phone service as well as odor from nearby chicken barns, and one might add potential saltwater intrusion, NOT wastewater treatment. Who has studied subsidence and saltwater intrusion?

Wachapreague is looking for more tourists, however, it seems that until the town and the Accomack County Board of Supervisors push hard for good cell service and perhaps anti-odor scrubbers on the chicken barns, it will be limited as a “growth” tourist destination.

Sandra Beerends,
resident of Franktown and Wachapreague homeowner

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