The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will hold a public hearing Sept. 25 from 6-10 p.m. at the Caroline County Community Services Center (17202 Richmond Turnpike Milford, V.A.).
Prior to the hearing, an informational briefing will be held from 5:30-6 p.m. The public hearing concerns the draft permit from DEQ that would allow the county to construct a water intake facility on Tidewater Trail along the Rappahannock River and to withdraw 13.9 million gallons of raw water per day from the river. The water would then be transported 35 miles to the Carmel Church area of the county.
The county’s board of supervisors voted in June to condemn 11 acres of a farmer’s land and exercise eminent domain on the property and build the facility. An attorney for the farmer filed a motion recently to invalidate the Certificate of Take filed by the county.
The notice for the public hearing states that the Caroline Department of Public Utilities applied for a new permit to install a water withdrawal intake structure on the south bank of the Rappahannock and transfer raw water to a proposed water treatment plant in Carmel Church, which will connect to a new distribution system as well as to parts of the existing distribution system.
Press the Issue
To submit a written comment on the public hearing, send postal mail to: Allison Major; Central Office, 1111 E. Main Street, Richmond, Va. 23219 or email [email protected] by Oct. 11.
It was also noted that permanent impacts associated with the project include 1,400 square feet of open water and the conversion of 1,174 square feet of palustrine forested to palustrine emergent wetland. No compensation is required by the DEQ for those impacts.
DEQ’s preliminary decision is to issue the permit, but the agency is holding the public hearing based on “significant interest raised by the community.”
There was a previous public comment period from May 18 to June 18.
“Based on staff analysis, the commenters met the regulatory threshold for convening a public hearing for this surface water withdrawal permit action,” the public hearing notice stated.
The DEQ accepts written comment by hand-delivery, email or postal mail. Written comments are being accepted through Oct. 11 and must include the person’s name, address or email address and a brief informal statement about how the proposal would affect them. Comments can be mailed to: Allison Major; Central Office, 1111 E. Main Street, Richmond, Va. 23219. Major can also be reached at 804/698-4087 or by emailing [email protected].
