By Carol Vaughn —
Accomack County officials heard an update Wednesday, Oct. 20, from the Hampton Roads Sanitation District about the Eastern Shore sewage transmission force main project. In the first phase, a transmission force main will be built starting in Nassawadox, according to Phil Hubbard, HRSD project manager.
These will be HRSD’s first facilities on the Eastern Shore.
Hubbard told the Accomack County Board of Supervisors he has been working on the sewer program for the Shore since 2007 with Supervisor Robert Crockett and Accomack County Administrator Mike Mason.
“The reason for Nassawadox is we are going to abandon the treatment plant at the old hospital and we are going to put in a pump station there and then we are going to go all the way to the Onancock treatment plant,” Hubbard said.
From the Nassawadox pump station, the line will go along the railroad right-of-way.
“We’re working with Canonie Atlantic on that particular agreement with Canonie Atlantic to do that,” he said.
Another pump station will be built in Exmore, six miles away.
“We already have an agreement with the town of Exmore,” Hubbard said.
From there, sewage will be pumped on to the north.
Additionally, a force main is planned to be built going from the main line east to two miles from a proposed terminal pump station in Wachapreague, in accordance with HRSD policy, Hubbard said.
Some changes have been made to the original proposed route in the Onley/Onancock area.
“HRSD is going to coordinate with Accomack County to assume the responsibility of all the county’s sanitary sewer facilities. The general manager will work with Mr. Mason and get that agreement taken care of and I’m sure they will bring it before the board for the approval,” Hubbard said.
HRSD received some customer requests from Accomack County, including from the industrial park in Melfa to businesses in Onley.
“What we are planning on doing is intercepting the flow that comes out of the industrial park and our force main is going to go from Nassawadox all the way to Onley,” Hubbard said.
The original plan was to take the force main all the way to the Onancock treatment plant, going through Onley, but the plan has been modified somewhat.
“What we’re going to do is we’re going to do is we’re going to continue down the railway right-of-way all the way to Washington Street in Onley,” he said, noting HRSD has to work through an agreement with the town of Onley.
From a pipe run along Washington Street, sewage will be discharged into a gravity sewer line that goes from around the Truist Bank on Route 13 to the Onancock town line near Fairgrounds Road.
HRSD will rebuild a pump station at Hartman Avenue in Onancock to handle the additional flow.
“HRSD is in the process of working in negotiations with the town of Onancock to take over their collection system and the treatment facility,” Hubbard said.
HRSD also will take over the pump station for Accomack’s northern spur sewer line, which serves businesses along Route 13 in the Onley area.
Earlier plans to bring the sewer line north to the town of Accomac have been revised and now are planned for a future phase.
“That will be in phase two,” Hubbard said.
Additionally, he said the HRSD general manager “has had some discussions with Chincoteague.”
“We also had a meeting with Cape Charles,” he said.
