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Resident calls on county to act after DEQ consent order over Wintergreen wastewater overflows
Summary
A resident told the board that raw‑wastewater discharges at the Wintergreen treatment plant began prior to December 2024 and continue; he said a DEQ consent order dated Feb. 6, 2026, includes a civil penalty and accused the county and service authority of inadequate public notification and slow action.
Stephen Bain (624 North Climb, Nellysford) told the Nelson County Board of Supervisors that raw‑wastewater discharges from the Wintergreen treatment plant have been occurring since before December 2024 and remain unresolved.
Bain said he spoke with the regional DEQ director, who confirmed a most recent overflow on April 5, 2026, and the existence of a consent order issued to the County Service Authority with a civil‑penalty provision dated Feb. 6, 2026. "This discharge overflow is unlawful," Bain said, and he urged the board to treat remediation as the county’s top priority and to publicly inform residents impacted by the creek and river downstream.
Bain criticized what he described as a lack of timely county engagement with the service authority and DEQ and asked where the urgency is for correcting a public‑health issue that, he said, has persisted for more than a year. The transcript does not record a county response in this segment beyond the public comment; details of the consent‑order negotiations and any corrective timetable were not included in the remarks he delivered on April 14.
The DEQ reference and consent‑order date were provided by the speaker; the board did not discuss or vote on related emergency measures in the same segment of the transcript.
