Onancock residents press council for public hearing after new DEQ water-permit application

At a March 25 Onancock Town Council meeting, residents urged the council to hold a public hearing after learning the town manager submitted a Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) permit to renew and expand the amount of potable water drawn from the town's three wells.

Dr. Greg Felthousen, speaking during public comment and in an attached letter to DEQ, said he "had absolutely no knowledge of the permit application" until seeing it at a county planning commission meeting and asked DEQ to schedule a public hearing so shore residents could weigh in. He told the council he was "stunned" that the application had not been discussed in an open forum.

The concern centers on a Source Water Protection Plan prepared for the town by CHA Solutions and submitted alongside the permit materials. The CHA report notes the waterworks is "permitted for 8,079,200 gallons per month and 80,615,000 gallons per year" and that "the waterworks is limited to a design capacity of 377,600 gallons per day due to limited storage capacity." The report also flags impaired streams in the drinking-water protection area and warns that "over utilization of the Middle Yorktown-Eastover aquifer has the potential for increasing saltwater intrusion and contaminating the Town of Onancock's drinking water wells." The plan identifies 12 private wells within the area of interest as the most significant potential conduits for contamination.

Residents repeatedly asked whether supplying water to developments outside the town had been coordinated with the planning commission or the public. Priscilla Hart, a member of Onancock's local water committee, said the committee's consultant had repeatedly identified both quantity and contamination concerns and questioned the potential cost to Onancock taxpayers of extending service to off‑site development.

Mayor Fletcher Fosque responded to residents that "no contracts have been signed" to supply water outside town limits and said any decision to provide water to developments beyond town boundaries would be made in an open forum during a public hearing. Town Manager Matt Spuck clarified that a developer had submitted a letter of interest and capacity to Accomack County but emphasized the council would make supply decisions in public.

The DEQ acknowledged receipt of at least one inquiry in an email included in the public record; Caitlin Kelly, Groundwater Withdrawal Permitting Team Lead, replied to Dr. Felthousen noting the comments would be addressed at the end of the public comment period.

What comes next: Council members told residents they would seek further information and the mayor said he would follow up on perceived inconsistencies in water-quality reporting. Several residents urged the council to convene a special meeting or set a scheduled public hearing before the permit moves forward.

The council did not take a formal vote on supplying water outside town limits during the March 25 meeting; Mayor Fosque said the issue would be decided in a future open forum.