Board approves special-exception permit for proposed Boardwine Road wastewater plant

The Washington County Board of Supervisors voted to approve a special-exception permit that lets the Washington County Service Authority (WCSA) proceed with DEQ permitting and further planning for a proposed wastewater treatment plant on State Route 625 (Boardwine Road).

WCSA representative Cornett told the board that the county needs an additional 1,500,000 gallons per day of wastewater treatment capacity over a 40-year planning horizon and that current commitments provide 572,000 gpd through Bristol Virginia Utilities (BBU) and 1,000,000 gpd through the town of Abingdon. “1,500,000 gallons per day is the capacity that we need,” Cornett said during the presentation. Cornett said WCSA is pursuing a parallel strategy of continuing talks with BBU and Abingdon while pursuing permitting for a WCSA-owned plant.

The presentation addressed alternatives and costs: Cornett said locating the plant at alternate higher-elevation sites would require pump stations and longer force mains and cited a least-cost alternate that would add roughly $2,300,000 in capital cost. He also explained that WCSA negotiated to acquire a 30-acre parcel although the treatment footprint would be much smaller; the larger parcel was part of an all-or-nothing sale agreement.

Residents and neighbors raised water-quality, odor, traffic, health, and property-value concerns during public comment. Toby Jordan told the board he was worried about children playing in Beaver Creek near Sugar Hollow Park and asked why so much land was being acquired for a one-acre facility. “Children play in that creek just yards, a short distance from where this proposed site is,” Jordan said.

Cornett responded that as part of the DEQ permitting process WCSA has been collecting samples from Beaver Creek and said the plant’s permitted effluent would be “significantly cleaner than the water that’s in Beaver Creek right now.” He acknowledged odor could not be completely ruled out but said proper design and operation would make odors “very, very infrequent.”

A board member proposed including landscaping or screening at the plant entrance as a permit condition; that suggestion was discussed before the vote. The transcript records the approval vote as 7–0 in favor of the special-exception permit.

Next steps identified by WCSA include pursuing DEQ permitting (Cornett estimated at least nine months), securing funding and completing design (roughly one year), and constructing the plant—placing the earliest projected ground-breaking at approximately two years from approval if no alternative capacity agreements with partner utilities are reached.