BY STEFANIE BOWMANN, Eastern Shore Post —
The contractor on Chincoteague’s approximately $2.25 million sewer project began its work in early February and is making “steady progress,” Town Manager Mike Tolbert said on March 3.
Underground Connections, of Onancock, has completed the installation of all two-inch pipe on the project. The sewer system also will contain three-inch and four-inch pipe.
The contractor has targeted the project for completion before Memorial Day. According to the contract, if the job is not done before that date, work may not resume until after Labor Day.
The history leading up to the current sewer project dates back to the 1980s, when the U.S. Coast Guard received a permit from the Department of Environmental Quality to install a package sewer plant to treat wastewater and discharge effluent into the Chincoteague Channel.
It was the first time treated wastewater had been legally discharged into the waters surrounding the island, Tolbert said.
Through additional permits obtained by various commercial enterprises, today five sewer package plants are legally discharging effluent into Chincoteague Channel.
One of the highest-capacity plants was developed for the Sunset Bay condominium project by Bluewater Development, which sold the plant’s excess capacity to 10 businesses on Main Street.
Those businesses and the condominiums are currently using the Sunset Bay package sewer plants.
The town purchased the sewer plants from the original developer in December 2022. The deal included a valid, unused discharge permit from DEQ, which would allow additional wastewater treatment of 37,000 gallons per day.
“It was all approved, just sitting there, and that was the real … benefit that we received from the transaction,” Tolbert said.
Chincoteague then entered a legal agreement to transfer the Sunset Bay sewer facility and additional permit to the Hampton Roads Sanitation District.
Through the agreement, HRSD committed to both replacing the aging sewer plants with higher-capacity plants by December 2026 and using the additional permit to offer sewer service to more businesses.
The town also agreed to build a low-pressure force main collection system on Main Street and Maddox Boulevard, the $2.25 million project that is currently under construction.
Each business that connects to the system is required to obtain, install, operate, and maintain its own sewer pump.
Chincoteague will own and maintain the collection system and will charge sewer customers connection fees and annual maintenance fees.
HRSD will charge customers for sewage treatment at its standard rate.
The collection system will run north on Main Street from Sunset Bay, turn onto Maddox Boulevard, and end at the Museum of Chincoteague.
The upgraded treatment facility will have a capacity of 130,000 gallons per day, and HRSD is planning future upgrades that will increase capacity to 350,000 gallons per day.
