(Pungoteague, Virginia) In a February 15, 2018 letter to David Paylor, director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (“DEQ”), a loosely formed coalition of five citizens from the Eastern Shore of Virginia counties of Accomack and Northampton urged the department to consider placing an injunction on the 83 poultry Care and Feeding Operations (CAFO’s) because they failed to get groundwater withdrawal permits.
Over the last several years, approximately 250-270 large broiler houses, some having the capacity to house 48,000 birds every 43 days, have been constructed or are under construction or in the planning stages in Accomack County.
The Eastern Shore of Virginia draws the majority of its drinking water from the Yorktown aquifer…the same source that is being used or proposed to be used by the CAFOs. Any prospective user who intends to withdraw over 300,000 gallons of groundwater per month in a groundwater management area is required BY LAW to first apply for and receive a permit to do so from the State Water Control Board, a citizen panel appointed by the Governor and a political arm of the DEQ.
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40 comments:
Thank you for posting this critically important story. Water is life and it is unimaginable that these massive water users could bypass the process to legally withdraw ground water to the peril of the viability of the entire community.
Another Flint waiting to happen.
It can be especially easy to get away with this in poor rural communities because it’s more difficult for citizens to fight back.
You people won't win if you don't stand together and have numbers!!!! Keep at it, be relentless or you will not win...
At least you all stand up and are trying to fight to fix the problems you have or going to face... The city of SBY residents are to fat stupid and lazy to do so, and in the end, they blame someone else who's fault it ins't and who's job it isn't to help...
It is time Chicken Houses went the way of the Coal Mines.
Too many people are getting poisoned.
Chicken Tenders can go get a job at Walmart.
Risking our most precious resource -clean water - to grow chickens that aren’t even for our consumption. Foolish!
yes, the various gov agencies that are supposed to protect the welfare of the citizenry, have failed us miserably in this case. the most guilty one is the Accomack county board of supervisors, who have allowed the influx of these awfully ugly, smelly, unhealthy chicken houses. follow the money trail. hopefully the next election will change this.
DEP just isn't doing their job. Anyone who withdraws 300,000 gallons/month is required to apply for a permit before beginning operations. This allows DEP to track water use and match it to the size of the aquifer. None of these chicken houses complied with the law and applied for a permit ahead of time. The Eastern shore relies 100% in it's single aquifer for it's drinking water and we have no idea whether we are rapidly running out of our only source of drinking water because DEP isn't doing it's job.
We can't afford to wait until we run out of water for DEP to decide it is time to do the job they were hired to do.
Clustering chicken agribusiness close to processing plants would not be necessary by investing in more efficient, humane, profitable transport of broods to slaughter rather than the current outdated methodology lumbering up the highway incurring heavy losses to the meat industry and the local taxpayer's money.
Aside from groundwater withdrawal permits,the DEQ responsibilities do not include “point source” pollution accumulated and stored for eventual removal; but rather storm water run-off, just as they would for a Walmart parking lot. At the county level it is not business as usual when this massive build-out leads to salt water inclusion of the limited water source on a sequestered land mass that floats on top of the Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. How sad it is easier to envision a gas pipeline water than a "water pipeline". But for now, let’s start by asking for an injunction to halt any further poultry expansion in Accomack county.
These environmentalists are wrong! The Eastern Shore of Virginia will NEVER run out of water....not in a million years....because as we draw down that Yorktown Aquifer, water is running back in just as fast as its being sucked out. So be careful of what you say. What do you mean I'm crazy....!! I am telling you, you will never drain the Yorktown dry if you had a million people on that peninsula growing chickens and wasting water. Why? because the Eastern Shore of Virginia is SURROUNDED by trillions and trillions of gallons of water.....so There! What's that you say? Of course its salt water....all you have to do is heat it in a pot and the salt goes to the bottom, and you catch the condensate like in a still. Darn environmentalists! They run around like Chicken Little!!
Water is life! This illegal assault on the public’s drinking water must be addressed.
1:11, even more importantly, it’s our precious drinking water.
2:44 Where did you get your PHD in hydrology or geology?
Hold the lawbreakers accountable!
250-270 poultry house operations to get a GROUND WATER WITHDRAWAL PERMIT
Over the last several years, approximately 250-270 large broiler houses, some having the capacity to house 48,000 birds every 43 days, have been constructed or are under construction or in the planning stages in Accomack County.
The Eastern Shore of Virginia draws the majority of its drinking water from the Yorktown aquifer...the same source that is being used or proposed to be used by the CAFOs. Any prospective user who intends to withdraw over 300,000 gallons of groundwater per month in a groundwater management area is required BY LAW to first apply for and receive a permit to do so from the State Water Control Board, a citizen panel appointed by the Governor and a political arm of the DEQ.
Pursue a writ of mandamus if the political hacks can't to their job without being forced to.
And the poor keep getting poorer.... Power to the people not the corporations.
The question of water withdrawal permitting still sticks in my mind. Was it really that easy for one interest (poultry) to tap into the public groundwater resource with virtually no limits to quantity? Is this the final word? Where are aquaculture interests, and conventional farming interests? Why won't they speak up and protect their businesses?
I grew up on the Eastern Shore and am deeply worried that future generations will never know the beauty and bounty of the shore before poultry. Tyson has used this play book many times before-they target poor counties, do a massive build out, and then let the farmers and residents take the fall when waterways and wells are polluted and ruined. Clean air and water are a right not a privilege.
Yes, it's important to be aware of Tyson Foods' practices all across our nation. They are not interested in our community, or our pristine environment, except for how they can extract the most profit from it. Will justice be done now, to protect our Eastern Shore groundwater? The public right to fresh water is legally bound to over-rule business purposes. It appears to me that our state "regulators" have been derelict of duty in guarding our public right.
Very few people’s lives are enriched. Most of the line workers in the factories live in third world conditions in those ranshackled trailer parks like Dreamland. It should be called nightmare. The influx of people who require the support of programs for the poor has risen sharply at tremendous expense to locals. Those in management at the facilities earn a decent wage, but most live in another community. Small farmers will be put out of business and most of the chickens drinking this precious water will be shipped to China. However, none of that really matters. What matters is that the government of Virginia and Accomac County have allowed these developers to STEAL and put at risk the public’s drinking water. Shut the water off to these facilities as soon as the current flocks are out!
I’m glad Joe published this. What they need is for people far and wide to know what’s going on and help them get the attention needed to apply pressure to the county and stop the illegal wells from operation. Set an example that will make them think twice before doing this to another community.
Balance must be brought to this equation, and the laws must be enforced. The poultry industry has had a free ride for many years and must be brought under compliance. I hope the DEQ will do the right thing and begin their enforcement.
So your solution to this is a desalinization plant rather than stopping the illegal use? WE WILL indeed run out of fresh water at this current rate drawdown. Do you really want everyone to pay a nice, big monthly check to the guys at the desal plant?....rather than to have FREE water in your well? Really? Lets talk about the PRICE of your desal plant(s), the pipeline, and the feeder lines to each user. Do you think the chicken folks will subsidize this expenditure? No, they will just relocate to another county, promising jobs and UNTOLD wealth and fortune for its residents (sound familiar). As I see it, money is tight for most residents and they can ill afford more unwanted bills. If you can stop it now, perhaps it won't be necessary.
The area surrounding Cape Charles sits above a 60 mile diameter ancient meteor impact crater(look it up). The rock strata beneath us is fractured and truncated from adjacent portions of the aquifers. This means that recharge is solely dependent upon rainfall above the Yorktown. If you draw the fresh water out, brine will move in to replace it. Brine HAS infiltrated portions of the aquifer already. Perhaps you like the taste of salty coffee in the morning, I personally don't care for salty flavored......everything! Water is life, if your well goes bad, do you think your property value will go up? How many years will it take for your desal plant to come on line after the aquifer has been declared unfit to drink? What will folks do TILL then? I DO have a degree in geology and have seen this sort of thing happen where I come from. People just let it happen because either they were not informed, felt powerless IF they were informed because they really had no voice to challenge the coal industry. A lot of folks spoke the way you do. A lot of folks depended upon the mine's wages. Well the mines tapped out the coal seams and moved on. Now folks not only had no job, but a lot of their wells were too contaminated to use......property worthless. If we can stop it, we should.....now.
I think a bigger issue than groundwater withdrawal would be the contaminants from chicken waste all of which wind up in storm drains and eventually contribute to the pollution in our watershed. The heritage on the Eastern Shore does not lie in the revenue generated from the poultry houses here but rather from the salt water and what used to be the sustainable fish and shellfish harvested from these waters. I held a commercial registration card from about 1995 through 2005. In this time frame I watched natural populations of both clams and oysters along the western shore of the Eastern Shore drop significantly. Just roll your window down on almost any given day in the summer to find out where the chicken manure ends up. Spread out on farm fields, many of which have no buffer zones between the field and the salt marsh. Was not the Clean Water Act established by the EPA, I think back in the 70's, to prevent such environmental degradation from occurring.
The state is also very irresponsible in its management of the Menhaden fishery to your point, 10:41.
Well said!
When you get in your car to ride the Eastern Shore you can't see all the aquaculture jobs happening down all the back roads on the water. The Eastern Shore of VA has the largest clam aquaculture industry on the East Coast and the bulk of it is in Accomack and Northampton Counties. The oyster aquaculture industry is growing even faster than the clam industry. Unlike the chicken farm and plant jobs, the aquaculture jobs are high paying, make the best use of our naturally abundant resources and allow the workers to be self employed and self sufficient. They can afford much nicer accommodations than trailer parks "aka" Dreamlands.
Pollution from the chicken industry is a direct threat to these burgeoning new industries that have so much to offer our young entrepreneurs. Do we want menial factory jobs or well paid self employed jobs in the great outdoors that are the lifeblood of the Eastern Shore?
How many tens of thousands who are vested on the shore will suffer with this expansion that cannot be sustainable, especially here? It is unconscionable.
Wells on Rogers Dr. are already reported to have problems with one person on their third well at 200’. This threat is real. VA and the county need to intervene.
I think the writer who spoke of distillation (boiling water..) was being sarcastic-tongue in cheek-maybe from ny like me so I got it.
both
At the very least, they need access the more plentiful Columbia and the state must mandate ammonia scrubbers. The Accomack supervisor praised the ventilation systems that clear out the ammonia for the chickens which our children get to breathe. Then there's planting the sites to slow runoff, roof catchment systems, remediating rt 13 which is the prime recharge area-Seems only some of the citizens are working on this without pay and some at their own expense. help! write Northam, please!
The USGS indicates drawdown of the Yorktown since 1984-maybe due to rte 13 as it cannot function well to recharge with its development and now these CAFOS are drawing from it when they could access the Columbia. despicable
Someone sent an email around yesterday telling people not to come to the meeting because they might not get a seat. Of course, it was a tactic to discourage public outcry. Despicable! Thankfully, there was still very strong attendance.
At the water meeting yesterday Tyson said they’d be making some big announcement at the Accomack BOS meeting tonight. Anything short of discontinuing use of illegal wells and voluntarily moving to ammonia scrubbers and other measures to protect our health and environment won’t be enough. Tyson is not our friend...nor the other rural communities that they’re depleting.
Standing together, we are. Overflowed the meeting yesterday with the largest attendance EVER!
Thank you SBY News and so many others for helping us to get the word out. Packed room again last night!
Announced future CAGOs will tap the Columbia...and where possible, they’ll look at Yorktown wells relocating to Columbia. What?????!!!!!! The wells are illegal. Shut them off or move them. It’s that simple. Stop stealing our drinking water!
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