The following is submitted by Ken Dufty, who argues against using the Hampton Roads Sanitation District.
In fight to protect what you love and believe in, it is a general rule that if, at the finish line, you are not victorious in your mission or goal, you have only lost if you have not taken your best shot.
And our “best shot” to protect the ESVA from a Court-sanctioned build-out of a regional sewer owned and managed (and billed by) a political subdivision from outside our borders and over which we will have absolutely no control was about as good as anyone could muster.
On Friday morning, we orally argued to Judge W. Revell Lewis, presiding that morning over Accomack County Circuit Court in the Accomac Chambers that we did not think it was a good idea to move forward with allowing HRSD to begin establishing a presence on the ESVA until a full environmental impact study was conducted and after that study was completed, we held that the public should be fully involved in assessing the conclusions of that report.
Next, we argued that we, like the citizens across the Bay when the HRSD was presented on the ballot, should be able to go to the polls and register either our support or opposition to this project and its implications. I have attached a draft copy of some of the comments we read in that proceeding.
While Accomack County officials asked the Judge at the conclusion of that proceeding to rule that Accomack COunty be allowed into the District, the Judge ruled that he wanted to hear from Northampton County later that afternoon, a public hearing slated for 2 pm in the Eastville Circuit Court Chambers. So we were happy, and thank Sandy Beerends, the only other voice to object to HRSD’s proposal to set up house on the ESVA and take control of our wastewater infrastructure. Down we went…and this proceeding was a bit different. Remember HRSD’s enabling legislation specifically said that the court-sanctioned public hearings on any addition to the HRSD service territory was only to hear OBJECTIONS to any expansion of the district.
Spencer Murray implored Judge Lewis to greenlight HRSD, claiming we need it for “economic” development.
I followed and read our comments and reminded the judge, among other comments, that HRSD was created for the express reason of responding to and abating the pollution of surface waters due to sewage failure and nutrient loading……of which we have none on the ESVA. We submitted the September 30, 2020 DEQ inspection report regarding an exhaustive investigation of the Riverside WWTP in Nassawadox, and explained that while this plant had small exceedances of copper and had some minor reporting glitches, it was basically operating within its permit limits.
But John Coker followed my remarks and cautioned the Judge not to listen to fear tactics and again reiterated that this was a once in a lifetime chance to take advantage of the regional sewer services that will help promote economic development.
Both testified to the Judge that HRSD was only here to “help us out” and we should not pass up this opportunity.
Sandy Beerends also reiterated her opposition to HRSD coming onto the SHore, and David Boyd delivered a compelling and heartfelt testimony that HRSD was not needed and appeared to have been solicited to come here as a result of Riverside’s and Onancock’s desire to get out of the sewage treatment business.
Granville Hogg also addressed the Court and said that it appeared as if the Northampton County Board of Supervisors seemed to know very little about the real facts surrounding the proposal to turn over our regional wastewater services to HRSD, and implored the Judge to take the harder look which is required by law.
About the Author
Follow the money!
This sounds like another case of Eastern Shore goverment Emminent Domain. How can one man/judge make the decision to run a massive water system through a large section of the Shore without allowing the residents a chance to vote on this issue?
EMMINENT DOMAIN!!!
I thought EMMINENT DOMAIN was voted down by the people of Virginia?
People like Spencer Murray have a history of destroying the Shore people’s fundemental constitutional rights & other historical rights, historical buildings, etc. as is evidenced druing his tryannical politcal carreer on the Northampton County Board of Supervisors. Isn’t Spencer Murray connected to the Riverside Hospital Board in some way? Yes follow the money & the conflicts of interest to discover the true motives of this next EMMINENT DOMAIN goverment taking by the good old boys of Northampton & Accomac counties.
Please look into this as I believe it surely applys to this situation.
Virginia’s Eastern Shore & Northampton County Virginia Genocide:
When we think history is repeating itself we should also try to look hard enough to see the true cause of the events that are actually occuring with repetion.
For examply isn’t John Coker in some way connected to the Riverside Hospital Board? If so, he is now just another rich come here like Spencer Murray that is acting as a mere pawn of the Shore good ole boys for the aquirment of political brownie points by these same Shore good ole boys.
You know it’s been pointed out that the largest Northampton county plant nursery’s are using up A LOT/MOST of Shore’s aquifer water supply whilst they simaltaneously spray enourmous amounts of POISON chemicals all over Northampton County.
Is this proposed sewer/water pipeline going to be used by these Northampton County plant nurersy’s to bypass the need to siphon every last drop of Northampton County’s groundwater aquifer for the primary benefit of plant production profits? Is this sewer/water pipeline that is being propsed as a need for the Shore people to prosper just a ruse to supply the good ole boy’s plant nursery’s private plant grow operation with public H20?
Like the solar farm that was constructed outside of Eastville/Cape Charles I would like to know who is the real beneficary of these projects?
The local goverment should follow the majority consensus rather than the desires of the richest few people on the Shore.
The motive for Northampton County to craft it’s most recent zoning ordinance was said to be for the general publlic’s desire retard growth & to preserve the rural character of the area. As for myself, I am in favor keeping this quaintness to a certain extent & I am also in favor of getting rid of large scale developer’s like Kirkwoord. However if you look more closely at who blazes the trail to for the alleged sole purpose to preserve the Shore’s natural beauty you will see that without the ability for new businesses to come to Northampton County the only people to financially benefit from the current Northampton County zoning ordinance are the large local horticultural baased plant nursery’s. Because no new business are now allowed to establish themselves in Northampton County the land value & population in Northampton County will continue to decrease & then the good ole boy nursery owners will slowly buy it up to add onto their plant nursery opertions – thus making them more & more wealthy all under the false pretense of a desire to preserve the Shore’s nature.
Smart move indeed for these good ole booy nursery owner’s to infiltrate the local county goverment but also imo completely TYRANNICAL at the same time. These tacticts should be considered as a modern form of genocide utilized by the Northampton good ole boy nursery owners on the many decent Shore people who are now facing extinction from the Shore as a result of these good ole boy nursery owners deep poisn soaked seeded greed.
It’s also my personal view that groups such as Citizens for a Better Eastern Shore & the Eastern Shore Land Trust are in realtiy terrorist organizations. The members of these groups have been brainwashed by the notion that the only intention of these organizations is to preserve the Shore’s nature & land for future generations. Unfortuanetly this doctrine is simply a method for the large local good ole boy nursery owners to take controal of all of the land on the Shore for there own future business purposes.
These good ole boy nursery owners are indeed very clever but it is my hope that this message will help raise awarness of the actual motives of this samll group of individuals that use their nursery dollars to dominate the tiny remainder of innocent Northampton Shore folks.
Primates for example the theorized ancestors of moder humans also use similar tactics like this to acquire more power for themselves to help increase their mating numbers & thereby increase the likelyhood of their clan’s genes/DNA to survive into the furture – AKA Game Theroy. Modern day goverment was supposedly conceived to aid humans as to facilitate a more democratic society but these specific good ole boys like our alleged primate ancestors have found ways to circumvent the demoratic process primarily in my view through legal fraud & bribes of several prominent but corrupt Come Here lawyers & several prominent but corrupt From Here lawyers who are not following the Virginia legal code nor the U.S Constitution. It’s bizarre that these Shore legal shysters have been allowed to get away with so much fraud. I think it’s because the Shore was isolated for such a long time but now with the advent of the internet they are finally being exposed.
RAISE AWARENESS – NEVER TRUST A LAWYER, LARGE SCALE SHORE NURSERY OWNER, SHORE POLITICIAN or a SHORE NATURE BASED POLITICAL GROUP.
The result in this case is good ole modern day GENOCIDE – this time in Northampton County, Virginia.
Hear! Hear!!
Ignorance is Bliss in a Land of Fools.