At its September 17th meeting, the Board of Supervisors voted to schedule a joint public hearing on a proposed ordinance to extend the existing Chesapeake Bay Act across the spine of the County to the sea side. Follow this link to read the proposed ordinance and see a map of the areas affected. Your Executive Committee urges you to attend the November 12th public hearing at 7:00 pm at Metompkin Public School and speak in favor of this ordinance.

The Chesapeake Bay Act was passed by the State of Virginia in 1988. It regulates setbacks for building next to wetlands which are tidal or which are connected to tidal wetlands for all waters flowing into Chesapeake Bay. The object is to promote the establishment and maintenance of vegetative buffers that are effective in limiting runoff pollution from all non-point sources ranging from parking lots to homes and agricultural activities.

WHY THE BAY ACT ON THE SEA SIDE?

Extending the Bay Act will promote consistent best management practices (BMPs) across Accomack County. The Bay Act is one of several best management practices needed to preserve the County’s wetlands for the types of environmental resource-based economic activities envisioned in the Comprehensive Plan. Following BMPs can preserve our wetland resources, while ignoring them results in a degraded, less economically productive environment, as illustrated here.

Some of you may remember the presentation by Dr. Mark Lukenbach, Professor of Marine Science and Director of the Eastern Shore Laboratory of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, at the Captain’s Cove hearings. He has provided us with water quality data illustrating the increase in pollution on the sea side as one goes north form Chincoteague Bay to the Maryland-Delaware border. Graphs of nitrogen pollution levels show this for 1999 to 2001 for tributaries and for 2001 to 2003 for both tributaries and the coastal bays. These scientific observations show us that we must manage runoff to the tributaries as well as directly into the coastal bays. If we do not take serious action soon, our sea side will experience the same degradation and loss of productivity as coastal bays to the north.

In his comments to the Supervisors at the September 17 public comment, and in a subsequent letter to the Eastern shore news, Tony Picardi estimated some of the economic impact of preserving estuaries for aquaculture and tourism. The New York clam industry is now at a mere 1% of its 1970 value. At the same meeting SONs executive committee member Sue Mastyl said she had no trouble with permits nor any additional expense in building a house on less than an acre on the water in Harborton, a town on the Bay side and subject to the Act.

SONs EXTINGUISHES FUD AND EXPOSES HOV

At the September 17th public comment period, we also heard from the usual developers and their lawyers that railed against regulation in general and attempted to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) about this ordinance in particular. Most of the nay-sayers were from an organization called “Hear Our Voices” which we expose as a black hole of negativity. SONs aims its FUD extinguisher at these arguments as follows:

"The sea side is the ocean, so it’s big and cannot be polluted." We are talking about tidal estuaries and coastal bays, not the Atlantic Ocean as shown in the above illustrations. All suffer from all the pollution that runs off the land.

"It costs too much to maintain your septic system as required by the Bay Act." This FUD-ism is debunked here.

"The Act will shut down new home building." Since 1988, there have been many homes built on the Bay side.

"The Act will cause the Assateague Island NWR to close the next time the parking lot gets washed out." No, existing uses can be maintained, especially those of the Federal Government, according to Mark Taylor, Accomack County Attorney.

"The Act will cause the chicken plants to close." Effluent from these plants is regulated by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, according to Accomack County Attorney Mark Taylor.

"There is no economic justification for extending the Bay Act." Read Picardi’s letter for a start.

BECOME PART OF THE DISCUSSION

For nearly four years, SONs has brought an alternative point of view to county government, its administration and its goals. Citizens and members have adopted various objectives in an attempt to make Accomack County a better place to live without the risks of making it look like Everywhere, USA.

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