Northampton County to research options on biosolids injections

The Northampton County Board of Supervisors have asked their attorney to investigate what local ordinances, if any, can be adopted to regulate deep-well injection, a process that involves pumping industrial materials more than a mile underground.

Board Chairman John Coker raised concerns about its potential impact on local groundwater and the Eastern Shore’s fragile aquifer system.

“I don’t even know what that means or how that could possibly be good or bad,” one supervisor said. “It’s just so far out there. But I want to know what we can do.”

Without objection, the board instructed the county attorney Ellen Bowyer to review the scope of local authority and return with draft options outlining what Northampton legally may or may not regulate.

The Northampton Board sent a letter to the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality earlier this month requesting a public hearing on the proposed land application of biosolids in parts of the county.