Vaulted Deep appeal withdrawn; Bloxom will continue to push for ban at state level

This article was edited to provide more context to the appeal filed by Vaulted Deep with Accomack County’s Board of Zoning Appeals.

A zoning appeal involving the proposed Vaulted Deep project in Accomack County has been withdrawn, county officials confirmed Tuesday morning.

According to Accomack County Administrator Mike Mason, county staff received notice from a representative of Vaulted Deep that the company is withdrawing its appeal of the County Zoning Administrator’s zoning determination. In that notice, Vaulted Deep also requested that the County take no further action related to the appeal.

The correspondence states that “the applicant will take no further action to challenge the zoning administrator’s determination,” effectively ending the matter.

Vaulted Deep had applied to inject poultry plant waste more than a mile underground at Ish Farm, LLC, located just off Route 13 in Oak Hall. The property, owned by Muhammed Parvez, is zoned agricultural, and attorneys for Vaulted Deep argued the deep injection proposal qualified as a legitimate agricultural use.

In an October 10, 2025 letter to representatives of Vaulted Deep, Deputy County Administrator for Community and Economic Development Leander “Lee” Pambid wrote that the Accomack County Zoning Ordinance does not list deep injection wells, injection wells, or similar underground storage techniques as either a permitted or conditional use. As a result, he stated, the proposed use is not allowed anywhere in the county under current zoning language.

Vaulted Deep had requested that the Board of Zoning Appeals structure the hearing so county officials would first explain the basis for the October 10 zoning determination, followed by a rebuttal from the applicant. Appeal materials asked the board to consider all applicable ordinances, laws, and regulations in its review. According to Pambid, the hearing was initially scheduled for January but was later moved to March at the request of the applicant’s attorney, Grady Palmer.

Mason said that with the withdrawal of the appeal, the zoning case is now closed from the County’s perspective. No additional hearings or actions are scheduled.

In a phone call Tuesday morning, Delegate Rob Bloxom said he will continue pushing at the state level for legislation to prohibit such activities in areas reliant on sole-source aquifers and to urge state regulators to designate the Eastern Shore as a sensitive groundwater area.