Hazel River designation for Tier III status in jeopardy

March 2006

Sadly, the Rappahannock County Board of Supervisors, in a 4–0 vote at its December meeting, authorized a letter to DEQ stating the board's opposition to protection of the Hazel River in Rappahannock County. The letter seeks to have the State Water Control Board (SWCB) block designation of the Hazel as a Tier III Exceptional State Water.

If the Board of Supervisors is successful in its effort, the way will be left open for a future board to approve a potential future sewage treatment plant on the Hazel to serve large-scale development of the river corridor if agricultural land there were rezoned or if the county's zoning laws were ever weakened. Ironically, there is no indication that the current board wants to move in that direction. Board Chairman Charles "Pete" Estes led the effort to exclude DEQ from participating in the protection of clean water in Rappahannock County. Supervisors Anderson, Lee, and Frazier concurred with Estes' initiative. Supervisor Welch was not present.

The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors, which has recently soured on the prospect of proposed large-scale, residential development of the Hazel corridor in its county, voted unanimously to support DEQ/SWCB designation of the Hazel as a protected, Tier III stream. Unfortunately, their action may have come too late to block developer's plans for expansion of the Boston Sewage treatment plant on the Hazel and construction of up to 1,000 new homes at Longlea, on the Rappahannock County line.

We now await action by the SWCB. If that board moves the Tier III nomination of the Hazel River to the next stage, there may still be hope for the future of at least portions of the Hazel in one of the two counties.

Read more about the Tier III nomination for the Hazel.

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