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Eastern Shore of Virginia Sole Source Aquifer
In 1997, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) designated the fresh ground
water that supplies
all drinking water on the Eastern Shore of Virginia as the Columbia and
Yorktown-Eastover Multiaquifer System Sole Source Aquifer. The designation provides
protection to the Shore’s water supply by requiring the EPA to review proposed projects
on the Shore that are receiving federal financial assistance to ensure they do not
endanger the water source.
Accomack Manor under construction, the water and sewage systems were reviewed
by the Committee at the EPA's request.
What is a Sole Source Aquifer?
The EPA established the Sole Source Aquifer
designation as a tool to protect drinking water supplies in areas with few or no
alternative sources to the ground water resource, and where if contamination occurred,
using an alternative source would be extremely expensive.
EPA defines a sole or
principal source aquifer as one which supplies at least 50 percent of the drinking
water consumed in the area overlying the aquifer. These areas can have no alternative
drinking water source which could physically, legally, and economically supply
all those who depend upon the aquifer for drinking water. For convenience, all
designated sole or principal source aquifers are referred to as "sole source
aquifers" (SSA).
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