BEDFORD, Va. – The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality says Bedford Water violated wastewater guidelines at multiple facilities, including the Bedford Treatment Plant, Pump Stations 1 through 5, and the Lake Vista Pump Station.
Bedford Water’s agency says the problems occurred when heavy rain caused overflows, and that the agency is working with the DEQ to address them.
Kyle Draper, communications manager for Bedford Water, said the violations stem from a specific construction zone.
“The violation, basically with central wastewater, is just that we’ve had some overflows happen when we have heavy rain events,” Draper said.
Draper says the overflows occurred at the site of the Ivy Creek Sewer project, which is still under construction. DEQ tells 10 News that a consent order requires the project to be completed by July 1, and that the water authority must also replace Pump Station 5 by 2029.
Construction challenges contributed to the delays, Draper said.
“We had a lot of rock that we had to clear and that slowed us down. We had to have a closure at Cotton Town Road one time, in order to make the repairs and build the sewer line we needed to do,” Draper said.
Public comment on these issues will be available until June 3.