This week, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced a $2.3M grant award to Tangier Island, a Chesapeake Bay community particularly vulnerable to flooding. Tangier Island will use these funds for infrastructure improvements to protect Tangier’s petroleum storage facility and for critical equipment for its wastewater treatment plan.
Tangier’s sole petroleum storage facility is continually at risk of flooding, and this project will help to prevent petroleum spills going forward. The town is using a portion of the grant to purchase the tank facility from the existing owner and update the old tanks to double walled tanks. This update, along with associated infrastructure improvements, is intended to prevent spills from reaching the Chesapeake Bay.
The grant will also support the purchase of critical equipment and infrastructure for the town’s wastewater treatment plant and the installation of floodgates in parts of the island most affected by recurrent flooding.
