I’ve been in the water and sewage business for 58 years. During this time, I have been through many changes in health department procedures. The most recent change in the way permits are issued will certainly result in hardship for Northampton County residents if the health department is not allowed to issue permits to repair sewage systems. There are not enough OSE’s on the Eastern Shore of Virginia to cover the current demand for new system permits in both Accomack and Northampton Counties. If we also require those same OSE’s to issue the repair sewage applications for our customers, the residents of Northampton County will suffer because they will have to pay higher fees as well as wait much longer to have their repair permit issued. Most of the residents of Northampton County cannot afford to have their septic tanks pumped multiple times while waiting to have a permit issued to get their sewage system repaired. Therefore, sewage will lie on the ground for long periods of time before a permit can be issued to repair the system. Without the local health department helping to issue repair sewage system permits, there is little chance they will be issued in a reasonable amount of time, resulting in prohibitive costs and unhealthy living conditions for residents.