CHINCOTEAGUE, VA — The town of Chincoteague is moving closer to reclaiming control over its drinking water supply, thanks to a new legislative effort from Virginia lawmakers in Congress. NASA has provided a temporary water supply to Chincoteague for years after finding contaminants in the town's wells on the grounds of the Wallops Flight Facility.
Republican Representative Jen Kiggans of Virginia introduced The Contaminated Wells Relocation Act on February 18, 2025, alongside the state's Democratic Rep. Suhas Subramanyam and Virginia's Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine, both Democrats. The bicameral bill would authorize NASA to negotiate an agreement with the town of Chincoteague to reimburse the anticipated expenses of relocating contaminated water wells to a safe location.
Chincoteague Mayor Denise Bowden said introducing this bill is a step in the right direction for the town to eventually manage its own water resources again.
"We're a small town government .. NASA is obviously a big federal facility," Bowden said. "It just makes sense now to have them [water wells] on our own property, for us to be taking care of them."
NASA first detected P-FAs on Wallops Island in 2017. The "forever chemicals" have been traced back to firefighting drills from the late 19070s to 1988 using a foam containing the contaminant compounds.
According to a statement made to WBOC by Wallops spokesperson Jeremy Eggers, upon discovering the contaminated wells, Wallops "immediately took action to stop exposure and protect public health."
Mayor Bowden said the partnership between NASA Wallops and Chincoteague has been successful.
"NASA Wallops really stepped up to the plate to take care of the situation for us," Bowden said. "They built a new filtration plant over there, and now the P-FAs is not even detectable."
The temporary water supply arrangement has been in place for most of Shari Hailey's time living on the island of Chincoteague. Hailey said she was unaware that the town had not been supplying the drinking water.
"If it comes from NASA or it comes from Chincoteague, as long as we have clean water," Hailey said. "That's all that matters to me and probably everybody on the island."
The town purchased land south of Wallops approximately five years ago, where Mayor Bowden said they plan to relocate the wells.
"That is the plan, to move them to the new location," Bowden said. "We have done a little bit of testing on them right now to see what water is available and everything but nothing's in concrete right this second."
NASA's ability to reimburse Chincoteague for the costs of relocating the wells offsite requires a specific legislative authority, necessitating the Contaminated Wells Relocation Act.
"That's just the first step," Bowden said of the bill. "That money is going to go for, you know, the studies that have to be done."
Bowden said studies will ensure no P-FAs are present on the new well site before the relocation.
The language of this legislation was included in a bill passed by the U.S. Senate in December 2024. Lawmakers had to reintroduce it because the House of Representatives did not pass it before the 118th Congress ended.