The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will hold a public meeting at 6 p.m. Wednesday, July 27, at Abingdon Elementary School about No Discharge Zones proposed for Sarah Creek and Perrin River.

“It’s a public meeting, not a hearing, so it is just written comments that are accepted for the 30 days after the meeting,” said Anne Schlegel, a spokesperson in the Office of Watershed Programs for DEQ in Richmond.

Schlegel said that No Discharge Zones are established as part of an overall watershed plan or strategy whose goal is to clean up a waterbody. The marine environment where sewage discharge occurs can be particularly vulnerable to such pollution, she said, since flushing rates in tributaries are often slower resulting in accumulations of pollution that may be retained for a longer period of time than, for example, the mainstem of the York River.

Both localities and planning districts can develop an application, Schlegel said. In this case, Gloucester Coun...