ANALYSIS: Rapidan Service Authority Gets Dunked for Its Handling of Orange County Water Crisis
Virginia Department of Health says RSA needs to make multiple improvements
By Hilary Holladay
GUEST WRITER AND FOUNDER OF BYRD STREET
Editor’s Note: This report is reprinted with permission. It originally appeared on the Substack Byrd Street.
An investigation by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) of the contaminated water crisis affecting thousands of residents of eastern Orange County in late August makes it clear as a glass of clean, odor-free water that the Rapidan Service Authority (RSA) has enormous room for improvement.
The investigation revealed that a “catastrophic” pump failure at the Wilderness Water Treatment Plant, run by the Rapidan Service Authority (RSA), resulted in a release of mineral oil into the public water supply and caused the public drinking water to take on a foul odor and taste. The report coming out of the investigation blames RSA for a communication breakdown, among other problems.
VDH’s Office of Drinking Water (ODW) tested numerous water samples, with the help of a Texas lab. Results indicated that the water causing many a nostril to flare with alarm did not endanger those who used it. That was a relief, but ODW’s long and strongly worded report details the many problems that led to the pump failures and calls out RSA for not sharing crucial information promptly. The report also makes a series of recommendations to RSA to improve its operations and communications.
In the report issued September 25, ODW sums up the immediate cause of the trouble at the Wilderness Water Treatment Plant:
After extensive investigation and sampling, on September 13, 2024, VDH determined that a catastrophic failure of a raw water pump at the intake from the Rapidan River caused the objectionable odor. The catastrophic pump failure occurred on August 20, the day before customers noticed the objectionable odor. About two to three gallons of food grade mineral oil was released. The food grade mineral oil was likely thermally altered, burned, or scorched from the catastrophic pump failure.
There are three pumps connected to the water treatment plant, and all three broke down. The detailed timeline of events that ODW constructed “shows that RSA knew a pump failed to operate on August 20 and again on August 24. RSA first reported the pump failure was catastrophic to VDH staff in an email from Tim Clemons, General Manager for RSA, on September 4.”
Before the alarming odor subsided, the Rapidan Service Authority (RSA), with VDH support, issued a “Do not use” advisory that was later downgraded to “Do not drink” the water. The situation lasted a week and caused enormous inconvenience and considerable distress to residents and business operators along the Route 3 corridor and in Lake of the Woods, Wilderness Shores and Somerset Farms.
On August 22, a day after RSA customers began complaining that their drinking water smelled like diesel fuel or something similarly unpleasant, ODW notes in its timeline, “RSA participates in multiple incident command calls but does not mention the pump failure or the electrical issue witnessed in the pump disconnect.”
On September 3, during a meeting of ODW and RSA officials, ODW’s water authorities said they thought the pumps were “the source of the odor. This statement received vehement denial and pushback from RSA who accused ODW of looking for the ‘easy’ solution,” according to the report.
RSA called out for communication breakdown, plus electrical and installation failures, among other problems
The report released by ODW Director Dwayne Roadcap points to four major problems: (1) a communication breakdown, with RSA not promptly informing regulatory bodies of equipment problems at the water treatment plant; (2) electrical and installation failures, with “repeated electrical issues and the use of temporary wiring played a critical role in the failure of the pumps”; (3) RSA’s “inadequate monitoring and emergency response”; and (4) RSA’s inadequate oversight of contractors, which “contributed to the problem, as vital information about the pump installations and electrical work was not properly communicated.”

ODW is blunt in its conclusions: “These findings suggest that RSA needs to implement stronger communication protocols, improve oversight of contractors, install more advanced monitoring systems, and develop a comprehensive emergency response plan to prevent and respond to future incidents.”
ODW also makes clear that the state health department does not take kindly to all the work and expense that a seemingly avoidable problem caused:
Although food-grade mineral oil by definition is not a health hazard, the objectionable odor event demonstrated that a small amount, perhaps just two to three gallons of food grade mineral oil, significantly altered the taste and odor of the drinking water produced at the [water treatment plant]. Significant expenses from multiple state agencies and local government occurred from sampling, investigation, and responding to the event. Setting up water filling stations, providing bottled water, and many experts and staff spent hundreds of hours responding to the event. Public concerns and questions remain.
On the same day that ODW released its damning report, ODW’s Culpeper Field Office sent a letter to RSA stating that VDH “has reason to believe that RSA may have violated the Virginia Public Water Supplies Law, Va. Code § 32.1-167 et seq., and the Waterworks Regulations, 12VAC5-590-10 et seq.”
The letter, signed by ODW Field Director Jeremy Hull, gives RSA 60 days to respond with a plan for corrective actions and asks RSA to “schedule at least monthly meetings with ODW’s Culpeper Field Office to review progress on RSA’s plan, including its asset management, emergency response, and capital improvement plans.”
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