The Stafford County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing to adopt a program to deal with fats, oils, and greases in the county.

According to county documents, if the Board of Supervisors approves a mitigation program, it would collect fees to fund the inspections of commercial kitchens that have the highest potential for releasing fats, oils, and grease (affectionately referred to by county public works crews as FOGs) into the county sewer pipes.

Stafford County has had a long history of trying to deal with FOGs and the issues it causes for its infrastructure. The county estimates that 50 percent of sanitary overflows and backups are caused by the substances settling in the county's sewer system, as well as other related issues which cost Stafford $1.5 million annually to treat.

County leaders could charge $100 for an annual permit, and a re-inspection fee of $50. The Board would be able to set these fees to fund the set-up and operation of the program as long as they are considered reasonable under Virginia State Law.

County documents also estimate that Stafford will have to spend $66,178 in the fiscal year 2022 to fund the program. Stafford estimates that the costs of field staff and administrative costs would total $86,178, the county does expect to offset some of that spending with revenues taken in from the program which it estimates to be $20,000 during FY2022.

Stafford has dealt with the FOG issue in the past. In November 2019, the county created the #canyourgrease campaign which was launched across social media platforms in order to convince Staddord residents to can their FOGs instead of dumping them down the sink drain.

This was in response to the previous FOG issues the County experienced in 2018 when it had to deal with 13 sanitary sewer overflows and 191 sewer main backups.

The Board will hold the public hearing at its August 17 meeting, if the program is approved then it would go into effect on Jan.1, 2022.