The Virginia Department of Health is closing Chesapeake Bay tributaries, including all of them in Hampton Roads, to shellfish harvesting because of last week’s nor’easter. The emergency closure is effective from today through Dec. 2, according to a news release. Last week’s heavy rainfall caused wastewater to overflow into the Chesapeake Bay tributaries. Because of the potential microbiological and chemical pollution hazards, shellfish taken from areas affected by the emergency closure are unacceptable for consumption.

A contractor died yesterday after he fell into an eastern Henrico County sludge vat that was being re-roofed, officials said. Henrico police were called to the county wastewater plant in the 9100 block of WRVA Road at 8:47 a.m. for a medical emergency, said Lt. D.D. Engels. Engels said a man who was working at the plant had fallen into a vat used to hold semisolid sludge.

The state has issued $186 million in bonds to help the Chesapeake Bay by financing wastewater-treatment and sewer-system infrastructure and upgrades statewide. According to Gov. Timothy M. Kaine’s office, the Virginia Resources Authority total investment in bay cleanup in the past two years exceeds $810 million. “The commonwealth has dedicated more than $1 billion to cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay since the start of my term, and we have made fighting pollution one of our core concerns,“ Kaine said in a statement announcing the bonds.

Sewer customers in the Hopewell area could soon see a bill increase of nearly 70 percent if the Hopewell City Council approves a proposed rate increase today. An average user’s bill would increase by $7.52 per month. The average sewer customer uses 5,000 gallons of water per month and has a monthly bill of $10.88; under the proposal, that bill would go up to $18.40.