
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, April 4, 1990                   TAG: 9004040354
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: RALEIGH, N.C.                                LENGTH: Short

NORTH CAROLINA SEEKS TO HALT GASTON PIPELINE

North Carolina filed an expected appeal Tuesday over a proposed 85-mile water pipeline from Lake Gaston to Virginia Beach, but Virginia officials said they expected the new court action to fail.

"We're not surprised they filed the appeal," said Clarence Warnstaff, director of public utilities for the city of Virginia Beach. "It's pretty much a routine matter that they would appeal."

On Feb. 2, U.S. District Court Judge Earl Britt ruled that the permits issued by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers allowing Virginia Beach to build the pipeline were valid. The pipeline would withdraw 60 million gallons of water a day from Lake Gaston.

Britt's decision came 10 years after the pipeline was proposed and six years after a lawsuit was filed by the state of North Carolina, the Roanoke River Basin Association and other plaintiffs to block it.

"This case is of great importance to North Carolina," said North Carolina Attorney General Lacy Thornburg. "This proposed pipeline is a terrible idea. It's bad for the environment and it's bad for economic development in North Carolina."

- Associated Press

by CNB