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

DATE: SATURDAY, February 18, 1995                   TAG: 9502210014
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: DANVILLE                                LENGTH: Short

PAYNE: PIPELINE STUDY SHOULD BE DISCARDED

An environmental study that recommended building the Lake Gaston pipeline should be scrapped because it ignores alternatives for supplying water to Virginia Beach, Rep. L.F. Payne said Friday.

Payne, D-Nelson County, said the draft study issued Jan. 27 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission was completed at ``breakneck speed'' and overlooked the possibilities of conservation and the development of other water sources.

Payne, a pipeline opponent, spoke at a Danville news conference with Ewell Barr, president of the Roanoke River Basin Association.

The draft was not FERC's final word, but it was an indication that the agency is leaning toward issuing a permit that would allow the construction of a water intake on Lake Gaston for the pipeline.

- Associated Press

by CNB