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

DATE: FRIDAY, September 29, 1995                   TAG: 9509290066
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

PIPELINE PROJECT ADVANCES

Virginia Beach won another court battle over the Lake Gaston water pipeline Thursday when a federal judge found that the project would not cause any major environmental problems.

Judge Thomas F. Hogan of Washington, D.C., upheld a decision by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown, who rejected North Carolina's contention that the project violates the Coastal Zone Management Act.

Virginia Beach wants to build the 76-mile pipeline from the lake on the North Carolina-Virginia border to solve the city's water supply problems. About 60 million gallons of water a day would be pumped from the lake, which is part of the Roanoke River basin.

Some fear that the project could lead to restrictions on use of the Roanoke River in this region.

North Carolina has been fighting the project in court for more than a decade. Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf said Hogan's decision raises hopes that the battle is over.

``We feel that we will be opening bids on the project next Tuesday,'' she said.

Oberndorf said every court and federal agency that has considered North Carolina's challenges has determined ``this is the most environmentally sound, economically feasible project to sustain and restore our vitality in the form of clean drinking water while not harming anyone else.''

But North Carolina's top environmental official vowed to keep fighting.

``We will continue to use every weapon we have at our disposal,'' said Jonathan Howes, secretary of the Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources.

by CNB