ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, December 10, 1995 TAG: 9512110093
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NORFOLK
SOURCE: Associated Press
The Environmental Protection Agency is urging Virginia Beach and North Carolina to settle their long-running dispute over the pipeline that would transport water to the city from Lake Gaston.
An EPA official familiar with the case said the two sides can either settle now or later, after a protracted court fight.
``The question is whether you do it now, or whether you wait for more litigation to go ahead, until you finally face up to the need to work this out,'' she said.
The official spoke to The Virginian-Pilot on condition of anonymity because she is not authorized to speak for the agency. The EPA's official spokesmen are not familiar with the Lake Gaston dispute, she said.
North Carolina officials have been fighting Virginia Beach's plans to build the 76-mile pipeline for more than a decade. They claim the pipeline, which would take up to 60 million gallons of water a day from the lake, which straddles the state border, would harm North Carolina's environment.
Virginia Beach has won all the necessary federal permits to build the pipeline, but North Carolina is continuing to oppose the project in court.
The EPA official said a continuing court battle might damage a provision of the Clean Water Act that gives states a right to veto projects they dislike, even those approved by federal agencies.
Virginia Beach and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said the provision does not affect the pipeline project. North Carolina plans to argue to a federal appeals court early next year that it does.
The EPA official said her agency was worried that the legal challenge ultimately might overturn the section, thereby depriving all states of their opportunity to block projects.
``We're looking at the long term not just for this project, but for the Clean Water Act,'' she said.
The official would not detail what the EPA is doing to encourage a settlement.
North Carolina officials have vowed to continue their opposition unless a settlement that fell through last summer is resurrected. The deal collapsed when the Virginia General Assembly refused to approve it.
Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf said Friday that she sees no reason for Virginia Beach to accept a costly settlement now that all the necessary permits have been granted.
The settlement called for Virginia Beach to provide money to communities in both states that might lose access to Roanoke River water because of the pipeline. Virginia also would agree to let northeastern North Carolina communities tap the lake for up to 15 million gallons of water per day.
In exchange, North Carolina agreed to drop all opposition to the project. After the settlement died, FERC granted a final permit for the pipeline.
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