ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, December 30, 1995            TAG: 9601020061
SECTION: VIRGINIA                 PAGE: C-3  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: COVINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press 

CORPS WON'T CLOSE RIVER TO PUBLIC USE

The Army Corps of Engineers has denied Westvaco Corp.'s request to declare a 1.7-mile stretch of the Jackson River a danger zone and close it to the public.

Westvaco filed the request two years ago, citing hazards posed by chemical tanks, high-pressure steam and chemical pipes and rough waters below dams on the river near the company's Covington paper mill.

But in a Dec. 20 letter to Westvaco, the Corps of Engineers sided with residents who argued against the closing at a March 1994 hearing.

``I have determined that the Westvaco proposal to establish a danger zone on a 1.7-mile stretch of the Jackson River ... is contrary to the public interest,'' said Col. Robert H. Reardon Jr., a district engineer with corps headquarters in Norfolk.

Boaters began to frequent the 1.7-mile stretch of the Jackson after the state Department of Game and Inland Fisheries established a cold-water trout fishery upstream from the mill in 1989.

Westvaco spokesman Robert G. Crockett said Friday that the company is disappointed with the corps' decision.

``Ordinarily, Westvaco strongly encourages and promotes the use of its property for recreational purposes, but we believe this decision by the corps places those using this stretch of the river at risk,'' he said.

The corps said about 20 stretches of river in Virginia have been declared danger or safety zones.

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