THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, June 12, 1995 TAG: 9506120039
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: STAFF, WIRE REPORTS
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Gov. George F. Allen says a proposed agreement on the Lake Gaston pipeline doesn't offer Roanoke River basin residents enough protection, according to a letter written to state delegates.
Allen has long supported the pipeline project, although he has raised some concerns before about the specifics of the settlement reached between North Carolina and Virginia Beach.
Allen wrote Del. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, and seven other Southside delegates that the proposed agreement in the decade-long dispute does not do enough to safeguard the economic development and other interests of basin residents.
``In all of my communications to the bipartisan leaders of the General Assembly, I have emphasized that any agreement approved by the General Assembly and signed by the governor must be fair to all affected areas of the state, including the Roanoke River basin,'' Allen wrote.
Newman, who has asked Allen not to reconvene the General Assembly later this month for a vote on the accord, said Allen's statement surprised him.
``This is good news,'' Newman said. ``What I think we have here is a movement by the governor toward our position. . . . The governor understands many of the issues we've been presenting.''
Virginia Beach council members said Sunday that they did not know if the letter signified a gubernatorial change of heart.
``I really don't know what to make of the letter right now, to tell you the truth,'' Councilman Louis R. Jones, the council's chief water negotiator, said. ``We just really have not had a chance to analyze the letter and come up with any conclusions on it.''
State Sen. Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, said Sunday he does not think the letter reflects any change in the governor's position. Stolle said he had talked to Allen before the letter, and ``what I think is that what the Governor's trying to do is move different sections of Virginia closer to a resolution.''
The pact, announced earlier this year, would allow a pipeline running from Lake Gaston on the Virginia-North Carolina border to carry water to Virginia Beach.
The legislatures of both states must approve the agreement before June 27 for it to become effective. In his letter, Allen stopped short of promising the Assembly will not meet to vote on the proposal.
Stolle said the next week is going to be crucial to the future of the pact. He said he believed the governor would agree by the end of this week to call a special session to ratify the settlement.
Several details of the agreement have upset localities farther up the Roanoke River basin. For example, the agreement restricts what use communities in the basin can make of Roanoke River water without approval from Virginia Beach and North Carolina.
Newman wrote Allen last month urging him to help block the proposal in the legislature. Signing the letter were six other area legislators concerned about the impact of the agreement.
The House of Delegates Ad Hoc Committee on Lake Gaston has scheduled three public hearings.
KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON PIPELINE by CNB