THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, July 27, 1995 TAG: 9507270364
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 93 lines
Virginia Beach on Wednesday received the last permit it needs to build the Lake Gaston pipeline.
But yet again in its 12 1/2-year pursuit of water, the city found its victory undermined by a North Carolina tactic.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gave Virginia Beach and Chesapeake permission to take as much as 60 million gallons of water per day from Lake Gaston.
The 26-page decision read like a ringing endorsement of the pipeline.
But the agency said its permit would not take effect until after a federal judge in Washington, D.C., lifts a stay that he imposed last week on another Gaston-related case.
So now, the focus of the Gaston dispute shifts from FERC - a federal agency that regulates the hydroelectric plant operating on Lake Gaston - back to the judge who had encouraged North Carolina and Virginia Beach to settle their long-standing dispute.
U.S. District Judge Thomas F. Hogan said a week ago that he would decide by Sept. 22 whether Commerce Secretary Ronald H. Brown acted appropriately when he overruled North Carolina's opposition to the pipeline.
Hogan indicated that the law predisposes him to side with Virginia Beach but that North Carolina's concerns are important enough to merit his in-depth review.
Virginia Beach had counted on getting the permit this summer so it could complete the 76-mile pipeline by the spring of 1998, when its current water contract with Norfolk expires. Beach council member Louis R. Jones said Wednesday that the City Council will consider bidding out the construction project in the next few weeks so that a contractor will be ready to go as soon as Judge Hogan lifts the stay.
``We're delighted that the commission has seen fit to give us the permit,'' said Jones, the council's chief Gaston negotiator, ``and we're looking forward to moving on in the process.''
State and federal officials were savoring Virginia Beach's victory Wednesday.
``This is a very important milestone,'' Sen. Charles S. Robb, D-Virginia, said Wednesday.
``FERC's action today should send a clear message to North Carolina,'' Virginia Attorney General James S. Gilmore III said in a prepared statement. ``This is an environmentally sound project, and it's time to end this expensive, prolonged legal fight.''
Pipeline opponents are not likely to take Gilmore's advice. They renewed their pledge Wednesday to continue battling the project.
North Carolina and Southside Virginia officials have long opposed the pipeline, saying it would damage the environment and deprive them of water they need for economic development.
``This decision does not protect the interests of North Carolina,'' Jonathan Howes, secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources, said in a prepared statement. ``We will continue to fight this ill-conceived project with every weapon at our command.''
The five-member federal regulatory commission voted unanimously Wednesday to approve the pipeline permit, saying the project would have no significant impact on the environment or the socio-economic future of the Roanoke River basin.
Virginia Beach will be required to replace 12 acres of wetlands near Lake Prince in Suffolk where the pipeline will end; maintain water levels during striped bass spawning seasons; and create a walleye spawning area near the mouth of the pipeline.
The city has also agreed to comply with many of the demands North Carolina made while the two sides tried to reach an out-of-court settlement. Hopes for the settlement evaporated late last month amid political squabbling between Republican Gov. George F. Allen, state Democratic leaders, Virginia Beach officials, and legislators from Southside and Northern Virginia.
``The proposed water supply project will ensure a safe, reliable, and relatively inexpensive source of potable water for Virginia Beach and secondary users now and in the future,'' the commission concluded. ``We believe that the conditions attached to our authorizations will fully protect those who are so vitally concerned about the water diversion.''
The commission also dismissed North Carolina's argument that South Hampton Roads does not really need Lake Gaston water and denied Carolina's motions for a hearing on the matter and for further delays.
``We find no evidence in the 15-year record of intensive analysis associated with Virginia Beach's project to justify a delay of the permanent decision,'' the ruling concluded.
The commission members praised the work of staffers who conducted the yearlong environmental review of the pipeline.
``We now know more about this river than anyone except Mother Nature,'' Commission Chair Elizabeth A. Moler said at the morning meeting. ``Our studies have been exhaustive. . . . We spent a lot of time considering all the options and protecting the interests of all parties.''
KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON PIPELINE WATER SUPPLY PLAN by CNB