Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 14, 1995 TAG: 9505160066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: D-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium
The city of Danville and the town of Clarksville asked a federal district court to make them parties to the lawsuit that wound up giving the pipeline a good chance at approval, lawyer Patrick McSweeney told The Virginian-Pilot and Ledger-Star.
Both localities are in the Roanoke River Basin that includes the lake, from which Virginia Beach wants to draw water through the pipeline.
Their goal, according to a news release, is to seek ``the invalidation of the settlement agreement between the City of Virginia Beach and the State of North Carolina.''
Danville and Clarksville officials say the settlement overlooks their concerns.
``We feel like the settlement does not take into account the needs of those of us in the [Roanoke River] basin,'' Danville City Manager A. Ray Griffin Jr. said.
Neither area participated in the negotiations because neither was a party to the original lawsuit, one of a half-dozen that have extended the water battle for more than a dozen years.
Last year, North Carolina sued U.S. Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown after he sided with Virginia Beach in the Gaston dispute.
The case went to U.S. District Court in Washington, where a judge suggested the parties resolve it out of court. North Carolina and Virginia Beach agreed to mediate the entire Lake Gaston issue, instead of just the commerce secretary's decision.
Two weeks ago, after more than four months of negotiations, Virginia Beach and North Carolina signed a settlement, part of which awaits action by the Virginia and North Carolina legislatures and Congress. Chesapeake and Norfolk must also agree to sections of the compromise.
McSweeney, attorney for the Roanoke River Basin Association, which has long fought Virginia Beach's designs on Lake Gaston, said the agreement violates the Virginia Constitution.
``Only the governor can negotiate with other states, even in settling a lawsuit,'' he said.
Danville and Clarksville did not ask to be party to the original lawsuit, McSweeney said, because they had no idea the settlement would be so broad.
McSweeney, chairman of the Virginia Republican Party, said the settlement fails to provide adequate opportunity for public comment.
``It has to be more than an 800-number where people phone in their comments and they're toted up,'' he said. ``It ought to be an opportunity for thoughtful comment, careful review and balanced public opinion.''
John Bickerman, the Washington lawyer who mediated the dispute, strongly disagreed with that argument.
``I cannot imagine a more open political process than the one that is now underway,'' he said. ``There are ample opportunities for these parties to participate in the political process.''
by CNB