Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, November 17, 1995                   TAG: 9511170073
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

VA., N.C. CONGRESSMEN JOIN ANTI-PIPELINE EFFORT

The bill, similar to one filed by Sens. Jesse Helms and Lauch Faircloth on Wednesday, would require North Carolina to certify that the project will have no adverse impact on the local environment or economy before the pipeline could proceed.

The proposed 76-mile pipeline from the lake to Virginia Beach would draw up to 60 million gallons of water a day from the lake. North Carolina has attempted to block the pipeline since the early 1980s.

"The bill we are introducing today is a fair and equitable means of addressing Southside Virginia's concerns about the pipeline," Payne said in a news release. "It assures in cases such as this, where a lake straddles two states, that the state from which most of the water will be withdrawn has the chance to certify that the withdrawal will not adversely impact water quality within its borders."

"The federal government must either listen to the thousands of North Carolinians and Virginians who live and work on the lake, or it should forget plans to use this vital resource,'' Funderburk said in a news release.

In July, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concluded that Virginia Beach could build the pipeline without harming the environment. An appeal by North Carolina failed in September. The appeal has moved to federal court in Washington. Virginia Beach has awarded contracts for the project. Construction is expected to begin in December.

"The fight against this pipeline is an uphill battle," Payne said, "but it's one that I will continue to wage aggressively, because it is in the best interest of Southside Virginia."