THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 2, 1994 TAG: 9409300250
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 06 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 87 lines
Following are excerpts from the text of a statement delivered by Attorney General Jim Gilmore before the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond last Tuesday in support of Virginia Beach's request that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission either halt or expedite its proposed study of the environmental impact of the Lake Gaston pipeline.
Thank you for the opportunity to present the Commonwealth's view of the issues presented by this case. Needless to say, in three minutes' argument I will not be duplicating the remarks of Virginia Beach's able counsel. I agree with the city's views on this case.
It is undisputed that Virginia Beach needs to increase its domestic water supply and has for some time. The Lake Gaston pipeline project was proposed more than a decade ago as an environmentally sound and economical solution to this water crisis.
The approval process for this project has gone through a torturous journey to reach you today. The project has passed environmental muster and received approvals from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (formerly the State Water Control Board), the Virginia Council on the Environment, the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the United States Department of Commerce.
All of the challenges regarding the environmental effects of the pipeline project have, in the end, resulted in the pipeline project being approved, including a 1991 ruling by this court.
Now the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is embarking on yet another environmental review that will result in months and possibly years of delay in the face of an ever-increasing water-supply crisis in Southeastern Virginia. On behalf of the Commonwealth of Virginia, I join Virginia Beach in imploring this court to stop this needless delay before it goes a minute further.
The project has been opposed by the state of North Carolina, various environmental groups and citizens in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the area of the Lake Gaston pipeline project. As government officials in Virginia, we have had to make tough choices regarding this project. However, in the face of conclusion after conclusion that the project creates no significant environmental impact for any individual or any state, the governor, the General Assembly and I all support construction of the pipeline project.
Why am I telling you all of this? Because the Commonwealth believes that the successful resolution of this matter is essential to the well-being of the commonwealth. I am concerned, and this court should be concerned, about the increasing misuse of environmental statutes for purposes unrelated to environmental protection. This is a perfect example of such abuse of the environmental process.
I suggest to this court that FERC's decision to prepare (an environmental impact statement), in the face of overwhelming evidence that environmental concerns about project construction are minimal, has nothing to do with environmental protection but instead is a decision to avoid making a decision.
When you look at the entire record over the past decade relating to the Lake Gaston pipeline project, it is clear that the process is being exploited by some pipeline opponents not because of their concern for environmental protection but instead for delay. For them, every delay is a victory - a victory because the pipeline is still not constructed despite approval after approval by various federal, state and local agencies.
You have before you a federal government agency afraid to take one step without performing a duplicative environmental study which is a complete waste of precious federal resources. This same agency issued a draft environmental assessment in 1993 concluding that the project did not adversely affect the environment.
In the River Road Alliance case earlier cited by Virginia Beach, the Seventh Circuit recognized that environmental impact statements should not be prepared if such studies would use up resources better spent elsewhere. I can't think of anything more wasteful than a duplicative rehash of environmental issues long settled.
In 1991 in the Roanoke River Basin Ass'n case, this court found, regarding the Lake Gaston pipeline project, that ``there is no longer any controversy concerning either the environmental effects on the Roanoke River or the need for a new supply of water in Virginia Beach, in both absolute terms and relative to the needs of Northeastern North Carolina.''
The damage to Virginia Beach and to the Commonwealth is irreparable. The record contains overwhelming support for the city's position that the environmental effects of the project are minimal. In light of the history of this matter, the decision by FERC to prolong this process is unreasonable.
The Commonwealth requests that this relief be granted and that this project be allowed to proceed without fictitious environmental impedi-ments.
KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON STATEMENT APPEAL by CNB