Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990 TAG: 9003231938
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER SOUTHWEST BUREAU
DATELINE: INDEPENDENCE LENGTH: Medium
But nobody seemed sure afterward what would happen next.
"It may resolve itself in negotiation. . . . I hope it does," said Terry Grimes, a Roanoke lawyer hired last month by Fries to pursue its objections. "There's no court date pending."
Meanwhile, the $6.3 million waste-water treatment program by Galax is almost complete and waste water could be discharged into the New River as early as August.
A busload of Fries residents descended on the Grayson County Courthouse and were joined by others to demonstrate, waving signs like "If It's Clean Enough to Drink, YOU Drink It!"
Many of them poured into the courtroom, quickly filling all the seats. Some stood or sat on the floor.
Circuit Judge Willis Woods heard arguments from Grimes; Richard Sedgley, representing Galax; and Assistant Virginia Attorney General John Butcher for the state Water Control Board.
"We're not here today to decide if the decision to issue the permit was right or wrong, wise or unwise," Wood said.
He said the petitioners were aggrieved by the waste-water project, and so had the right to have the board's action reviewed by the court.
Galax now discharges its waste water into Chestnut Creek, which flows into the New River, and has been under court order to improve waste-water elimination procedures. The city completed plans for a system using only the New River in late 1988.
The discharge would be 3.5 miles upstream from Fries in Grayson County. Fries had looked at the New River as a potential source of drinking water and spurned an offer from Galax to sell water to Fries.
Galax contends that moving the discharge downstream would be too costly, and might not be allowed because Fries discharges its sewage there.
Public hearings were held in January and May of 1989 in Galax and Fries, respectively. The board approved the project permit in June.
Fries petitioned for a formal hearing on the permit and the board denied it in September. Fries appealed that denial Oct. 12 and brought its appeal to Circuit Court Nov. 13.
Sedgley argued that no notice of appeal ever was filed, and that the matter should therefore be dismissed.
"What we're dealing with is a difference of opinion, a difference in judgement, between the citizens and the state agency," he said.
Grimes argued that the request for a formal hearing was part of an appeal of the permit decision, and that it was all part of the same procedure. "This is the only time these petitioners will ever have to contest the issuance of this permit," he told Woods.
by CNB