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

DATE: TUESDAY, May 22, 1990                   TAG: 9005220090
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV5   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: New River Valley bureau
DATELINE: PULASKI                                LENGTH: Short

WORK CREWS BEGAN BUILDING A DRAINAGE DITCH

Mall owners had been ordered in March to install the ditch after Downtown East Inc., the limited partnership now owning the industrial site, won a 10-year-old lawsuit over who was responsible for runoff that was eroding the site.

The state Water Control Board says heavy metals have been leaching into Peak Creek from Allied. The board had given Downtown East until April 30 to stop the runoff, but the partnership missed the deadline. The infraction will go before the water board's directors at a June meeting.

Brian Hoeppner, Pulaski Mall property manager, confirmed Monday that work had begun on the ditch, but he would not give any details including when construction began or when it would be finished.

"I'd rather not say anything," he said. "There are a lot of different entities involved here."

H.W. Huff Jr., general partner with Downtown East, said Monday that the partnership has hired a consultant to look into the problem.

"We are aware of the situation and we are working on the problem," he said. "Everything now is in the hands of our consultant."

Heavy metals from the Allied site have settled in the creek's sediments, according to Water Control Board biologists. After heavy rains, the creek turns a rusty red. Peak Creek flows into Claytor Lake and the red coloring has been spotted there, too.

The Allied plant closed in 1976 after 55 years. It manufactured iron sulfide and a product used in making sulphuric acid.