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

DATE: THURSDAY, March 7, 1991                   TAG: 9103070216
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-1   EDITION: STATE 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: LEXINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

COUNTY'S CHALLENGE OPPOSED/ POWER PLANT APPEAL HIT/ BY MARGARET CAMLIN/

State law does not give Rockbridge County the right of appeal, according to the opinion filed Tuesday in Rockbridge County Circuit Court.

Even if the county were granted the right through special legislation, "that right is restricted to persons who are a party to a case decision; the county was not a party to the . . . certification," wrote Assistant Attorney General Dennis H. Treacy.

Hadson Development Corp., plans to build a 60-megawatt cogeneration power plant along the Maury River. The plant is expected to require 1.3 million to 1.5 million gallons of water a day.

The Rockbridge County Board of Supervisors appealed the state Water Control Board's issuance of a permit to Hadson in early January.

The county contended that the water board erred in issuing the permit because Hadson would be able to circumvent the requirement that it not withdraw water from the river when the flow falls below certain levels.

As a backup plan, Hadson plans to pump water from wells and use reservoirs. But the county contends that the river and ground-water supply are interconnected - that when Hadson pumps water from the ground, the river level will drop.

The water board has required that Hadson produce a ground-water study before it begins construction. But the county said in its appeal that the board did not require that the study demonstrate that Hadson's pumping would not detrimentally affect the county or private and public wells.

The water board failed to fulfill its duty to protect "beneficial uses" of state waters, the appeal said. The supervisors filed the appeal to prevent damage to county residents who rely solely upon well water and who own property along the banks of the Maury River.

County officials asked the state to refuse to give Hadson the right to withdraw ground water.

But the attorney general's office contended that the county cannot assert a third-party claim. Under state law, the water board may regulate the withdrawal of ground water only in "geographically defined ground-water management areas," the office said. The county has not been declared such a management area.

The legality of the county's right of appeal "is a tough question," County Attorney Wayne Heslep said. "It's one we knew we had to confront."

Heslep said he was disturbed by the implications of the opinion. "The position they're taking is the only people who have standing [to appeal] are the applicants themselves."

If that is true, then "how will the public ever have input on this thing?" Heslep asked. "Obviously, they don't want to get to the merits of the case."

The county has said the water supply in several residents' wells dropped when Hadson was running tests on its production wells late last year.

It contends that residents who own land along the banks of the Maury will not be able to fish, swim, wade and canoe as usual when Hadson withdraws water for cooling purposes.