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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 8, 1991                   TAG: 9103080808
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

JUDGE REJECTS GROUP'S TRY TO STOP DIOXIN REGULATION

But Richmond Circuit Judge Theodore Markow hinted on Thursday that the environmental group and three landowners who live downriver could ultimately win their request for a new hearing to push for stricter dioxin standards.

Markow is expected to rule on the request within the next few weeks.

The center of debate is a new standard that sets a state dioxin discharge limit of 1.2 parts per quadrillion, which is approximately 100 times lower than the federal Environmental Protection Agency's general standard, adopted by most states.

Westvaco Corp.'s Covington plant applied for a new waste water discharge permit under the new standard, which Virginia adopted last May.

A byproduct of paper manufacturing, dioxin has been linked to a wide range of health problems, including cancer. State authorities have issued warnings against eating fish caught from some rivers where dioxin has been discharged.

Markow ruled in January that the defense fund, along with landowners Juan Ramirez, Dr. Benjamin Rice and Joseph W. Lawler, could legally challenge the water board's decision.

Attorneys for the state and three major paper manufacturers - including Westvaco - argued that only the manufacturers can dispute the board's standards.

The environmentalists also wanted Markow to prevent implementation of the water board's regulation, alleging the dioxin would do irreparable harm to the river.

But representatives for the board and Westvaco argued that if the standard was blocked it could do more damage than good - without it, there would be no limits to the amount of dioxin discharged.