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

DATE: FRIDAY, August 6, 1993                   TAG: 9308060183
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

RICHMOND FLOODWALL BILL CLEARS CONGRESSIONAL PANEL

A congressional committee approved a bill Thursday to increase the spending limit for Richmond's floodwall and allow its completion.

The House Committee on Public Works and Transportation sent the floodwall measure to the House floor, where it will be taken up next month.

Officials originally had wanted to finish the floodwall by January. If both houses pass the bill, the project may be completed by next summer.

The project neared the spending limit set by Congress while leaving an 800-foot gap in the wall in south Richmond.

Rep. Thomas J. Bliley, R-Richmond, introduced a bill Monday to raise the authorized spending level for the floodwall to $134 million, about $10 million above the current ceiling.

"Today's action . . . is a much-needed first step to prevent any further delays in the project work schedule," Bliley said after Thursday's committee vote.

The discovery of hazardous wastes set back the schedule and required the revision of contracts to complete all but the 800-foot section, where the wastes were found in the floodwall path.

Costs projected for the cleanup of the high levels of lead, cadmium and petroleum compounds in the soil would exceed the spending limit.

by CNB