Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, December 31, 1993 TAG: 9312310148
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: JONESVILLE LENGTH: Medium
The biological assessment will be analyzed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and possibly by the National Marine Fisheries Services.
After they determine whether the project threatens endangered species or their habitats, the FAA will decide whether a full environmental impact study is needed.
There are endangered species in the area where the airport would be built, including freshwater mussels, Leo's clover and the Lee County isopod, which occupies a single cave system within three miles of the project.
Dennis Willis of Marshall, Miller & Associates of Norton, the project's engineering firm, said the biological assessment will be started by a subcontractor in two months and take about two months to complete.
Willis said a full environmental impact study would be expensive, take one or two years to finish and could stop the airport project that started in 1989.
The study would consider the effect the project has on the rare species, as well as its total effect on the environment.
Willis said he doesn't believe an environmental impact study will be required because of previous research by the Fish and Wildlife Service.
The airport, with a 4,200-foot runway and room for expansion, would cost an estimated $5 million, Lee County Administrator Phil Gay said. The FAA would pay 90 percent of the cost; the Virginia Department of Aviation and Lee County each would pay 5 percent.
A smaller airport about 15 miles east is not big enough to accommodate commercial flights, Willis said. Corporate flights, generally made on twin-engine planes, could bring more business and industry to the far Southwest Virginia county, he said.
The average general aviation airport in Virginia contributes $1.6 million annually in economic activity, Willis said.
by CNB