Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 17, 1994 TAG: 9404170066
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HAYMARKET LENGTH: Medium
The agency will notify the Virginia Department of Transportation on Monday that the review is required because widening Interstate 66 and constructing an interchange near the Disney's America site represent significant changes in a federal highway.
"As of this point, there will be a full environmental document required," said Mark Tumlin, administrator of the Federal Highway Administration's Richmond division. "Disney is going to have some impact on traffic, and the environment, and air quality, and whatever."
Such studies, which can take from six months to several years, include public hearings. Reviews are open to a variety of federal agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Register of Historic Places.
A Disney spokeswoman said Friday that federal transportation officials had not contacted the company.
She said the decision to conduct an environmental impact review would not change Disney's plans to build the American history theme park on 3,000 acres near Haymarket in Prince William County.
"Unfortunately, it could substantially affect the people of Prince William County and the region by causing a delay in their desperately needed road improvements essential to reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality," she said.
Environmentalists opposed to the park were satisfied by the review requirement, saying it will buy time for detailed traffic and pollution studies to be done and for political support to build.
"If we can get a decent federal study, . . . there is a stronger likelihood that people in the area are going to say, `Whoa, what are we doing here?' " said Ted Zukoski, an associate lawyer for the Sierra Club.
The review will scrutinize not only the impact of changes to I-66 in Prince William County, but also the secondary effects of Disney's development plans, which include houses, hotels, apartments and commercial space, as well as the theme park.
The General Assembly last month approved $130 million in bonds to pay for road work and other improvements to serve the park.
"Disney made some statements that, without this package of freeway improvements from the state, they were going to pack up and go home," Tumlin said.
As a result, federal officials decided that the Disney project would be a direct result of improvements to I-66 and that the park's impact also must be included in the environmental study.
"It's unusual to have a link so clearly stated between a development and a project," said Edward Kussy, deputy counsel for the federal Transportation Department.
by CNB