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

DATE: FRIDAY, June 24, 1994                   TAG: 9406290066
SECTION: NEW RIVER VALLEY                    PAGE: B4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

GASTON PIPELINE STUDY ORDERED

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ruled that an environmental impact statement must be prepared before the controversial, 76-mile pipeline can be built along the North Carolina-Virginia border.

North Carolina officials, including Gov. Jim Hunt and Attorney General Mike Easley, have vigorously opposed the pipeline, which would supply water to Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and the western Tidewater area in coastal Virginia.

North Carolina has argued that drawing up to 60 million gallons a day from the Roanoke River watershed supplying Lake Gaston would harm the state's environment.

``Now we have the lawyers and politicians out of the picture, and the experts can make a fair assessment of the environmental damage,'' Easley said in a statement released Thursday.