Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, April 29, 1995 TAG: 9505030016
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium
``I think ultimately it will have a positive resolution,'' Virginia Beach Mayor Meyra Oberndorf, whose resort city stands to receive 60 million gallons of water a day, said moments after City Council voted 10-0 to approve the mediated agreement and City Manager James K. Spore signed it.
``North Carolina will always be protected,'' said Jonathan B. Howes, secretary of that state's Department of Environment, Health and Natural Resources, who also signed the agreement.
``During severe droughts, Virginia Beach's withdrawal would be cut off, unless every user of the pipeline put mandatory water restrictions in place and maximized the use of all Virginia water sources,'' Howes said.
But that protection, and the agreement's provision of up to 35 million gallons of water a day to North Carolina communities, may not be enough to head off a new round of litigation by such opponents as the Roanoke River Basin Association and the city of Danville.
Danville Mayor Seward Anderson said his City Council has agreed ``to take whatever measures we feel are proper to protect our water resources,'' including a possible lawsuit challenging the pipeline agreement.
Anderson said Patrick McSweeney, a Richmond attorney who has represented the association of property owners along the river basin, has been hired by the city.
Earlier this week, Rep. L.F. Payne, a Democrat whose 5th District includes most of the pipeline's remaining Virginia critics, expressed dismay that North Carolina ``is going to cave in on us.''
North Carolina has been the chief opponent of the pipeline project since Virginia Beach decided in November 1982 that it would seek permission to tap the lake, which straddles the Virginia-North Carolina border about 90 miles inland.
Lake Gaston is a manmade body of water created in 1963 by a dam along the Roanoke River. It is used by Virginia Power for hydroelectric generation.
The proposed pipeline would be built entirely in Virginia, but North Carolina officials had argued that the lost water would hurt the environment and economic development efforts downstream from the lake.
Nevertheless, Virginia Beach won a series of court battles after environmental studies concluded that no harm would result from the water withdrawal.
The agreement, among other things, includes the creation of a bi-state Water Advisory Commission to monitor the use of water resources in the region.
The agreement requires approval by the Virginia and North Carolina legislatures.
by CNB