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

DATE: SUNDAY, June 11, 1995                   TAG: 9506120068
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-7   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LYNCHBURG                                LENGTH: Short

ALLEN: PIPELINE PACT WOULD HARM RESIDENTS

Gov. George Allen says a proposed agreement on the Lake Gaston pipeline doesn't offer Roanoke River basin residents enough protection, according to a letter written to a state delegate.

Allen wrote Del. Steve Newman, R-Lynchburg, that the proposed agreement between Virginia Beach and North Carolina in the decade-long dispute does not safeguard the economic development and other interests of basin residents.

``In all of my communications to the bipartisan leaders of the General Assembly, I have emphasized that any agreement approved by the General Assembly and signed by the governor must be fair to all affected areas of the state, including the Roanoke River basin,'' Allen wrote.

The letter was faxed late Friday afternoon, Newman said. Allen is on a 12-day trade trip to Europe.

Newman, who has asked Allen not to reconvene the General Assembly later this month for a vote on the proposed accord, said Allen's statement surprised him.

``This is good news,'' Newman said. ``What I think we have here is a movement by the governor toward our position."

The pact would allow a pipeline running from Lake Gaston on the Virginia-North Carolina border to carry water to Virginia Beach. The legislatures of both states must approve the agreement before June 27 for it to become effective.

by CNB