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

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 14, 1995                   TAG: 9506140092
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH                                LENGTH: Medium

LAKE GASTON PROPONENTS SPEAK OUT

The Lake Gaston water pipeline is needed to solve a shortage in Virginia Beach that is affecting economic development and national security, local officials said at a hearing Tuesday night.

More than 200 people turned out for the hearing before a state Senate subcommittee on an agreement between Virginia Beach and North Carolina that would allow the pipeline to be built.

``We must stand shoulder-to-shoulder in this issue because it's critical to the economic development of this state,'' said Del. Bob Purkey, R-Virginia Beach.

Virginia Beach Mayor Meyera Oberndorf said the pipeline ``is critical to the public health of this region and is desperately needed to alleviate current water supply shortages in Virginia Beach.''

Referring to the Tidewater region's military bases, such as Oceana Naval Air Station in Virginia Beach, the mayor added that ``the project is vital to the national security of nation.''

The agreement, which has a June 27 deadline for General Assembly approval, was intended to end more than a decade of legal wrangling over the proposed 76-mile pipeline that will carry up to 60 million gallons of water a day from the Virginia-North Carolina border lake.

Instead, it created a rift between Virginia Beach and neighboring Norfolk, which has been a pipeline supporter, because it would prevent Norfolk from selling its surplus water outside its immediate area.

State Sen. Charles Hawkins, R-Danville, spoke for the opposition from Southside Virginia when he criticized the deal. ``This is a poor state policy because we are encouraging populations to grow far beyond those regions who support that population,'' he said.

- Associated Press

by CNB