Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, June 27, 1995 TAG: 9506270080
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: KAREN WEINTRAUB and ROBERT LITTLE LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Allen, mindful of the touchy politics of a legislative election year and cautious to have all his earlier concerns met, did not do anything with the deal Monday but was expected to either call a special session of the General Assembly today or allow the plan to die.
Allen told legislators last week to reserve Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for the legislative session needed to approve any pipeline compact with North Carolina.
When an agreement between North Carolina and Virginia Beach was first announced at the end of April, Allen said he would call a special session only if the interests of all affected parties were addressed and if he could be assured that the Gaston pipeline would be the only subject of the session.
The first condition was met Monday with a closed-door signing ceremony with North Carolina, Virginia Beach and Norfolk officials. A representative of Fair Play for all Virginians - a group of big businesses from Southside Virginia - and a committee of state legislators helped work out the compromise.
A spokesman for Allen said Monday that the governor was negotiating with House of Delegates Speaker Thomas Moss, D-Norfolk, and Senate Majority Leader Hunter Andrews, D-Hampton, on the procedural requirements for a special session.
Some legislators, including the chairman of the House committee that helped broker the deal, said they think the pipeline lacks support needed to pass in the House. While the new deal pacified some objections from lawmakers in the Roanoke River basin, they are still expected to oppose the project.
``This thing isn't anywhere near over,'' said Del. Glenn Croshaw, D-Virginia Beach, who predicted the pipeline deal will pass, but just barely. ``It's going to be a fierce three days.''
In a letter sent Monday to Moss, Del. Franklin Hall, D-Richmond, chairman of the Special Committee on the Lake Gaston Pipeline, said he believes there are still ``deep divisions in philosophy'' among House members.
Hall said he opposes the deal. He suggested that the interested parties keep negotiating.
Pipeline supporters say that delaying passage of the compromise past the Friday deadline is the same as killing it.
The North Carolina General Assembly, which must also approve the pact, is scheduled to end its annual session as soon as Friday. And a federal agency that has been studying the project is expected to render its decision within the next two weeks, likely encouraging either North Carolina or Virginia Beach to resume their legal battles.
The committees and representatives of all areas that will be affected by the pipeline worked over the past two weeks. Each side made concessions to reach the compromise, but each received most of its stated goals:
Southside would be guaranteed $275,000 to $1.1 million a year from pipeline users. Southside negotiators secured a promise from North Carolina that it would withdraw no more than 5 million gallons of water per day from the Dan River, which dips into North Carolina near Greensboro before returning to Virginia. And Virginia Beach agreed that it would never try to interfere with uses of the Roanoke River upstream of Lake Gaston.
Virginia Beach, Chesapeake and other South Hampton Roads communities would get access to the 60 million gallons of water a day they say they need from Lake Gaston - and an end to North Carolina's decade of litigation. If approved by the legislatures and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, construction of the pipeline could begin as early as this fall.
Norfolk was able to remove the requirement that it never sell its surplus water to the Peninsula or Eastern Shore. It agreed, at the request of North Carolina, that it would not sell water to the Peninsula before 2010, the year Virginia Beach is expected to need more water than what it could get from Lake Gaston. It also would be guaranteed continued access to the Blackwater and Notoway rivers, which run into North Carolina shortly after feeding into the city's water supply.
North Carolina got a guarantee that South Hampton Roads would not come back for more Gaston water in the future and a promise that communities in both northeastern and north-central North Carolina would have continued access to the lake water. North Carolina communities around the Roanoke River basin would also receive a minimum of $275,000 and a maximum of $1.1 million dollars a year from Hampton Roads based on the amount of water withdrawn from the lake.
Carolina negotiators also wrung concessions to encourage better water management and the use of local resources before tapping into Lake Gaston and received assurances that work would be expedited on widening the Virginia sections of two roads that serve as lifelines to the Outer Banks - U.S. 17 and Virginia 168.
Alex Marshall of Landmark News Service contributed to this report.
by CNB