Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 28, 1995 TAG: 9506280015
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
- L. Schank, Moneta
Background:
Virginia Beach and North Carolina reached an agreement in April for Virginia's largest city to pump water from Lake Gaston, along the Virginia-North Carolina line. Many local governments and residents along the Roanoke River basin, which feeds into Lake Gaston, oppose the pipeline. They say Virginia Beach and North Carolina did not consult Southside Virginia before proposing to take its natural resources and fear the agreement could set a precedent for restricting their use of water in the future.
To try to win over Southside legislators, a revised agreement calls for Virginia Beach to pay Southside localities $275,000 to $1.1 million a year, depending on how much water is withdrawn.
General Assembly's role:
The General Assembly has until Friday to approve the pipeline agreement. Gov. George Allen is expected to call a special session for later this week, although late Tuesday he was still locked in a battle with Democratic leaders over what the rules for such a session should be.
Answers:
The question was directed to the candidates for the state Senate seat covering Bedford, Bedford County, Lynchburg and Amherst County.
Steve Newman (R): ``The answer is no. You cannot put a price tag on natural resources. And you cannot put a price tag on the precedent that will be set. The biggest reason this is so egregious is because this is not just an agreement between Lake Gaston and Virginia Beach. Instead, it is an agreement between Lake Gaston and Virginia Beach which robs the rights of the Roanoke basin area, which is a horrible precedent and a horrible deal.
"However, if the legislature is intent on making bad precedent and a bad deal, and the only thing left is compensation, then it should be sought, because there will at least be a precedent set that robbing natural resources is not free."
Barbara Coleman (D): ``This whole deal needs to be scrapped ... I don't think they can adequately compensate folks in the basin for water rights. Compensation means nothing if you're going to deplete the environment and take us on a short-lived economic path."
Also on the record:
Earlier this month, Newman and several other Southside legislators wrote a letter to Allen, in which they asked the governor to reconsider supporting the Virginia Beach-North Carolina agreement. Allen replied that the agreement did not protect economic development concerns of the Roanoke River basin.
Coleman spoke out against the pipeline agreement at a public hearing in Lynchburg.
What other candidates say:
Generally, the pipeline agreement has not been a partisan issue, but a regional one, with politicians in Southside and Southwest Virginia uniformly against the deal.
The most outspoken ones have been those closest to the lake itself.
Del. Ward Armstrong, D-Martinsville, has started a petition drive that had netted close to 21,000 signatures as of last week. Del. Allen Dudley, R-Rocky Mount, was among legislators who signed Newman's letter to the governor. He also sent a postage-paid form letter for voters to voice objections. Dudley's Democratic opponent, Claude Whitehead, has complained that Allen "left it to the city of Virginia Beach and the state of North Carolina to negotiate away our water rights."
In the Roanoke Valley, Del. Clifton "Chip" Woodrum, D-Roanoke, said the agreement is unconstitutional because the governor didn't negotiate the agreement with North Carolina. Republican challenger Newell Falkinburg has warned that it might give North Carolina too much veto power over business and economic development in the Roanoke River basin.
- RICHARD FOSTER
Have a question for the candidates? Please send it to Citizens' Agenda, Roanoke Times & World-News, P.O. Box 2491, Roanoke 24010, or fax it to 981-3346 or e-mail dyanceyinfi.net. Please include your name, address, daytime phone number and specify which candidates your question is for.
Citizens' Agenda is your opportunity to get answers from this year's General Assembly candidates.
by CNB