ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, September 20, 1996 TAG: 9609200064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
Protecting scenic vistas from such intrusions as American Electric Power Co.'s proposed power line was the main concern of the only person who showed up Thursday night to address a little-publicized meeting of Gov. George Allen's Commission on Environmental Stewardship.
Many members of the commission itself missed the hastily called meeting, which was held throughout the day at the Salem Civic Center.
The only member of the public seeking the commission's ear was Robert Hunt, a Salem lawyer who is working with other Roanoke Valley business and civic leaders to establish the Western Virginia Land Trust.
The trust, Hunt explained, is a private, nonprofit organization that will work to protect valuable scenic and cultural properties in the Roanoke Valley and throughout Western Virginia. Part of the trust's work will be similar to that of the Nature Conservancy, an environmental organization that buys land with an emphasis on promoting biodiversity.
Hunt used AEP's proposed 765-kilovolt line from Wyoming County, W.Va., to Cloverdale to illustrate the kind of development his group would try to prevent. He asked panel members and staff to look at the existing 765-kilovolt line along Fort Lewis Mountain and to imagine what another such line would do to the mountainside.
Such lines, if they are needed, should be put where the fewest people have to see them, Hunt said.
Also Thursday, representatives of the A.L. Philpott Manufacturing Center of Martinsville, a state-backed organization that serves small businesses in Southside, central and Western Virginia, described their efforts to help small businesses comply with environmental regulations. The center has an environmental specialist based in Lynchburg, Jeff Willoughby, who helps small businesses find the technical knowledge they need to deal with environmental problems.
Before Thursday night's public comment session, the commission heard presentations by three Roanoke Valley companies that use bacteria and other biological techniques to clean up pollutants.
Another meeting is planned Oct. 30 in Abingdon.
The commission's December report to the governor will discuss current environmental conditions and efforts around the state and ways the state might help improve them, said David Johnson, a member from Richmond.
The commission will continue to take comments on environmental issues through Dec.1. They may be faxed to (804)786-0034; mailed to Governor's Commission on Environmental Stewardship, Office of the Attorney General, Natural Resources Section, 900 E. Main St., Richmond 23219; or sent by e-mail to greenva@oag.state.va.us
LENGTH: Medium: 54 linesby CNB