ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, December 12, 1996 TAG: 9612120017
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH
SOURCE: Associated Press
The proposed $250 million Lake Gaston water pipeline has come under attack from the top legal officers of more than half the states in the country.
In a brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, 26 state attorneys general urged the court to overturn a permit issued for the project last year by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The permit ``represents a clear and present danger to the sovereign rights of all states,'' the attorneys general argued. Congress expressly gave states the power to control their own water quality in the Clean Water Act, the brief argued, and FERC does not have authority to override that power.
The appeals court has been considering a challenge of the permit for several months and has scheduled arguments for Feb. 4. A ruling is expected next spring.
For more than a decade, Virginia Beach has been seeking to build the pipeline to supply its growing water needs. The 76-mile line would carry up to 60 million gallons of water a day.
A FERC permit was required because the agency regulates electric utilities, and the Lake Gaston dam is owned and operated by Virginia Power.
Although the pipeline would be built entirely in Virginia, the lake is part of the Roanoke River basin that flows into North Carolina. North Carolina officials have been fighting the project since it was first proposed.
Virginia Beach Deputy City Attorney William Macali said Tuesday he doesn't believe the appeals court will be influenced by the brief from the attorneys general.
But North Carolina Special Deputy Attorney General Alan Hirsch said the filing shows the court that North Carolina's position is not parochial.
Construction of the pipeline already has started, with more than half of the 76 miles in the ground.
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