THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 17, 1994 TAG: 9407150025
SECTION: COMMENTARY PAGE: J4 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
Regarding your recent article about the oft-talked-about and now apparently ``clogged'' pipeline to bring water from Lake Gaston, N.C., to help solve the water shortfall in the Virginia Beach area:
Having followed this saga for a number of years, I find it almost comical to read comments from Virginia Beach project manager Tom Leahy regarding hypothetical anticipated delays with a desalting plant due to environmental concerns, permit delays and regulatory opposition. It appears to me that those are exactly the things that have happened with regard to the pipeline. The sad part of this saga is that the people of Virginia Beach and the tourists who visit Virginia Beach have been penalized in terms of water availability.
In fact, there is technology available today, which is proved without a shadow of a doubt, that is commercially and technically suitable to help solve the water shortage problems in Virginia Beach. If anyone doubts this, they should simply contact some of their neighbors to the south in many of the Caribbean Islands, where the economy is fueled by tourism and the water is provided by a number of desalting methods, the predominant one being reverse osmosis (RO). Mr. Leahy's claim that the project could take on the cost of ``the magnitude of the Southeastern Expressway'' sounds inflammatory and is not grounded in fact.
One of the benefits of RO technology is that it is modular and can be built in stages and is normally the preferred method for installing capacity in an area where demand has a gradual and predictable increase. Unfortunately for the Virginia Beach area, an RO system could have been installed and up and running within a year of the decision to begin. That could have occurred in the 1980s. However, the pipeline solution was ``a one-time shot,'' all or nothing. The regulations, environmental concerns and legal delays have taken control of the project and, in fact, there is no pipeline, only a ``pipe dream.''
At the United States Filter Corp., our business is water purification, including water desalination. As one of the largest water-treatment companies in the world and a member of the New York Stock Exchange, our commitment is to help our customers solve their water problems. It is our sole reason for existing. If we can be of assistance to the people of Virginia Beach, we would be more than happy to do so.
I look forward to the next installment of why desalting will not work and the only solution is a pipeline - or is it a ``pipe dream''?
LARRY PELEGRIN
Vice president, Sales and Marketing
United States Filter Corp.
Rockford, Ill., July 7, 1994 by CNB