THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, September 28, 1994 TAG: 9409280453
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium: 64 lines
Talk of striped bass, unbuilt homes and two states' tug of war over water filled the courtroom Tuesday as Virginia Beach asked federal judges to use their power to kick-start the Lake Gaston project.
The Beach is asking the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to force the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to hurry up or halt its environmental review of the Gaston project. The long-delayed pipeline would bring up to 48 million gallons a day to the once-rapidly growing city and 12 million to other Hampton Roads localities.
North Carolina, which opposes the project, wants the agency to do the full review, which would include such issues as the pipeline's impact on striped bass populations in the Roanoke River.
Federal courts rarely grant requests to intervene with federal agencies, so Virginia Beach knows it is attempting a long shot. But the months are ticking by, the city is worried about its economic future and the appeal is part of an all-out effort to get the pipeline going. The city has already struck out on another front: a request that the commission reconsider.
``We've been doing this for 11 years,'' said Virginia Beach's attorney, Scott Hart. ``We've had enough unnecessary studies.''
Appeals court Judge Francis D. Murnaghan began grilling Hart almost immediately. ``Has Virginia Beach called a moratorium on buildings to house new people?'' he asked.
The city's growth has slowed drastically, Hart answered. There is not a moratorium, but the city's 400,000-plus residents are being harmed, he said.
Murnaghan countered, ``How many people would be harmed if this goes through and turns out to be environmentally harmful?''
The court was equally hard on attorneys for the federal agency, however.
Judge Paul V. Niemeyer said he had read the commission's initial environmental assessment, which it used as the basis to begin a full environmental impact statement on the Gaston project, and was not sure it supported the commission's actions.
``It looks almost as though you're looking for problems,'' Niemeyer told the commission's attorney, Jerome M. Feit.
Niemeyer pointed to the other federal agencies that have approved the project, including the Army Corps of Engineers.
``The very same government that did that is now saying there must be a further study. . . . So it takes from January 1992 to June 1995 to do this full environmental review? It's no wonder people who have projects try to avoid having this done.''
Virginia Beach argued that it is running out of time. The commission said the earliest it is likely to finish the environmental review is next June.
Beach officials said they need to know the results by next April, when the city of Norfolk must begin upgrading its water treatment plant. If Norfolk does not then begin the necessary work to handle Lake Gaston water, the treatment plant might not be ready until 2001.
Peter R. Steenland, an attorney from the U.S. Department of Justice arguing on the commission's behalf, said FERC is in a tight spot and must be allowed to do its work.
``FERC knows that whatever decision it makes, it will be sued,'' Steenland said. ``So FERC said to itself, `We need to make a defensible decision.' ''
KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON by CNB