THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 17, 1995 TAG: 9501170330
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 98 lines
After five years of debate, the Army Corps of Engineers is expected to issue a permit today allowing Norfolk Southern Corp. to build a $100 million coal-storage yard near two major reservoirs in South Hampton Roads.
``This has been one of the most controversial and complicated projects this division has ever handled,'' said Kenneth Kimidy, a senior environmental scientist for the corps, who finished writing the federal permit last week and expected its formal release today.
The permit is the last major hurdle that Norfolk Southern has to jump before beginning work on its 1,600-acre facility in Isle of Wight County, about one mile east of Windsor off Route 460.
As planned, the yard will hold up to 40 million tons of western Virginia coal a year en route to loading docks at Lamberts Point in Norfolk and ports around the world.
A state water protection permit still is required. But the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has signaled its tentative approval, and opponents say they are not planning any last-stand protest.
``Let's put it this way: If I win the lottery, we might have the money to challenge them,'' said Art Whitener, vice chairman of Citizens Against The Coal Storage Facility, who lives about a half-mile from the site. ``But really, we're still amazed this thing was ever approved. To us, it's just a horrendous project.''
Isle of Wight County officials and business leaders feel just the opposite.
They maintain that the project will mean new jobs (Norfolk Southern spokesman Bob Fort estimates ``dozens'' of permanent jobs), a stronger tax base and $500,000 that the company has offered to pay over 10 years to help build sanitary sewers.
In addition, under the terms of the corps permit, Norfolk Southern must restore 213 acres of wetlands and preserve 696 acres of forests, which will be a natural buffer against noise and coal dust.
Such protections were demanded by the Environ mental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Both agencies have been critical of the project for years and have consistently asked that more safeguards be added to the corps permit.
Carolyn Szumal, an EPA spokeswoman in Philadelphia, said that while she had not seen the final permit, it sounded as if all her agency's concerns had been answered.
Environmentalists and some local residents had hoped to block the corps permit altogether, or stir enough of a popular groundswell to force Norfolk Southern to scrap its plans or modify them significantly.
Despite company concessions, opponents charge that the coal yard will be a blight on sensitive wetlands and forests, and threaten the drinking water supply of much of South Hampton Roads.
Likewise, the EPA, state and city regulators have expressed concerns about possible runoff into drinking supplies from the coal yard, although those worries have largely been addressed in negotiations with the company.
The site lies just upstream of Lake Prince and Lake Cohoon, and drains into the freshwater swamps that feed the two reservoirs. The lakes provide much of the drinking water to Suffolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake, Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
While officials concede that the lakes will absorb traces of heavy metals from the coal - including lead, mercury and arsenic - and will be sprinkled with as much as 9 tons of coal dust a year, they say the risks are minimal at most.
There's always going to be a concern, but if they follow the requirements on their permit, everything should be OK,'' said Jim Spacek, director of public utilities for Portsmouth.
Portsmouth is the most anxious of the affected cities. It draws its water from Lake Cohoon, while Norfolk pulls most of its surface water from Lake Prince and its tributaries. Norfolk then treats the water and sells it to other cities in the region.
Under company plans, Norfolk Southern will construct a series of ponds to collect any tainted water that washes off huge coal piles within the yard. While the ponds are designed to keep runoff from reaching Lake Cohoon, all sides agree that they likely will overflow in a major storm.
``We'll certainly be keeping an eye on that, and I know Norfolk Southern will be, too,'' said Spacek.
As a result of negotiations with Norfolk Southern, Portsmouth has the power to ask the company to incorporate more sophisticated runoff-control technology in its ponds when such advances are made, Spacek said.
All cities said their treatment plants should have little or no problem neutralizing traces of metals that are inherent in certain types of coal. ILLUSTRATION: STAFF MAP
Under the terms of a permit, expected to be issued today by the
Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk Southern must:
Restore 213 acres of wetlands.
Preserve 696 acres of forests as a buffer against noise and coal
dust.
In addition, the company has agreed to build ponds to collect any
tainted water that washes off coal piles within the yard.
by CNB