THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, January 18, 1995            TAG: 9501180447
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY DENNIS PATTERSON, ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: RALEIGH                            LENGTH: Medium:   52 lines

COURT RULES AGAINST WELLS AT BUXTON WOODS LEGISLATURE DIDN'T INTEND DESTRUCTIVE USES, JUDGES SAY.

The legislature intended the Buxton Woods coastal reserve to be used for research and education, not drilling wells that might destroy some of the forest, the state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday.

The Coastal Resources Commission and the Cape Hatteras Water Association had argued that drilling nine wells to serve Hatteras Island communities in the state's largest maritime forest qualified as a ``public use'' under the legislation that created the reserve.

``We cannot interpret the term `public use' under the coastal reserve statute in the broad manner suggested'' by the commission and the water association, Judge Sydnor Thompson wrote for the three-judge panel.

Allowing a broad definition of public use ``would frustrate the purpose of the state by allowing the reserves to be opened to a wide range of projects that may permit development of the area and alter its natural state,'' Thompson wrote.

In 1990, the Coastal Resources Commission and the water association sought permits to drill the wells in the forest because they feared that wells now serving Avon, Buxton and other Hatteras Island communities had reached their capacity.

The application was reviewed by nine state and federal agencies, which agreed to issue the permit.

But a conservation group, Friends of Hatteras, challenged the permit, saying it would lead to the destruction of the forest. An administrative law judge heard the challenge in 1992 but recommended that the permit be changed, not blocked.

A Superior Court judge upheld by the appeals court later said that the wells would lead to destruction of some of the forest for access roads, buildings and power lines. Normally defined public uses such as hunting, fishing and navigation, the court said, would not damage the forest permanently.

The legislature established Buxton Woods as a reserve, and the appeals court said lawmakers' intent was to limit its use primarily to research and education.

The ruling delighted opponents of the wells.

``It's reassuring to know that Buxton Woods and the other coastal reserves won't be targeted for development after all,'' said Carol Anderson, president of Friends of Hatteras. by CNB