THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, March 20, 1995 TAG: 9503200043
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
The Department of the Interior, which once supported the Lake Gaston project, now believes Virginia's demand for water should be scaled back.
In a letter sent late last week to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the agency outlines its concerns with the project and recommends that it be studied further before construction is allowed to begin.
The letter comes a week after the Environmental Protection Agency told FERC that it has some reservations about the pipeline, but would not stand in the way of construction.
FERC, which is conducting a yearlong environmental assessment of the project, is the last regulatory agency that must approve the 76-mile pipeline that would run from the North Carolina border to South Hampton Roads. Most of the water from the pipeline would go to Virginia Beach, but Chesapeake, Franklin and Isle of Wight County are also partners in the project.
The department gave its OK to the pipeline back in 1984, but changed its mind three years later and has been fighting it ever since.
``We have serious reservations,'' Willie R. Taylor, director of the office of environmental policy and compliance, wrote in the letter.
The agency recommends that FERC not allow Virginia Beach access to the 60 million gallons of water per day that it wants, but instead phase in the city's water allowance over a period of years as more study reveals the full impact of withdrawing that water.
Thomas M. Leahy, Virginia Beach project manager for the pipeline, said it is ridiculous to suggest that the city could live under those suggested restrictions after investing $150 million in the pipeline construction and $100 million more to upgrade Norfolk's water system to accept the lake water. He said the agency's change of heart had more to do with politics than with facts.
``It's obvious they're in North Carolina's camp,'' he said.
Alan S. Hirsch, special deputy attorney general for North Carolina, said the Department of the Interior had the same criticism of the FERC study as other federal agencies - that it was a rush job.
``The basic message is that FERC has not done the kind of work they needed to do, and now they need to go back and do it again.''
KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON WATER SUPPLY PLAN TIDEWATER PIPELINE by CNB