THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, May 11, 1995 TAG: 9505110403
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA FINAL
SOURCE: BY LARRY O'DELL, ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Short : 46 lines
Southside Virginia legislators who oppose the Lake Gaston pipeline said Wednesday the state should not rush into a policy of transferring a natural resource from one region to another.
Three state lawmakers and U.S. Rep. L.F. Payne, D-5th, also criticized Gov. George F. Allen for demanding that the General Assembly informally agree to the pipeline deal before he calls a special session to take formal action.
``It's incredibly unusual to condition a special session on an agreement being reached beforehand,'' said Del. W.W. Bennett, D-Halifax. He said he has found no legislators willing to go along with that idea.
Virginia Beach and North Carolina officials last month reached an agreement that would allow the city to withdraw up to 60 million gallons of water a day from Lake Gaston, which straddles the Virginia-North Carolina border. The deal must be approved by the legislatures of both states within 60 days.
In an April 27 letter to General Assembly leaders, Allen said he would call a special session on the matter when they assure him the terms of the agreement are acceptable to a majority of members of both parties.
Legislators from Southside - the area south of the James River, excluding Richmond and Chesterfield, east to the Suffolk-Isle of Wight line and west to the Pittsylvania-Henry County line - said public hearings should be conducted so the agreement can be carefully analyzed.
If that means an agreement cannot be reached until the 1996 regular session of the General Assembly, so be it, they said.
While the lawmakers were conducting their Capitol news conference, the governor's office distributed to reporters copies of a letter from Allen to Payne supporting public hearings.
The Southside lawmakers complained that their region was shut out of secret negotiations between Virginia Beach and North Carolina and accused the Allen administration of abrogating its duty by not participating in the talks.
Southside legislators fear the pipeline will hurt economic development in the region because water will not be as plentiful.
KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON PIPELINE by CNB