THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, June 24, 1995 TAG: 9506240388
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 56 lines
Tomorrow could be the beginning of the final week of battles over the proposed Lake Gaston pipeline.
If a compromise is ever going to be reached between Virginia Beach, Norfolk, North Carolina and Southside Virginia, it will probably come in the next 72 hours.
Two House subcommittees will meet Sunday to try to hash out a final agreement.
If they fail, they have one more shot on Monday, when the full Gaston committees for both houses of the Virginia General Assembly are scheduled to hold meetings.
A special session would have to be called for the second half of the week to ratify a compromise. But without success on Monday, there's little chance Gov. George F. Allen will call the session.
If the compromise falters, the fate of the 76-mile pipeline that Virginia Beach is counting on for its first long-term water supply will rest with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The FERC is scheduled to decide by its July 12 meeting whether to permit Virginia Beach and Chesapeake to build the pipeline and how much water the area would be allowed to pump through it.
If the FERC gives its approval, North Carolina is almost certain to reopen a decade's worth of lawsuits that were halted by the recent settlement efforts. Virginia Beach is almost certain to challenge the FERC's decision if the pipeline is rejected.
No one is talking publicly about what's holding up a final agreement. Norfolk officials say they still have some concerns. A spokesman for Allen said a transportation issue has yet to be resolved.
The proposed pact calls for Virginia to widen State Route 168 and U.S. Route 17 in Chesapeake, which connect with North Carolina highways leading to the Outer Banks.
Thursday was a good day for the negotiations. Southside business leaders and North Carolina officials reached an agreement on how much water North Carolina could take out of the Roanoke River near Danville, Va.
But Friday was rough for those still trying to cut a deal.
``We're not happy at this hour,'' Norfolk City Manager James B. Oliver Jr. said around noon. Several Virginia Beach officials said they were so worn out by six months of negotiations that they didn't know what to think.
Del. Franklin P. Hall, D-Richmond, chairman of the Gaston committee, predicted additional roadblocks ahead.
But Del. George H. Heilig Jr., D-Norfolk, chairman of one of the subcommittees, remained optimistic about the prospects of the negotiations.
``In a football game,'' he said, ``the toughest yardage is when you're getting ready to cross the goal line.''
KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON PIPELINE WATER SUPPLY PLAN by CNB