THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 11, 1995 TAG: 9507110255
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 76 lines
North Carolina broke its truce Monday in the war over the Lake Gaston pipeline, saying in legal papers that Virginia Beach does not need the lake water.
Attorneys for North Carolina filed a 26-page motion late in the day with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the last federal agency that must review the project.
Their goal is to get the commission to call a hearing before passing final judgment on the pipeline, to make Virginia Beach officials swear on the stand about their actual water needs.
``If there's a real need for this much additional water, then they shouldn't be afraid to testify under oath,'' North Carolina Attorney General Mike Easley said in a prepared statement.
North Carolina has long argued that Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, the two primary partners in the pipeline, do not need the Gaston water but are pursuing the pipeline for fiscal and political reasons.
``The project is not needed to avert a water crisis,'' according to the filing, ``it is needed so that Virginia Beach need no longer purchase water from Norfolk.''
Virginia Beach, which has no water source of its own, has bought all of its drinking water from Norfolk during the Beach's 32-year history.
Beach residents have been prohibited from washing their cars or watering their lawns for about four years, and the city has severely restricted new connections to its water system.
The North Carolina filing is the first of many legal actions expected from both sides as hostilities are renewed after the failure of seven months of negotiations.
Beach officials would not comment Monday because they had not yet seen the filing.
North Carolina has challenged the pipeline for 12 1/2 years, contending that the project would hurt its residents by damaging the environment and depriving them of water for economic development.
A year ago, North Carolina persuaded the regulatory commission to conduct a detailed study of the possible environmental impacts of the pipeline. That study, released last week, concluded the project would have no significant consequences for the environment and was the cheapest and best way for southeastern Virginia to solve its water crisis.
The study is likely to form the basis of the commission's upcoming decision on whether to issue the final permit for the pipeline. North Carolina wants the commission to give it another chance to make its case before issuing the decision, which is expected by July 26.
In the filing, North Carolina contends that the study is flawed because it fails to question water demand numbers provided by Virginia Beach and the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, a regional pro-growth agency whose board includes two Virginia Beach Council members. Water demand has been decreasing in Hampton Roads over the past five years, North Carolina charged, not increasing as the environmental study claims.
By using optimistic growth projections and unrealistic use figures, the energy regulatory commission drastically overestimated Virginia Beach's need for water, according to the motion.
Using North Carolina's more conservative figures, the motion argues, South Hampton Roads would need no more than 4.4 million gallons of water per day, rather than the 60 million gallons it hopes to get from the pipeline.
Virginia Beach and North Carolina had tried to resolve their differences peaceably, negotiating for more than seven months to reach an out-of-court pact.
Those efforts fell apart over the last two weeks when the Virginia legislature and governor could not agree to details on calling a special session to ratify the deal, and after the governor of North Carolina decided he would not support a compromise that did not have the blessing of Virginia lawmakers.
KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON WATER SUPPLY PLAN TIDEWATER by CNB