THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, July 21, 1995 TAG: 9507210006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By GEORGE H. HEILIG JR.
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Now that a flurry of letters to the editor, editorials and assorted analyses of the Lake Gaston project have been published, I hope that the finger-pointing, name-calling and/or blame-assessing are over.
I hope, too, that all of the major players - Norfolk, Virginia Beach, North Carolina and the communities in Southside Virginia - will step back, rethink this matter and agree that this Lake Gaston project is vital not only for Southeastern Virginia - particularly, Virginia Beach - but also will benefit all of Virginia through economic development.
The Virginia governor's office participated fully in the negotiations and supported the terms of the agreement. It also supported the interstate compact to implement the agreement.
I urge all of the major parties to this project to return to the settlement that I and my working-group subcommittee negotiated over an approximate two-week period. Approved by all major parties on June 25, that agreement was presented to and received by the full committee. This settlement agreement constitutes the best framework for an immediate resolution of the Gaston-pipeline issue.
That settlement did what a compromise is intended to do. All of the parties gave a little. All of the parties got a little.
Norfolk, which was not a party to the original negotiated settlement agreement between Virginia Beach and North Carolina, received assurances from North Carolina that it would never challenge Norfolk's currently permitted withdrawal amounts of water from the Nottoway and Blackwater rivers.
This affirmative representation and assurance benefits not only Norfolk but the entire South Hampton Roads region because the sources of water from these two rivers are part of the overall supply of water available to the south side of Hampton Roads.
Norfolk, on the other hand, agreed to a moratorium of 15 years on sales of water to the north side of Hampton Roads. As a practical matter, no city on the Peninsula now plans to buy Norfolk water nor does Norfolk now plan to sell water to a Peninsula city.
Under the negotiated settlement, Virginia Beach would receive authority to withdraw up to 60 million gallons of water per day from Lake Gaston. The city would not draw that much water right away but would draw more and more as its population needs and growth required. The settlement agreement would end the expenditure of time and money consumed by litigation over the pipeline. This litigation is now close to 13 years old. Without the agreement, Virginia Beach will have to continue to fight for the pipeline in the appropriate forums against North Carolina.
Under the settlement agreement, North Carolina would be assured that Virginia Beach withdrawals from Lake Gaston would be capped at 60 million gallons per day and that there would be no opposition to North Carolina's withdrawal of an additional 35 million gallons per day to serve the northeastern and north-central regions of that state. Thus, North Carolina would receive protection in terms of a cap on the amount of water to be withdrawn by Virginia Beach. North Carolina also would receive some compensation from Virginia Beach.
Similarly, Southside Virginia cities and counties, primarily in the Danville area, would benefit from the cap of 60 million gallons per day of authorized withdrawals by Virginia Beach and caps accepted by North Carolina on its withdrawals. These caps would protect Roanoke River Basin residents in Southside Virginia. Southside Virginia would also receive additional compensation from Virginia Beach for the available 60 million gallons per day that could be withdrawn by Virginia Beach.
It is obvious that all of the major players in the Lake Gaston project would receive specific benefits and protections from the negotiated settlement. This is, precisely, what a settlement is designed to provide. All parties come together. Each party gains. Each party surrenders certain portions of its respective position.
I hope that all parties, after a period of reflection and perhaps after the issuance of the ruling by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (expected July 26) will return to the negotiated settlement to which they all agreed. It would be well if all parties then proceeded to ratify that agreement, resolving the issues involved in the Lake Gaston project. MEMO: Mr. Heilig is a Norfolk delegate to the Virginia General Assembly. He
was chief negotiator for the Lake Gaston settlement agreement.
by CNB