THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 30, 1995 TAG: 9507300056
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KAREN WEINTRAUB, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 157 lines
Last week, the final federal agency that needed to approve the Lake Gaston pipeline gave the project its ringing endorsement.
But, as usual with the Gaston saga, Virginia Beach got bad news with the good. The construction permit is on hold while a federal judge re-examines an earlier step in the approval process.
As Hampton Roads endures the worst heat wave in its history and Chesapeake residents turn from their salty tap water in disgust, many are wondering how this latest development is any different from all the other hurdles, victories and bouts of frustration along the 12 1/2-year battle for the pipeline.
Beach Mayor Meyera E. Oberndorf and other local officials celebrated the success last week, saying it marks the beginning of the end. Residents will be toasting each other and watering their lawns with Gaston water in less than three years, they predicted.
But North Carolina leaders say that without a negotiated settlement, the permitting process will be merely the first chapter in the interstate dispute. They have said they intend to challenge the project in court during every step of construction and, if necessary, even after water has begun flowing through the 76 miles of steel and concrete pipe.
So what does it all mean? Here are some questions and answers about this latest development:
What is the significance of the permit Virginia Beach received Wednesday?
Since 1984, the Beach has sought and received permission to build the pipeline from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, the Virginia Department of Health and the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Last week's permit from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which Virginia Beach had pursued for more than four years, is the last city officials say they need for the project, and puts construction only one seemingly short step away.
A Washington judge, who had suggested last December that the two sides try to settle their disputes out of court, ruled this month that North Carolina's concerns about the pipeline deserve his in-depth consideration.
Judge Thomas F. Hogan promised to finish his review by Sept. 22 and either lift the stay or block the pipeline project.
In his ruling, Hogan suggested he is more likely to side with Virginia Beach. He will not rule on the merits of the pipeline, but merely whether the U.S. Secretary of Commerce inappropriately overruled North Carolina's objections to the project two years ago.
What did the anti-pipeline law the North Carolina General Assembly passed on Thursday accomplish?
The North Carolina law ``reserves'' for North Carolina use all the water in Lake Gaston and Kerr Lake that is south of the state line.
Virginia Beach says the measure - a clause tacked onto a bill making technical changes to environmental regulations - does absolutely nothing. North Carolina officials were somewhat circumspect about the purpose of the measure, saying simply that it will help them challenge the pipeline on every possible front.
Will the Gaston fight ever end?
It's impossible to say how soon the Beach's battle for the pipeline will end. Beach officials are confident that they will begin construction this fall. Carolina officials are equally confident that, without a settlement, they can continue to challenge the project well into the next century.
Virginia Beach is close to getting what it has worked so hard for over the past 12 1/2 years: permission to build the pipeline. But North Carolina can still challenge the project during construction and even after the pipeline is completed.
As more state and federal agencies approve the project, it may get harder for North Carolina to fight the it, but state officials have clearly shown a willingness to extend the process as long as possible.
Next, North Carolina is expected to ask the energy commission to reconsider its permit and then, if the permit is upheld, to fight it in federal court.
Even if Carolina loses there, pipeline opponents say they'll come back in 2001 when Virginia Power must renew its 50-year license to operate a hydroelectric plant on the lake.
North Carolina maintains that its permission is necessary to renew the license. Virginia Beach says it's unlikely that an ongoing hydroelectric plant would be denied a new license.
When can Virginia Beach begin building the pipeline?
The Beach expects to begin construction as soon as the end of September. By then, city officials hope Judge Hogan will have ruled in their favor, thereby validating the construction permit. At that point, an injunction, which has prevented construction for more than four years, will automatically dissolve.
The Beach City Council may decide as soon as Tuesday to issue construction bids for the pipeline immediately. Because the bidding process takes about 60 days, Judge Hogan's stay will have little effect on the timing of construction, Virginia Beach Gaston project manager Thomas M. Leahy III said.
Is there a chance that Virginia Beach and North Carolina still might settle their dispute out of court?
North Carolina is still pushing for a settlement that meets their conditions, but Virginia Beach officials are less interested in a settlement than they were earlier this month.
The situation has changed, Beach council member Louis R. Jones said, because permission to construct now seems imminent.
The only way for the two sides to settle is to bring the matter back to the Virginia General Assembly, and Jones said he has no intention of subjecting his city to the whims of the Assembly again.
Last month, Virginia Beach tried to get a special session of the Assembly convened to approve a settlement.
Republican Gov. George F. Allen decided not to call the session after procedural squabbles with state Democratic leaders, who would not agree to his conditions for the session. The Beach asked Allen to pull the plug on the session for the same reason they don't want one now: They are worried that legislators from southwestern and northern Virginia will withhold their support for the pipeline until Virginia Beach agrees to pay for their pet projects.
North Carolina will not accept a settlement without Virginia legislative approval.
Why does North Carolina oppose the pipeline?
North Carolina leaders oppose the proposed Lake Gaston pipeline because they believe it's unnecessary and worry it will deprive northern North Carolina communities of water, their greatest natural resource. Those communities are concerned that Virginia Beach will do to the Roanoke River what California did to the Colorado River.
North Carolina says the water is theirs because most of Lake Gaston and most of the 60 million gallons a day Virginia Beach and Chesapeake plan to draw from the lake will come from south of the state line. Virginia Beach officials say they have a right to it because 70 percent of the water in the Roanoke River - which is dammed to create Lake Gaston - comes from Virginia.
Virginia Beach residents have endured water restrictions for three years. How can North Carolina argue that there's so much water in the region that a pipeline to Lake Gaston isn't needed?
North Carolina has long argued that Virginia Beach's need for water is exaggerated.
North Carolina officials say that a flattened growth rate and technological improvements have reduced water demands in South Hampton Roads invalidating the need for such a large project.
Virginia Beach leaders say their city will grow again if they get water, and with a planned expansion at Oceana Naval Air Station and the lifting of water restrictions, demand will skyrocket.
North Carolina and Southside Virginia opponents also blame the 3-year-old water restrictions on politics rather than need. They say Virginia Beach officials voluntarily submitted their city to water restrictions to make the need for the pipeline seem greater.
Beach officials dismiss that argument as absurd, saying they can't get any more water because Norfolk's system, which supplies the Beach, already is stressed beyond its drought capacity.
What is Norfolk's role in the water dispute?
Norfolk officials have not played an active role since negotiations broke down early this month. Several city leaders and state delegates have continued to lobby for a settlement, believing it in the region's best interest.
North Carolina has also threatened to formally question Norfolk's reliance on the Blackwater and Nottoway rivers. The two rivers, which converge into the Chowan River at the North Carolina border, make up a significant part of the Norfolk water system.
North Carolina officials say they became curious about the water supply when Norfolk officials said during settlement negotiations this spring and summer that they would have a huge amount of water to sell once Virginia Beach no longer needs their surplus. North Carolina doesn't like the idea of Norfolk making a profit on surplus it wouldn't have unless Virginia Beach takes water from the North Carolina border.
KEYWORDS: LAKE GASTON WATER SUPPLY PLAN Q&A by CNB