THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997             TAG: 9702210013
SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A12  EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Editorial 
                                            LENGTH:   43 lines

HURRICANE PLAN A GAMBLE PRESIDENT CLINTON'S BUDGET INCLUDES NO FUNDING FOR THE FED'S PORTION OF THE VIRGINIA BEACH SEAWALL.

It was always a gamble. The $103 million Hurricane and Storm Protection Plan - a city-federal project to build a storm wall and drainage system along part of the city's vulnerable coastline - has been an uncertain enterprise since its conception. First, serious questions were raised about the effectiveness of such a project, and there were even bigger questions about the reliability of federal funds.

The first question is still being debated. The second got a preliminary answer last week when the Clinton administration refused to fund the seawall in its budget proposal. This was no surprise: Clinton's stubborn opposition to such new coastal programs is well-known. Last year Congress was able to circumvent the president by putting the money in the budget at a later date.

That will not be so easy now that the president has a line-item veto. Clinton has pledged to use this weapon to slash pork-barrel projects from the federal budget. Remember: One man's hurricane-protection project is another man's pork.

If the president blocks federal funding, the city is left with two alternatives, both unappealing. One would be to continue the project without federal aid. Another would be to halt the project before its completion, leaving an unsightly mess and a half-completed seawall that some experts fear could lead to worse erosion than no wall at all.

The only hope now rests with congressional representatives who must make a persuasive case for the funding. Sens. John W. Warner and Charles S. Robb are strong supporters of the seawall, as is Rep. Owen B. Pickett. These three men, and the rest of the Virginia delegation, need to convince their colleagues and the president that the hurricane-protection plan is not pork but a prudent use of taxpayers' money.

One argument is that if a major storm hits and devastates Virginia Beach, the federal government will spend so much on federal disaster relief for the city that the cost of the seawall will look like pocket change.

Those who doubt that scenario need only review the balance sheet from Hurricane Andrew.