Daily Press from Newport News, Virginia • Page 17

LOCAL STATE Saturday, July 8, 1995 C3 Federal study in favor off water pipeline Lake Gaston deal to suit Va. Beach The Associated Press VIRGINIA BEACH A federal environmental study released Friday gave another thumbs up to the Lake Gaston water pipeline, a day after North Carolina's governor threatened to return to court to fight the project. The long-awaited release of the environmental impact statement prepared by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's staff has been viewed as a major step in the final regulatory hurdle for the 76-mile pipeline, which Virginia Beach officials have been trying to build for more than a decade. The study concluded that the proposed pipeline would be "the best source" to meet Virginia Beach's future water needs. The finding had been expected, since a draft report released earlier this year indicated the study would be favorable to the project.

FERC's approval of the pipeline is needed because the lake is used by Virginia Power to generate electricity. The commission is expected to decide at its July 26 meeting whether to grant a permit for a solution to the city's long-term water needs. Virginia Beach, Virginia's largest city with 400,000 residents, gets its water from Norfolk. But Norfolk has only 30 million gallons of surplus water a day to sell. Even with mandatory water restrictions, Virginia Beach is using about 32 million gallons a day.

Critics of the pipeline project along the Roanoke River basin in Virginia and North Carolina contend that the withdrawal of up to 60 million gallons a day would hurt recreation and economic development. Lake Gaston straddles the bor ginia Gov. George Allen refused last week to call a special session of the General Assembly when legislative leaders would not agree to limit the session's timetable. Hunt and Virginia Beach leaders blamed politics in Richmond for the failure. Jones, despite Hunt's court threat, would not rule out the possibility of another settlement try.

"The door is always open to further negotiations," he said. Jones also said city officials were pleased that FERC's study upheld Virginia Beach's position that, in terms of cost and the environment, the pipeline was the best der of the two states. Rep. L.F. Payne a Democrat whose 5th District is a center pf opposition to the pipeline in Vir- ginia, said FERC failed to thor-; oughly examine the project and its I alternatives and "rushed this report through at breakneck speed." Jonathan Howes, North Caroli-' na's secretary of Environment, Health and Natural Resources, said the FERC report "does not provide us with the protection we But Sen.

John Warner, R-VaM said years of analysis by numerous federal agencies have found no harm would result from the pipeline. Allen signs deal to secure flood aid i 1 i Addison Slayton, state emergency services director, said damage from the floods that began June 22 has been estimated at more than $120 million. The figure is expected to grow, he said. President Clinton has declared 19 localities federal disaster areas, making residents and businesses available for federal grants and low-interest loans. More than 1,200 homes were damaged or destroyed.

In addition to the aid for individuals, the federal government will pay 75 percent of the cost of repairs to public property like roads and bridges. Robert Gunter, a FEMA coordinating officer, said the agency has received 929 applications for assistance from individual flood victims. He said business has been so brisk that the disaster application centers in Madison and Rockbridge counties, originally scheduled to close today, will remain open until 7 p.m. Sunday. However, he said the best way for victims to apply is by phone.

The number to call is (800) 462-9029. 1 water intake facility. "We expect a favorable decision," said Louis R. Jones, a Virginia Beach City Council member and leader of the city's effort to reach a settlement with North Carolina on the project. The settlement talks collapsed on Thursday when North Carolina Gov.

Jim Hunt pulled his state out of the negotiations and said he was willing to go back to court to fight the project. The talks had yielded a tentative deal signed by the city and North Carolina on April 28. But it required approval by both state's legislatures within 60 days, and Vir A i procedures which proved flawless during multiple mass casualty situations," reads the commendation, signed by Navy Secretary John Dalton. The fleet hospital is designed to set up a major treatment facility, including surgery capabilities, anywhere in the world, focusing primarily on combat wounds. Fleet Hospital Five was one of the first hospitals called out at the beginning of Operation Desert Shield.

At Camp Pleso, the mobile hospital contingent based at Portsmouth was not required to "XT Lawmakers about costs The Associated Press RICHMOND Senate Finance Committee members complained Friday that local governments were not told in advance that they would pay some of the costs of the Allen administration's state employee buyout program. Donald Stern, acting state health commissioner, told the committee that the Workforce Transition Act requires localities to pay their "fair share" when health department workers take the buyout. Although they are considered state employees, most local health department workers are paid with a combination of local and state funds. Some local officials were miffed when they learned they would be stuck with part of the employee buyout costs. "Localities weren't consulted," said Sen.

Hunter B. Andrews, ID-Hampton and chairman of the committee. For that reason, he said, the program amounts to the kind of "unfunded mandate" Gov. George Allen criticizes the federal government for imposing on the states. "I don't think this was the intent of the legislation," Andrews said.

FLIPPING OUT. A worried Joseph Re'dmon, 8, makes his first attempt at a for- ward flip off the diving board at the Country Club of Culpeper Friday afternoon, where sunny skies and warm temperatures are expected to carry over into the weekend. The Hampton Roads forecast calls for drier air with sunny and pleasant tions today and Sunday, with highs in the mid-80s and lows in the mid-60s. Partly cloudy skies and more humid conditions are expected to return next week. For details, see Weather, C10.

ap complain of buyouts Sen. Joseph V. Gartlan Dm, Fairfax, also chided the adminis- tration for failing to consult localities, which Stern described as "partners" with the state in dehVv ery of health services. "You left your partners out. in the cold," Gartlan said.

Stern said the attorney general's office determined that the -wording of the Workforce Transk, tion Act required the localities pay a share. Gartlan said the attorney general's advice was after localities began com-i, plaining. More than 500 health department workers applied for the buyout, and 387 were accepted, Stern said. Localities had to pay about million of the $5.5 million in sev erance costs for the fiscal year that! ended June 30. In other business, Secretary of Finance Paul Timmreck told the committee that general fund tax collections for the just-ended fis-" cal year exceeded the official mate by about $44 million.

The state also took in $9.9 lion more in lottery profits than anticipated, bringing total excess, revenue to $53.9 million. Chairman Hunter B. Andrews, D--' Hampton, one of the Republican governor's more outspoken opponents, said the executive institute improves the quality of "Quite frankly, this administration needs much more of that because they've replaced so many! people," Andrews said. After dismissing most agency heads in 1994, Allen targeted hun-J dreds of senior personnel. A buyout and early-retirement program ther depleted the ranks of seasoned employees when more than 5,000 state workers departed.

The executive and management institutes are among three training programs operated by the personnel department. The state's largest -agencies also have management training plans. The institutes bring together-staff members from across Virginia government for briefings and work-i shops on a range of topics, among" them leadership, media relations and reorganization. The executive institute launched in the 1980s and loosely patterned on a federal program, is. held over two weeks.

It typically meets in Fredericksburg, Char-lottesville Sr Williamsburg The Associated Press RICHMOND Gov. George Allen signed an agreement Friday formally accept-. ing federal disaster aid and urged Virginians to volunteer in the flood relief effort. Allen and Rita Calvan, regional director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, signed a cost-sharing document that will mean millions of federal dollars for individual flood victims and local governments. "We are asking Virginians not to think that just signing this partnership agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency is all that needs to be done," Allen said.

"We need volunteers, especially skilled labor, we need materials, we need money, we need time." Allen used the signing ceremony in his conference room as an opportunity to plug "Hands Across Virginia," a private and public coalition he established Thursday to help flood victims. He has asked people who want to donate money Or labor to call (800) 932-3543. Busch Gardens faces suit Man wants $7 million for alleged injuries By Pattl Rosenberg Daily Press JAMES CITY A Maryland man is suing Busch Gardens for $7 million, claiming he "sustained grievous injury as a rider on Drachen Fire." David R. Ordonio filed the lawsuit in Williamsburg-James City County Circuit Court on Thursday, almost two years to the day since the alleged injury happened. The suit charges that the ride lacked "an adequate passenger restraint system to prevent violent movement of the head and neck during operation." It also alleges that Busch Gardens knew Drachen Fire had previously caused injuries to other riders "but knowingly disregarded such information so as not to decrease the gate revenues." It is not clear exactly what Ordo-riio's injuries were.

In the lawsuit's boilerplate language, he "was caused to suffer severe personal injuries, which are permanent in nature, and has suffered great physical pain and mental anguish." Also, "Plaintiff has been physically impaired and disfigured, and will continue to be so impaired and disfigured in the future." Neither Ordonio nor his attorneys, George Q. Joyner III of Portsmouth and G. Wilson Nelli-gar of Virginia Beach, returned calls placed to them Friday afternoon. In addition to Busch Gardens, the lawsuit names Arrow Dynamics, Inc. and William N.

Carlson as defendants. Arrow Dynamics designed and built the ride; Carlson provided safety and technical advice, according to the suit. Cindy Sarko, director of public relations for Busch, said she could not discuss Ordonio's suit or Drachen Fire's safety record. "Company policy prevents me from commenting on any legal matter," she said. Carlson said he hadn been served with the suit yet and also declined to comment, except to say that he wasn't surprised to be included as a defendant since he's the safety director at Busch Gardens.

Company officials for Arrow Dynamics did not respond to a request for comment on the suit Arrow Dynamics is a Utah-based company that specializes in ing major amusement park rides. pr Above: Fleet Hospital Five personnel unload a patient at the Camp Pleso compound in Zagreb, Croatia, during its six-month deployment last fall and winter. Left: Medical personnel treat a wounded man in Croatia. U.S. Navy set up a physical facility but mostly provided personnel and replenishment supplies.

Besides the 67 personnel from Portsmouth, doctors, nurses, hospital corpsmen, and other support personnel from several naval medical commands in the eastern United States as well as a Navy Seabee construction team and a Marine security detachment were called upon to fill out the staff. The Camp Pleso hospital began as an Army field hospital two years ago and duties have rotated among the Army, Air Force and Navy, ft it 3 if Navy awards fleet commendation Allen administration puts training programs on hold Hospital praised for aid in Balkans By A J. Plunkett Daily Press PORTSMOUTH Fleet Hospital Five, a mobile hospital from Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, received the Navy Unit Commendation Friday for "exceptionally meritorious service" while treating U.N. peacekeepers in the Balkans last fall and winter. The fleet hospital was in Zagreb, Croatia, from August to February as part of Provide Promise, part of the United Nations protection forces in the former Yugoslavia.

Almost 70 personnel from Portsmouth were among the 250 Navy active and reserve medical forces drawn from units nationwide that staffed the 60-bed hospital at Camp Pleso, the U.N. forces' support center for the region. During the six-month deployment, Fleet Hospital Five treated more than 10,000 peacekeepers from 67 countries, taking care of everything from minor cuts to major casualties, such as wounds from land mines, according to the commendation and Portsmouth officials. Despite heightened threat conditions, the hospital worked to upgrade its combat trauma capability, "emerging as the premier treatment facility of the Balkan conflict," the commendation said. "The men and women of Fleet Hospital Five initiated major facility modifications, training programs and innovative triage The Associated Press RICHMOND Two training programs for state government managers are being suspended by the Allen administration even though one official considers the programs valuable, if a strain on an already reduced staff.

The fate of the Virginia Executive Institute and the Commonwealth Management Institute will be decided by December, said Charles E. James director of the Department of Personnel and Training. James said Thursday that the suspensions had nothing to do with an adniinistranon approach to government that critics in both parties perceive as putting conservative ideology ahead of practical managerial experience. "If a person has good ideology 'good' defined as they agree with this governor they still have to know how things work," he said. The executive institute is for agency managers while the management institute is for midlevel employees.

Gov. George Allen's critics contended that suspending the programs was the latest assault on bureaucracy. Senate Finance Committee.