"Reservoir gets final permit Environmental groups plan to challenge the approval of the project in federal court.
The Army Corps of Engineers signed a permit ... that allows Newport News to build a reservoir that will supply 20 million gallons of water daily to more than 600,000 customers ... by 2050. Environmental groups will sue in federal court to overturn the permit... Newport News heads a group of Peninsula cities and counties that has pursued the $230-million reservoir for nearly two decades. The group stuck by the project even when the Army Corps was poised to reject it in 2001. Construction will likely begin in 2011, and water from the Mattaponi River will flood a 1,500-acre valley on Cohoke Creek in King William County by 2018. ... The permit requires Newport News to follow up on promises made to win regulatory approval over opponents' challenges. The Army Corps' Norfolk office will ensure that Newport News: ... Protects ... small whorled pogonia, a woodland orchid... Environmentalists have repeatedly challenged the project because it will mark the largest loss of wetlands in Virginia since a federal law was passed in 1972 to protect them." source : http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-23185sy0nov17,0,788545.story?coll=dp-news-local-final ************ Small-whorled Pogonia = Isotria medeoloides (Pursh) Rafinesque ************ Regards, Viateur _______________________________________________ the OrchidGuide Digest (OGD) orchids@orchidguide.com http://orchidguide.com/mailman/listinfo/orchids_orchidguide.com
