Beyer has said that cleaning up the agency would be his first priority if elected governor. Gilmore's stance on Dunlop was disclosed in a memorandum he sent to four Republicans. Gilmore said he plans to appoint a task force to examine the environment, and asked the four recipients of the memo to serve on the panel. The EPA, meanwhile, has requested more information, including whether the reservoir would alter salt levels in the river and how the developers would make up for the loss of wetlands. The reservoir would serve Newport News, Hampton, Poquoson, Williamsburg and James City and York counties.
Officials say it is needed to ensure a steady drinking water supply on Virginia's peninsula.
Environmentalists fear damage to the Mattaponi River's ecology. Also, the Mattaponi Indians say the reservoir violates a centuries-old treaty and could hurt the river's shad and herring fisheries. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation said it was pleased with the EPA's call for more information. Nearly extinct eastern gamagrass making a comeback Bison grazed on the eastern gamagrass for centuries, but settlers' cattle in the 1800s ate so much of it that the species nearly became extinct. Now, the eastern gamagrass is making a comeback in a remote field at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center outside Washington.