Virginia is moving ahead with plans for a new highway to replace route 460, the section which runs from Petersburg to Suffolk, but environmentalists are crying foul – complaining construction will wipe-out valuable wetlands. When larger ships start passing through a newly widened Panama Canal, Virginia is hoping to get more cargo at its deep Hampton Roads ports, and that cargo will travel by truck or train to other parts of the country. That’s why VDOT says we need a new route 460, but plans submitted to the Army Corps of Engineers show nearly 500 acres of wetlands along 55 miles or road would be lost. “This is an enormous amount of loss. Actually, this would be the largest single wetlands loss from any transportation project in Virginia since the Clean Water Acts was passed in 1972.” Tripp Pollard is a senior attorney with the Southern Environmental Law Center. He says the acreage in question serves many natural functions. Wetlands are absolutely essential elements of ecological
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