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Court Appoints Master for Va. vs. Md. Case

The U.S. Supreme Court yesterday appointed a Maine lawyer with experience in interstate lawsuits and international boundary disputes to referee the legal battle between Maryland and Virginia over Fairfax County's plan to build a water pipe in the Potomac River.As special master, Ralph I. Lancaster Jr., 70, will conduct hearings, collect evidence and recommend a solution to the high court. In May, the justices allowed Virginia to sue Maryland for the right to build a 725-foot pipe near the Loudoun County border. The Fairfax County Water Authority already draws millions of gallons from the river, but Maryland has refused to issue permits for a longer pipe that would save the authority money by avoiding muddy water near the shoreline.e.The pipe has become the hottest issue in a long-simmering dispute between the neighbors over how to balance economic growth and environmental protection. The two states have sparred over dealing with drought, building roads and conserving the Ch!
esapeake Bay.y.Lancaster, who also served as the independent counsel who investigated Labor Secretary Alexis M. Herman, said yesterday that the Supreme Court had not yet informed him of his appointment. A Portland litigator, he used to represent New Hampshire Supreme Court Justice David Brock, who was acquitted yesterday at his state Senate impeachment trial.l.This case marks the second time that Lancaster has served as a special master. In 1987, he handled a fight over Nevada's efforts to regulate the radioactive waste being shipped from New Jersey to a federally licensed dump in Nevada. The case was dismissed at the request of the parties before the Supreme Court ruled.d.Officials from Maryland and Virginia hailed Lancaster's appointment as a step toward resolving the bitter legal battle.e.Lancaster "has a distinguished record and we welcome the opportunity to present our case," said Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr. (D). "Maryland has the right to regulate the !
Potomac River, and it is a right that, in our judgment, has existed for hundreds of years."."And Virginia Attorney General Mark L. Earley (R) said, "This is the next important step to ensuring clean, affordable, quality water for the citizens of Northern Virginia."."The fight over the water pipe has become imbued with the two states' rival approaches to balancing economic growth against environmental protection. But at heart the battle is a border dispute. Unlike most boundary rivers, which are split down the middle, the Potomac is owned solely by Maryland under a 1632 grant from Charles I of England. But Virginians have long enjoyed building piers and other structures from their shoreline. The water authority applied for a permit to build the new pipe in 1996, but so far, Maryland officials have declined to give Fairfax the approval.l.Lancaster has experience with such skirmishes. In 1984, he helped represent the United States in a fight with Canada that both countries agreed!
to submit to the International Court of Justice. In that battle, the two countries laid claim to the Gulf of Maine and the Georges Bank, one of the world's richest fishing areas. The international court issued a compromise ruling, giving the United States three-quarters of the Georges Bank. But the justices included some of the particularly good fishing areas in Canada's portion.n."Ralph is probably the most respected lawyer in the state of Maine," said U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine). "He has a reputation for being extremely fair and of the highest character. I always thought he should have been a judge."."As independent counsel, Lancaster spent two years investigating claims that Herman solicited $250,000 in illegal campaign contributions before announcing in April that he would not seek her indictment. Lancaster, a Republican, also helped screen federal judges from 1984 to 1991 as a member of the American Bar Association's Standing Committee on the Judiciary. He resigned!
from the ABA in 1992, saying he could not belong to a group that endorsed abortion rights.s.Lancaster is the second member of his 95-lawyer firm to be appointed a special master. Vincent L. McKusick is overseeing Kansas v. Nebraska and Colorado, another case involving water rights, said Bruce Coggeshall, the managing partner of Pierce Atwood.d."Ralph is the best lawyer I've known in the 33 years. . . . We have practiced together," Coggeshall said. "He's extremely thorough and he has the ability to sift through complex issues."."No schedule has been set yet for the Virginia v. Maryland proceedings, but experts on interstate cases said the process could take years.