The Nation - News from June 24, 1988

The Army Corps of Engineers has ordered the builder of a shopping mall to halt work on wetlands in Manassas, Va., that are within a disputed construction site bordering a historic Civil War battlefield, a spokesman said. The cease-and-desist order applies to work being done at Young’s Branch, a creek running through the Civil War battlefield site, where developers Hazel/Peterson Cos. have started construction of one of two roads that would cross the creek. The stop-work order, which extends indefinitely, was issued because the developers violated a corps provision requiring that the Army be notified when a project could affect a historic property, said corps spokesman Bill Brown. Preservationists have been challenging the project for infringing on the sanctity of the battlefield.