
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, September 25, 1994                   TAG: 9409260054
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

APPOINTEE LEAVES AIR CONTROL PANEL

An appointee to the state Air Pollution Control Board who environmentalists said was too closely tied with industry resigned from the panel Friday.

A statement released by Gov. George Allen's office said I. Russell Berkness withdrew for ``personal reasons.''

Berkness' resignation came a day after state Sen. Joseph Gartlan, D-Fairfax, pledged to have the Privileges and Elections Committee probe his financial connection to industries regulated by the board. Gartlan is chairman of the committee.

State law says a majority of the five-member board cannot have significant financial ties to the industries the panel regulates.

Berkness, an 84-year-old retiree, had told the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Thursday that he looked forward to serving on the board and hoped to help strike a balance between protecting the environment and encouraging economic growth. Berkness' resignation capped nine days of unusual developments involving the board.

Kay Slaughter, a Charlottesville environmental lawyer, told a senate subcommittee Sept. 15 that Berkness and Ms. Webb gave the air board an illegal, pro-industry majority.

Berkness, of Henrico County, is the retired chairman of a company that sells air-pollution control equipment to firms regulated by the board. He said he receives $6,000 a year from the company. Webb is president of a company that builds wooden pallets and sells sawdust and wood chips to companies the board regulates.

Faced with the criticism of his board appointees, Allen removed Berkness and Ms. Webb from the panel Monday, just before the General Assembly was to approve or reject them.

But the governor put them both back on the board Wednesday after administration officials investigated the backgrounds of the board members. In a statement, Allen accepted Berkness' resignation with reluctance.

Secretary of the Commonwealth Betsy Beamer said she and Allen will work together to find a replacement for Berkness. A new board member could be named as early as next week.

by CNB