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

DATE: FRIDAY, September 30, 1994                   TAG: 9410040059
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Short

EMBATTLED MEMBER OF AIR BOARD REPLACED

Gov. George Allen on Thursday appointed a Lynchburg businessman to the state Air Pollution Control Board, filling a slot vacated by a member whose appointment was criticized by environmentalists and a prominent legislator.

Allen named Michael Harrington to the position held briefly by I. Russell Berkness. Harrington is president of the Harrington Corp., which manufactures pipe fittings for water, sewer and irrigation industries.

Berkness resigned a day after state Sen. Joseph Gartlan Jr., D-Fairfax County, said he would have the Senate Privileges and Elections Committee investigate the 84-year-old retiree's financial connection to industries regulated by the board. Gartlan is chairman of the committee.

A statement from Allen's office last Friday said Berkness resigned for ``personal reasons.''

Allen appointed Berkness and Amelia County businesswoman Jo Anne Scott Webb to the board in July. Charlottesville environmental lawyer Kay Slaughter told a Senate subcommittee Sept. 15 that Berkness and Webb gave the air board an illegal, pro-industry majority.

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

Berkness 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.

by CNB