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

DATE: SATURDAY, April 22, 1995                   TAG: 9504260043
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Medium

REGION'S EPA HEAD DISMISSED

The head of the mid-Atlantic region of the Environmental Protection Agency, which includes Virginia, has been dismissed because of a conflict with EPA Administrator Carol Browner, the agency said Friday.

EPA spokesman David Cohen said that Peter Kostmayer, a former Pennsylvania congressman, would leave his post as administrator of the EPA's Region III on June 1.

Kostmayer could not be reached Friday at his office.

There have been published reports, based on anonymous sources, over the past week that Kostmayer was being fired.

Environmentalists have accused Browner of forcing the dismissal because of Kostmayer's aggressive scrutiny of a proposed $1 billion pulp and paper mill being planned in West Virginia and a proposed four-lane highway between Elkins, W.Va., and Strasburg.

Kostmayer has said there has been pressure for his dismissal from Democratic Sens. Robert Byrd and Jay Rockefeller, both of West Virginia, and West Virginia Gov. Gaston Caperton.

Caperton, a Democrat, said that he had nothing to do with deciding who has the job, but acknowledged that he told Browner that ``we did not feel people [in the region] were playing by the rules and following regulations.''

Kostmayer also has come under sharp criticism from Virginia Gov. George Allen, a Republican, who has accused the EPA of imposing unnecessarily costly clean air requirements on his state.

Earlier this week, the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail quoted Browner as acknowledging a rift with Kostmayer. ``It's a disagreement over how to work with people. It would be best if he looked for opportunities outside the agency,'' she told the newspaper.

Browner could not be reached for comment Friday.

A senior EPA official, speaking on the condition he not be identified, said the decision was made because of ``numerous complaints about Mr. Kostmayer's managerial style from both EPA staff and many citizens and organizations outside of EPA.''

The region's headquarters is in Philadelphia. In addition to Virginia, it covers Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.

by CNB