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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Batt Names New Head Of The Deq

Associated Press

Wally Cory, who has been in charge of a multimilliondollar project to rebuild the wastewater system in Florida’s Dade County, has been named head of the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality.

Gov. Phil Batt announced on Tuesday that Cory would replace Joe Nagel, who oversaw the sensitive agency during the administration of retired Gov. Cecil Andrus. Nagel was also a contributor to Batt’s Democratic opponent, former Attorney General Larry EchoHawk.

Batt said Cory will be charged with turning the division “into a servant of the people. That agency should be helping businesses move ahead and make a profit within the law.”Batt said he intended to monitor the division’s operations closely to ensure that unnecessary regulations are eliminated.

Robert Purcell, a retired senior executive with the governmental relations division of the J.C. Penney Co., will take over as director of the Department of Labor and Industrial Services.

Gary Gould, who has run the department since 1983, was also a contributor to EchoHawk.