John Hanger, acting secretary of the state Department of Environmental Protection, and state Sen. Mary Jo White, R-Venango, are no strangers, having tangled on many occasions about environmental and energy issues.

It's expected they'll go at it again Wednesday when the Senate Environmental Resources and Energy Committee that Ms. White chairs meets in Harrisburg to consider Gov. Ed Rendell's August nomination of Mr. Hanger for DEP secretary.

When Mr. Hanger was nominated seven months ago, Ms. White said she wouldn't support his nomination because he had accused her of being corrupt due to her ties to various extractive industries.

"She stated when he was nominated that she was disappointed with the governor's nomination and she has not changed her position," said Patrick Henderson, the committee's director.

"I would say she's not inclined to support the nomination but is holding the hearing to give an opportunity to publicly question the nominee."

Mr. Henderson said that during the last seven or eight years when Mr. Hanger was executive director of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, he testified before the committee and called her integrity and motives into question.