The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has promoted Keith D. Goertz to lead the agency’s Region 4 office in Rotterdam, DEC Commissioner Joe Martens announced today. 

Goertz, who has served as Acting Region 4 Director since mid-May, will oversee DEC activities in Albany, Columbia, Delaware, Greene, Montgomery, Otsego, Rensselaer, Schoharie and Schenectady counties, and manage a staff of more than 200 employees.  His duties are to protect, preserve and monitor the environment in the nine counties and work cooperatively with local elected officials, stakeholders and the public on regional environmental issues, including flood recovery and resiliency.

“During his more than 20 years of service with DEC, Keith Goertz has handled important duties that are crucial to protecting our environment, including remedial investigations, cleanups and spill responses,” Commissioner Martens said. “His extensive experience includes effective management and public outreach. We are pleased to promote him to be the new Region 4 Director, where he will continue to be a strong environmental leader.”

Prior to becoming the Acting Director for the Region 4 office, Goertz served as the long-term remediation engineer for the nine-county region.  His duties include supervision of seven staff members and long-term projects, as well as emergency responses and subsurface investigations and cleanup activities.

Goertz began his career with DEC in 1987 as a sanitary engineer in the agency’s spill prevention and response unit on Long Island.  He later served as a regional oil spill engineer and Unit Supervisor in DEC’s Region 6 office in Watertown, overseeing a three-county region.

In 2005, he moved to the Office of State Comptroller (OSC) as an environmental engineer, providing technical expertise for the State Oil Spill Fund, leading a multi-agency private well study project, and working with municipal officials on water line extension projects.  He returned to DEC in 2007 as the Region 4 remediation engineer.

Goertz, who resides in Schenectady, graduated from the State University at Buffalo, earning a degree in chemical engineering.  He is a licensed professional engineer.

###