DEC appoints former OCRRA leader to new department role

The DEC has announced the appointment of Dereth Glance to the role of regional director in the department’s region 7. It covers Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, Tioga, and Tompkins counties.

The appointment was among four that DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos announced on Aug. 10.

Glance most recently served as DEC’s deputy commissioner for environmental remediation and materials management. In that role, she oversaw DEC’s divisions of environmental remediation, materials management, and mineral resources. 

Prior to joining DEC, Glance served as OCRRA executive director and was appointed by U.S. President Barack Obama as U.S. Commissioner at the International Joint Commission. 

Glance’s experience also includes work with Citizens Campaign for the Environment; New York State’s Great Lakes Basin Advisory Council; Clean Water Network; and Onondaga Lake Partnership Outreach Committee, among other roles.

Besides Glance’s new role, Seggos also announced Suzanna Randall as the DEC’s first chief resiliency officer, Peter Reuben as the first-ever director of DEC’s Office of Indian Nation Affairs, and Cecilia Walsh as the DEC’s director of media relations.

Seggos contends these DEC leadership additions and changes are “critical to sustaining the success of New York’s environmental protection policies and programs.” 

“Suzanna Randall and Peter Reuben are bringing extensive experience and skills to two new and critically important agency roles that focus on enhancing resiliency and strengthening relationships with Indigenous Nations,” Seggos said in the DEC news release. “Dereth Glance will continue bringing her energy and passion to a different role leading DEC’s presence in Central New York and the Southern Tier, and Cecilia Walsh will help guide our extensive engagement with the media to inform the public. DEC is strengthening our team to bolster our efforts to meet the unique challenges and opportunities before New York State.”