U.S. Energy Department veteran Mark Gilbertson has officially been named principal deputy assistant secretary (PDAS) for the agency’s Office of Environmental Management (EM).
The move was announced in a Nov. 20 email to Energy Department officials from Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management Anne Marie White.
“Mark has excellent skills, temperament, and knowledge that compliment mine and I am certain that the EM-1/EM-2 combination will drive success in the EM program as we continue to lead in an environment of empowering and enabling our HQ and field site staff,” White wrote in the message. “Thanks, Mark, for stepping up to the plate.”
Gilbertson had been DOE’s No. 2 cleanup official, commonly called EM-2, on an acting basis since late August. That has meant working with White to manage the more than $7 billion annual environmental remediation program and overseeing operations across 16 department properties. He succeeded another longtime DOE hand, Jim Owendoff, who now serves as department-wide chief risk officer.
At the same time, Gilbertson continued to serve as assistant secretary for EM’s Office of Regulatory and Policy Affairs.
“They had a test drive with him and I think they liked what they saw,” an industry observer said by telephone Thursday. The source called Gilbertson a “rock solid guy” with a long federal career.
“He is very well respected and trusted across the complex,” a second industry source said Thursday.
Gilbertson has 35 years of public and private sector experience in environmental remediation and joined DOE’s cleanup office in 2003. His roles at the office have included national laboratory policy offer, deputy assistant secretary for site restoration, and deputy assistant secretary for engineering and technology, according to his LinkedIn profile.
“Mark has been a member of the Senior Executive Service (SES) for over 25 years and has served as the EM Deputy Assistant Secretary for Site Restoration; Program and Site Support; and Environmental Cleanup and Restoration,” White said in the email.
Gilbertson also spent four years at the Environmental Protection Agency focusing on Resource Conservation and Recovery Act rules after having worked as an engineering consultant.
Betsy Connell will step in to fill Gilbertson’s prior role with Regulatory and Policy Affairs on an acting basis, White said.
Connell is currently director of regulatory intergovernmental and stakeholder engagement in that office, according to the latest online EM management chart, dated Nov. 8. White’s announcement did not say whether Connell will continue to handle her current duties while acting as Gilbertson’s replacement.
Connell’s career with the Energy Department and its facilities dates to 1990, with stops at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, and the Idaho National Laboratory, according to her LinkedIn profile. It was not entirely clear from the online profile if she worked for DOE at each post, or if she had spent time with the site contractor. At DOE headquarters, she has served as a senior adviser on the Office of Nuclear Energy and Office of the Secretary. She was chief of staff for EM between September 2015 and September 2017.
The same two industry sources also spoke highly of Connell. Virtually every manager she has worked for “has ended up making her part of their senior leadership team,” the second source said.
