Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
6/5/2015
The South Carolina Senate this week confirmed Catherine Heigel as the next director of the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control. Heigel, currently the General Counsel for accounting firm Elliot Davis Decosimo, LLC, was formerly the president of Duke Energy South Carolina. She takes over as director of DHEC immediately. “We are pleased that the Senate has confirmed Catherine Heigel as our next Director,” Allen Amsler, DHEC Board chairman, said in a statement. “With her knowledge in law, regulation and management, Catherine has the leadership experience and skills necessary to continue the Board’s vision and move the agency forward.”
The Board selected Heigel in April after an extensive search. She takes over soon after DHEC and the Department of Energy came to an agreement regarding a dispute resolution for milestones related to Savannah River Site tank closure dates, the first in what is likely to be a string of milestone extension requests. “I’m honored and grateful to be entrusted with leading an agency that oversees issues that are important to and impact the lives of all South Carolinians,” Heigel said in a statement. “I look forward to working with the members of the Board, DHEC’s talented staff and the citizens of this great state to uphold the agency’s mission to promote and protect the health of the public and the environment of South Carolina.”
The move comes after former DHEC Director Catherine Templeton stepped down in January. Shortly after Templeton announced plans to resign, the Board nominated Eleanor Kitzman. But Kitzman subsequently withdrew from consideration in February after being grilled by members of the state’s Senate on a lack of experience, among other issues. Kitzman, who was seen as close to South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R), served as Commissioner for the Texas Department of Insurance from late 2011 through 2013, leaving that post because she was not confirmed by the Texas Senate.
