Maureen Gorsen, director of the state Department of Toxic Substances Control, has submitted her resignation to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The former partner at Weston, Benshoof, Rochefort, Rubalcava & MacCuish in Los Angeles said in a letter that “It is time for me to return to private law practice.” Her last day is March 15.
Gorsen spearheaded the state’s Green Chemistry Initiative, a campaign to inventory chemicals used in consumer products and promote the use of safer materials. The DTSC just released its final report (.pdf) on the initiative in December and recently created a wiki to solicit ideas for new rules.
Schwarzenegger appointed Gorsen head of the DTSC in December 2005. Prior to that she served as deputy secretary and general counsel at the California Environmental Protection Agency.
State EPA Director Linda Adams named Maziar Movassaghi acting director effective March 16. Movassaghi is the DTSC’s deputy director for site development and brownfields reuse programs. He also served as an executive in the administration of then-Mayor Jerry Brown in Oakland.
— Cheryl Miller
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