New Senior Government Officials Appointed

Premier John Hamm has appointed a new deputy minister of the Department of Transportation and Public Works and an acting CEO of the Sydney Tar Ponds Agency.

David Darrow will leave his position as CEO of the Tar Ponds Agency to take up the deputy minister position at the Department of Transportation and Public Works, where he will replace the outgoing deputy, Brian Stonehouse. The current director of operations at the Tar Ponds Agency, Frank Potter, will step into the role of acting CEO on Mr. Darrow's departure.

The changes take effect with Mr. Stonehouse's retirement on Dec. 31.

"We are fortunate to have benefited from the outstanding knowledge, dedication and expertise that Brian Stonehouse offered Nova Scotia during the course of a 31-year career with the province," Premier Hamm said.

Mr. Hamm also welcomed Mr. Darrow to his new position. "I believe Nova Scotians will continue to benefit from Mr. Darrow's extensive management experience and engineering skills," he said.

A specialist in transportation engineering, Mr. Darrow has been with the government of Nova Scotia since 1982. Before that he worked in the private sector as a consulting engineer.

Mr. Darrow has been at the helm of the Tar Ponds Agency since February of 2003. During his tenure there, the agency successfully negotiated a $400-million project-funding agreement with the government of Canada, and formulated a remediation plan for the Tar Ponds and Coke Ovens sites. During the same period the agency developed a strategy to ensure that the community receives maximum economic benefit from the project.

Mr. Potter has been with the Tar Ponds Agency since 2001.