The secretary of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment says he plans to resign.

Robert Moser told agency employees in an email Monday that he would resign at the end of this month. He said he wanted to pursue other opportunities.

The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Moser, a family-practice doctor, was hired to lead the department in January 2011.

Moser led the agency during controversies over construction of a coal-fired power plant in southwest Kansas and problems with a new social services computer system.

Moser was director of Rural Health and Outreach at The University of Kansas School of Medicine in Wichita when Gov. Sam Brownback chose him to lead the department that regulates and operates health and environmental issues in the state.

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(Information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal)