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                                                                    Exhibit 31.1

                                  CERTIFICATION

I, Richard R. Russell, certify that:

1.       I have reviewed this quarterly report on Form 10-Q of GenTek Inc.;

2.       Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue
         statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary
         to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which
         such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
         covered by this report;

3.       Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial
         information included in this report, fairly present in all material
         respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows
         of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report;

4.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I are responsible for
         establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as
         defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) for the
         registrant and have:

         a)     Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused
                such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under
                our supervision, to ensure that material information relating
                to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries,
                is made known to us by others within those entities,
                particularly during the period in which this report is being
                prepared;

         b)     Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure
                controls and procedures and presented in this report our
                conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls
                and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this
                report based on such evaluation; and

         c)     Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's
                internal control over financial reporting that occurred during
                the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant's
                fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that
                has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
                affect, the registrant's internal control over financial
                reporting; and

5.       The registrant's other certifying officers and I have disclosed, based
         on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial
         reporting, to the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of
         registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
         functions):

         a)     All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the
                design or operation of internal control over financial reporting
                which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant's
                ability to record, process, summarize and report financial
                information; and

         b)     Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management
                or other employees who have a significant role in the
                registrant's internal control over financial reporting.

Date     August 16, 2004                      /s/  Richard R. Russell
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                                                   Richard R. Russell
                                                   President and Chief Executive
                                                     Officer