News Release Archives

A guilty plea was entered yesterday at the Orleans Parish Criminal District Court by J & L Demolition and Dumpsters, LLC, a demolition and disposal business located at 9330 Chef Menteur Highway in New Orleans East. The company was cited for illegal disposal of solid waste stemming from a multi-agency compliance operation that began in the fall of 2010.

Today, the U S Environmental Protection Agency Region 6 Criminal Investigation Division, Special Agent in Charge, Ivan J. Vikin presented a check to DEQ Secretary Peggy Hatch for $500,000. This check represents the community service payment to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Environmental Trust fund pursuant to Temple Inland's sentencing on May 29 in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, for violating one misdemeanor count of the Clean Water Act.

DEQ placed second in the 2013 EnviroFlash Challenge by adding479 new subscribers from April 8 to May 31. Thirty agencies throughout the nation competed and recruited a total of 2,179 new subscribers nationwide.

The public is invited to attend the Livingston Parish Drinking Water Protection Program Committee Meeting, Tuesday, June 4, at 3 p.m. The meeting will be held at the city of Walker DPW Building, 13730 Ballpark Road, Walker.

Several organizations that work for cleaner air held a press conference at the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality today to recognize Air Quality Awareness Month and to promote the Advance Program.May is Air Quality Awareness month, both nationally and in Louisiana. While the air quality in Louisiana is better than it has been since the implementation of the Clean Air Act, May is also traditionally the start of ozone season. DEQ is encouraging citizens to become familiar with the Air Quality Index, to understand what causes ozone formation and to take voluntary steps to help prevent the formation, further improve air quality and meet or continue to meet the current national air quality standards.

RECAP is the regulation which DEQ utilizes to evaluate and clean up sites within the state with potential impact to the groundwater and/or soil (such as a large oil leak, illegal dumping event or chemical release). The RECAP regulation establishes DEQ's minimum remediation standards for present

In mid-May, environmental scientists from the Southwestern Regional Office of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality will be commencing a comprehensive water quality investigation of the watersheds in Calcasieu Parish.

Today, Carr William Brown, 53, of Vidalia entered a plea of guilty as a result of the illegal discharges of pollutants into state waters in Cameron Parish. Brown is an employee of Mandeville-based T&F Oil Company.