Water News Archives

Monday, Joseph L. Jones, 58, of St. Landry Parish, pled guilty to 11 felony charges involving criminal violations of Plaisance Development Corporation's water discharge permits in St. Landry Parish. Jones was the president of Plaisance Development Corporation which operated six wastewater treatment plants in St. Landry Parish as well as six wastewater treatment plants in Evangeline Parish. Jones was charged with knowingly violating the Louisiana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit by exceeding discharge limitations and not providing monitoring results for the facilities operated in St. Landry Parish.

Registration for the Louisiana Envirothon environmental competition to be held, March 9 at the LSU Ag Center Burden Center in Baton Rouge, is now open.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Enviroschool is offering a free session on DEQ emergency response. This session is in Monroe and will provide an overview of the role and activities handled by the Emergency Response Division of DEQ. Some of the topics will include what happens when there's an emergency situation, DEQ's role and response during emergencies and procedures regarding. The session is geared toward the general public and people working in the emergency response professions such as first responders from the fire department, police department or local offices of emergency preparedness.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is encouraging the public to submit nominations for the Gulf Guardian Awards Program. As a member of the Gulf of Mexico Program and Gulf of Mexico Alliance, Louisiana residents can nominate citizens, companies and organizations that are taking positive steps to keep the Gulf of Mexico and associated coastal water habitats healthy, beautiful and productive. The deadline for submitting nominations is March 8, 2013.

Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Peggy Hatch presented a $21 million check to the city of Kenner yesterday. The funds, which came from the Clean Waters State Revolving Loan Fund at an interest rate of.95 percent, will be used to upgrade Kenner's wastewater collection ad treatment facilities.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality has selected Franklin and Richland Parishes as the next stop for its drinking water protection campaign, "Protect Drinking Water One Drop at a Time." The program's goal is to increase the public's awareness and participation in protecting their area's drinking water.

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality is offering training for permittees on the use of the NetDMR online application for the submission of discharge monitoring reports. A discharge monitoring report, known as a DMR, is a self-reporting document that is generated by permittees that have a Louisiana Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The DMR contains information pertaining to water discharges into waters of the state.