DEQ launches ‘Enviroschool’ for communities
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When the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality staff traveled the state last year to get public input, community members had one overwhelming request: more training.
So starting in October, DEQ staff began presenting informational sessions to individual communities and then decided to do something similar on a larger scale.
The DEQ will hold the first session of its new “Enviroschool” from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday in Baton Rouge to help introduce people to what the department does and how people can get involved, said Tomeka Prioleau, DEQ’s director of community and industry relations. The free class will be at DEQ’s downtown building, 602 N. Fifth St.
Other similar classes this month will be held in Shreveport, New Orleans and Lake Charles, Prioleau said.
“They’ll be basic 101 sessions,” she said. “We’ll have a different session each month.”
Future sessions will include information about permits, how to access public records, information on the agency’s Web site and more, Prioleau said.
“All of the sessions are based on questions we’re asked,” she said. “Communities have a lot of the same questions about air quality and how to get notification (of DEQ actions).”
Notification of the meetings was sent to parish officials, interested residents who signed onto the community industry relations mailing list, community leaders who have expressed an interest and other state agencies, she said.
As of Tuesday, about 30 people had registered for the first session but Prioleau said she expected more people to attend without registering. The most interest has come from New Orleans, she said.
Several questions involve residents wondering why a certain industry or business wants to locate nearby, she said.
More information and registration for the Enviroschool is available at http://www.-deq.louisiana.gov/portal/tabid/2601/Default.aspx. Registration can also be done via fax at (225) 325-8222 or by voicemail at (225) 219-0877.
So starting in October, DEQ staff began presenting informational sessions to individual communities and then decided to do something similar on a larger scale.
The DEQ will hold the first session of its new “Enviroschool” from 10 a.m. to noon Thursday in Baton Rouge to help introduce people to what the department does and how people can get involved, said Tomeka Prioleau, DEQ’s director of community and industry relations. The free class will be at DEQ’s downtown building, 602 N. Fifth St.
Other similar classes this month will be held in Shreveport, New Orleans and Lake Charles, Prioleau said.
“They’ll be basic 101 sessions,” she said. “We’ll have a different session each month.”
Future sessions will include information about permits, how to access public records, information on the agency’s Web site and more, Prioleau said.
“All of the sessions are based on questions we’re asked,” she said. “Communities have a lot of the same questions about air quality and how to get notification (of DEQ actions).”
Notification of the meetings was sent to parish officials, interested residents who signed onto the community industry relations mailing list, community leaders who have expressed an interest and other state agencies, she said.
As of Tuesday, about 30 people had registered for the first session but Prioleau said she expected more people to attend without registering. The most interest has come from New Orleans, she said.
Several questions involve residents wondering why a certain industry or business wants to locate nearby, she said.
More information and registration for the Enviroschool is available at http://www.-deq.louisiana.gov/portal/tabid/2601/Default.aspx. Registration can also be done via fax at (225) 325-8222 or by voicemail at (225) 219-0877.
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