NEWS RELEASE

JEFFERSON PARISH, LOUISIANA

January 29, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

JEFFERSON PARISH DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS OPENS APPLICATIONS FOR ANNUAL STORM WATER LEADERSHIP AWARDS

JEFFERSON, LA – The Jefferson Parish Department of Environmental Affairs is now seeking applications for its third annual Storm Water Leadership Awards. The awards are intended to recognize those individuals, businesses or organizations that strive for environmental leadership through programs and actions that improve storm water quality and/or quantity, thereby reducing the amount of pollution that enters Jefferson Parish waterways.

The Storm Water Leadership Awards were created as part of the Parish’s Environmental Stewardship Program, which was funded by the Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program. The Environmental Stewardship Program created a series of workshops and awards directed at educating businesses and industries about local, state and federal storm water regulations and the steps they can take to both comply with regulations and improve the environment in Jefferson Parish and surrounding waterbodies. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Restoration Program is administered by the UNO Research & Technology Foundation with the goal of increasing water quality in the Lake Pontchartrain Basin by developing and funding restoration projects and related scientific and public education projects.  

The Jefferson Parish Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) consists of over 1,400 miles of subsurface drain pipes and over 300 miles of open canals and ditches. Storm water runoff from residential, commercial and industrial land areas can collect oil, grease, litter, hazardous wastes, sediment and other pollutants, which can pollute surrounding waterbodies such as Lake Pontchartrain. Environmental Affairs investigates hundreds of complaints of illegal discharges to the drainage system each year. Approximately 20 percent of all complaints relate to commercial and industrial activities. 

The Department of Environmental Affairs will accept applications for the Storm Water Leadership Awards until Friday, March 29, 2024. Interested parties may contact Jefferson Parish Storm Water Supervisor Sami Khalil at skhalil@jeffparish.net to receive an application package. For more information about the Storm Water Leadership Awards and the Parish’s Environmental Stewardship Program, contact Environmental Affairs at (504) 731-4612.

For more information about Jefferson Parish, visit www.JeffParish.net Residents can also receive regular updates by following the Parish on social media (@JeffParishGov) or by texting JPALERT or JPNOTICIAS to 888-777.

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Jefferson Parish Public Information Office 1221 Elmwood Park Boulevard, Suite 1002 Jefferson, LA 70123

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Gretchen Hirt Gendron, PIO