The LDEQ’s organizational predecessor was founded as the Stream Control Commission (SCC) in 1940.
The death of a young man in Iberville Parish later spurred the formation of the Department of Environmental Quality. In 1978, 19-year-old Kirtley Jackson died from hydrogen sulfide fumes from an unlicensed hazardous waste pit. In 1983, the Louisiana Environmental Quality Act authorized the established of LDEQ.
In 1988, environmental scientist Paul Templet was appointed to head the LDEQ by Gov. Buddy Roemer. At the time, the first annual National Toxics Release Inventory had just been released and Louisiana was listed as one of the worst offenders. Templet and Roemer worked with the Legislature to pass a law “requiring that toxic pollution statewide be cut in half over a decade, a goal Louisiana industry met and exceeded” (Russell 2019). Templet developed a plan to create environmental scorecards tied to tax incentives and other incentives. Under Templet, LDEQ took action to protect human health from pollution. For instance, LDEQ fined and revoked a permit from Marine Shale Processors, a company using dangerous industrial waste in an area of St. Mary Parish with a cluster of rare pediatric cancers. Templet describes his work in LDEQ in “Defending the Public Domain: Pollution, Subsidies and Poverty” (2001). In this paper, Templet includes data showing how investment and jobs in Louisiana increased as pollution declined (contrary to common industry warnings).
The president of Marine Shale Processors ultimately spent $400,000 on ads against Roemer in the 1991 gubernatorial primary. Roemer ended up in third place behind Edwin Edwards and white supremacist David Duke.
Dr. Paul Templet Interview. 1988. Louisiana: The State We’re In. PBS Digital Collection. http://ladigitalmedia.org/video_v2/asset-detail/LSWI-1116-05_Templet.
Russell, Gordon. 2019. “How an Environmental Regulator Became Known for Protecting Industry.” ProPublica. December 19, 2019. https://www.propublica.org/article/how-an-environmental-regulator-became-known-for-protecting-industry.
Kaare Johnson Talks. 2023. “Dr. Paul Templet, Former Head of La DEQ Joins Kaare To Discuss Lack of Enforcement And More!” Streamed on Sep 11, 2023. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-8jJtKRI2w.
Templet, Paul H. 2001. “Defending the Public Domain: Pollution, Subsidies and Poverty.” SSRN Scholarly Paper. Rochester, NY. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.333280.
