UPDATE

Southwest Regional Touts Customer Service
The staff at the Southwest Regional Office
knows the importance of customer service.
Like red beans and rice on Mondays, customer
satisfaction is a tradition that has been passed
down to each new employee who comes to the
Lake Charles office.
Regional Manager David Daigle said communication
with concerned citizens, environmental
groups, industry and the regulated community has
helped employees form working relationships
throughout the region. Daigle is also proud of the
effort his team puts into its ambient air and water
monitoring programs. But, it’s the customer service
that makes him smile the most.
“I’ve been with DEQ for 15 years,” Daigle said.
“When I started here all the supervisors and
employees in SWRO were already customer oriented.
That mindset was passed down to me and
everyone else who worked here. We still believe in
handling complaints from citizens the right way and
we all strive to make sure our customer is happy.”
Billy Eakin is an Environmental Staff Supervisor
at the regional office. He said the office conducts
approximately 600 inspections, handles about 300
complaints and averages 800 incidents per year.
And anyone who calls the Southwest Regional
Office will receive a prompt return call.
“We write it into employees’ planning review,”
Eakin said. “They’re supposed to return calls the
same day, if possible. Everyone tries to do that.”
Another interesting theme to the office’s relationships
with industry and environmental groups is
McNeese State University. The college is a common
thread among those who work with and tend to
environmental issues in southwest Louisiana.
“McNeese was one of the first universities in the
nation that offered a degree in environmental science,”
Daigle said. “It started up in the 60s and in
the 70s a lot of us graduated, moved away to find
jobs and are now back home working in southwest
Louisiana in some capacity of environmental
science.”
Scott Wilkinson, an Environmental Staff
Supervisor at the regional office, said that having
so much in common with the residents makes it
seem as if they are working in a neighborhood.
People know each other’s names, their roles and
what they do.
“The people in our region are like our neighbors,”
said Wilkinson, who has a bachelor’s in
It was a perfect day. It was
sunny and clear but the
wind kept things cool at this
year’s Earth Day celebration.
DEQ puppeteers and volunteers
provided education and entertainment
to the crowd that strolled
North Boulevard. The performance
tent of DEQ’s Puppet pals
provided seating for the many
children who stopped to watch
and learn about recycling, litter
and other topics.
Page 12
wildlife biology from McNeese
and has worked at DEQ for 15
years. “We went to school with
many of them and a lot of good
working relationships were
started before we even started
working at DEQ. We’ve gained a
lot of information from guys who
work in industry or in the community
because we know them.
We’ve had to tell people things
they didn’t want to hear, but
because they know us they
understand. This region has a
unique culture and you have to
know the people.”
The landscape in the southwest
region of Allen, Beauregard,
Calcasieu, Cameron, Jefferson
Davis and Vernon parishes is also
unique and diverse. There are coastal marshlands,
historic prairie lands, pinelands to the
north and hardwood bottoms along the streams.
The cultures of people living on these landscapes
are as diverse as the habitat itself. Daigle
said that makes the job interesting and often fun.
Daigle also said the industries his region regulates
are also very diverse. In addition to major
petroleum refineries and the petrochemical
industry, the regional office regulates paper
mills, saw mills, oil and gas production facilities,
seafood processing facilities, the pipeline industry
and others. Because the area is rich in agriculture
operations in rice, sugarcane, cattle and
timber production, they also partner with
Louisiana Department of Agriculture and
Forestry inspectors on environmental issues. “It’s
a heck of a diverse deal,” Daigle said.
Daigle is also impressed with his staff’s attention
to accurate monitoring. He said that a few
years ago the Calcasieu area was experiencing
elevated ozone levels. Now the area is under a
maintenance plan and in attainment.
“The team that maintains and operates our airmonitoring
sites have a lot of energy,” said
Daigle, adding that there are seven sites in the
region. “Our site operators know that if the data
is not good, then we can’t make good decisions.
We have also partnered with the Lake Charles
Industry Alliance on air monitoring sites in an
Holly Smith, DEQ Office of Environmental Compliance,
gives voice to Ditty Bags, senior puppet, a.k.a. the puppet
with the mouth.
The staff of the Southwest Regional office in Lake Charles.
Scott Wilkinson, Environmental Staff Supervisor, David
Daigle, Regional Manager, and Billy Eakin, Environmental
Staff Supervisor, strive to give the citizens good customer
service.
effort to collect even more data, and our people know
the importance and implications of that work.”
Daigle has the same positive message about the
ambient water-sampling program in his region as well.
One other item that pleases Daigle about the regional
office is the staff, he said.
“We have a neat blend of experienced veterans and
the young, energetic inspectors, and we call on all their
strengths every day to do our job.” Daigle said. “Most
of our employees tend to stay here because people
feel at home here. This is a good place to live, work
and raise kids”
Earth Day Celebrates the Environment
Alternative fuel vehicles like this G.E.M. battery-power vehicle,
were an important part of Earth Day’s all species parade.