"Superhero Concert" (Gray)
April 6, 2010
May 1 ballot to include 5 mill tax
April 8, 2010Heavy rain caused many residents of Lafourche Parish to flood last December.
But parish officials feel the great amount of water wasn’t the only thing to blame.
According to parish spokesman Brennan Matherne, that’s because a great deal of trash surrounded the pump station.
“We have pictures of a pumping station in Thibodaux when the rains came in December, and there is trash surrounding that pumping system,” he said. “It’s sort of a no brainier that when you have that much trash that’s in the water that’s trying to get pumped out of a system – and it’s suction – the suction is going to grab some of the trash. The trash is going to clog things up, and that makes it slower.”
At that point, Lafourche Parish began planning its “Keep Lafourche Parish Clean” campaign.
Launched in early March, the campaign’s main goal is to inform residents about the danger of litter and pollution hampering drainage and harming the environment.
Matherne said in order to get its point across, the parish didn’t want to do a typical anti-litter campaign.
“Typical anti-litter campaigns are about keeping everything beautiful, and it’s more about beautification,” he explained. “Yes, we are playing up to the beautification aspects, but we really wanted to drive home the point that when you litter, stuff can fall into drainage ditches. It can end up in a situation where it clogs ditches or pumping systems and eventually leads to flooding.”
Matherne said the parish will push the campaign hard for the first six months with radio, TV, print and billboard advertisements.
“We’re going to use more shock value to inform the residents. We’re going to show pictures of trash in ditches, pictures of trash that’s actually stopping water from moving in a drainage ditch, pictures of flooded homes,” he said. “We want people to understand that when you litter, when you allow trash to fall in your ditch or you clog up your ditch in any way, you’re attributing to the drainage problem.”
Matherne said this type of advertising should appeal even to those who don’t care about the cleanliness of their yard.
“The idea of anti-litter is obviously taking pride in your community, but it goes beyond that,” he noted. “Even if that’s not important to you, certainly your house flooding has to be.”
More information on the campaign, including flyers, surveys, press releases and pictures, can be found on the parish’s Web site www.lafourchegov.org.
Clicking on the large “Keep Lafourche Parish Clean” graphic on home page accesses its information page, which will also include anti-litter events.
The first event will be a Household Hazardous Materials Collection Day Saturday, April 24, from 8 a.m. to noon.
This collaborate effort between Lafourche Parish Government and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality will take place at the Matthews Government Complex (old Wal Mart) in Mathews.
“The residents of Lafourche need an outlet for the types of material we’re going to be collecting,” said Office of Solid Waste manager Jerome Danos. “Our normal garbage service does not provide for the collection of these types of items so it’s good that we’re able to offer the opportunity this year for people to have an outlet for items they may have been storing for a period of time and have a chance to get rid of those items in a proper way.”
Parish residents are encouraged to bring household products such as cleaning materials, paints, electronic equipment, automotive products, lawn and garden products, batteries and flammables.
All liquids must be labeled and in closed containers.
Commercial businesses are not eligible, and residents will be required to show proof of residency. A resident’s most recent water or electric bill will be acceptable.
Residents may not bring ammunition, explosives, fireworks, fire extinguishers, appliances, furniture, power tools, radioactive devices (smoke/fire detectors), large gas cylinders (such as helium, Freon or acetylene), Styrofoam, construction/demolition debris, school lab waste and liquids in containers larger than five gallons.
For a full list of what’s eligible, visit the anti-litter page on the parish government’s Web site or call the parish’s Office of Solid Waste at (985) 573-7603 or toll-free at 1-800-794-3160.
Matherne said the Household Hazardous Materials Collection Day is the only event the parish has scheduled so far.
But he added they are already working with entities like the Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office, Nicholls State University and the Barataria Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP) to schedule some more collaborative events in the coming months.
