Office of Conservation

DNR NAMES NEW COMMISSIONER OF CONSERVATION

Philip N. Asprodites, a native of New Orleans, has been appointed to the post of Commissioner of Conservation at the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) effective May 26, 1998. Asprodites assumes the post held by interim Commissioner Warren Fleet.

Asprodites is a former partner in the law firm Gordon, Arata, McCollam & Duplantis, L.L. P. of New Orleans. His area of expertise is in both Energy Law and Oil and Gas Litigation and from 1978- 80 he served as counsel to the State Mineral Board and the Office of Mineral Resources. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University, Washington, DC. He earned his Juris doctorate in 1978 from Tulane University of Law.

DNR Secretary Jack Caldwell expects Asprodities to become a key leader in the department since he will have statutory responsibilities for regulation and conservation of the state's oil, gas, and lignite resources. As Commissioner, he will specifically oversee the underground injection and waste disposal practices of the state, particularly Statewide Order 29-B and its current emergency testing procedures.

Other areas within the Office of Conservation are the Engineering division, Geological Oil and Gas division and the state's Pipeline division. He will also exercise duties in the office's permitting program.

Asprodites has co-authored publications related to leasing of federal land and comprehensive land practices in Louisiana.

Editors: For more information on this topic, please contact the DNR Public Information Office at (504) 342-8955.