Following months of controversy, Aurelia Giacometto has stepped down as secretary of the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
Giacometto assumed her role as head of LDEQ in January 2024. The governor’s office announced on Friday afternoon that she has accepted a position with Earth & Water Law, a law firm headquartered in Washington, D.C.
Giacometto’s stint as LDEQ secretary has been a tumultuous one. In March, a workplace culture survey published by the Louisiana Legislative Auditor found that 78.2% of LDEQ employees felt that morale at the department worsened in the first six months with Giacometto at the helm, and 33.5% said they worked in a “toxic” environment.
A wave of high-profile LDEQ employees resigned under Giacometto’s tenure, some of whom had been with the department for years. One such employee penned a letter alleging that Giacometto had harassed longtime employees, while another issued a missive detailing Giacometto’s “increasingly erratic and alarmingly vicious behavior.”
The governor’s office did not address the controversies surrounding Giacometto’s LDEQ in its announcement, opting instead to applaud her for modernizing the department’s internal infrastructure and demonstrating a commitment to fiscal responsibility.
The announcement came just over an hour after Jeremy Bridges, LDEQ’s public information officer, told Daily Report that rumors of Giacometto’s resignation were “very much untrue.”
Gov. Jeff Landry has appointed Courtney Burdette as Giacometto’s replacement. Burdette has worked with LDEQ in multiple capacities for over a decade, most recently as executive counsel.
