Got a Grease Citation in Baton Rouge? Do These Five Things

First: read what kind of trouble it is

Three different documents get called “a grease citation” and they have different clocks. A health inspection violation (LDH sanitarian) usually comes with a compliance timeframe and a re-inspection. A notice of deficiency from Environmental Services (the sewer side) cites the parish ordinance and often carries a documentation deadline. A sewer-cleaning bill means the parish already cleaned a public line and is charging the businesses on it. Which one you got determines the fix — but the first move is the same for all three.

The five steps

1. Pump it now — a real, full-evacuation pump-out. Almost every grease violation traces back to an overdue or half-done cleaning. The service must fully evacuate all contents and scrape the walls (that’s the legal standard here, not a nicety) and it must generate a manifest. Same-week service: (225) 327-1077.

2. Fix what the cleaning uncovers, with permits. Cracked baffles or piping found during the pump-out need repair before re-inspection — and in this parish, trap repairs require a plumbing permit and inspection, with the tag kept on site and paperwork filed within 30 days.

3. Assemble the paper trail. The manifest from step 1, prior pump-out receipts, any repair permits, and your going-forward schedule. If the citation is a shared-line sewer bill, this is also your defense: the ordinance releases a user who can document proper sizing, cleaning manifests, and a clean discharge sample within a week of the sewer work (Sec. 2:272(6)).

4. Set an interval that survives the follow-up. Re-inspections recur. An interval sized to your actual volume (30-second estimate here) — documented in a running log — is what turns a one-time citation into a closed file.

5. Respond by the deadline, in writing, with attachments. Short, factual, documents attached: what was found, what was done, the schedule going forward. Inspectors close files on evidence, not promises.