Quicksilver כספית

[UPDATE 9-16] Katrina's environmental and toxic legacy

Katrina struck Gulf Coast counties with a heavy concentration of oil and chemical industry facilities. So, part of their legacy of hazardous waste has churned up, awash, and coming back to haunt us. Plus, toxic chemical storage that may have been spilled.                   (Other Katrina posts here.)

{9-16} Write EPA to better investigate and monitor the toxic waste disaster in New Orleans -- via OMB Watch. OMB also has a database of NOLA toxic chemical sites (thanks to long-time data guru Rick Puchulsky). The Sierra Club, besides handling right-wing attacks, has a fine post by Carl Pope.

It's too early to estimate the environmental and toxic aspects of the hurricane's damage, but here is some news and links:

{9-16} Coast Guard reveals more on oil spills (HT EffectM). Indeed, the spills are now 2/3 the size of the Exxon Valdez, for which "a team of economists estimated the aggregate willingness to pay of U.S. households to prevent another oil spill of that size in Prince William Sound to have a lower bound of $2.8 billion and a mean of $7.19 billion. (HT Enviro Econ).

{9-16} "The Mother of All Toxic Cleanups" reports BusinessWeek. EPA Chief on their hard choices, including the reg waivers (AP). An interview with EPA whistle-blower Hugh Kaufman criticizing the agency. (HT EffectM)

{New} More environmental resources. CS Monitor on toxics cleanup. EPA's updates. Fascinating info/photos on environmental impacts via US Geological Survey.

{9-8 update} EPA reports that it tested "priority pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs), total metals, pesticides, herbicides, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). ... Lead concentrations in water exceeded drinking water action levels. These levels are a concern if a child ingests large amounts of flood water. For the additional chemicals tested, we have yet to detect contaminant levels that would pose human health risks. ... EPA testing has focused on neighborhoods and not in heavily industrialized areas."

"Michael McDaniel, the Louisiana secretary of environmental quality, said it was "simply unfeasible" to attempt to filter the water before flowing it into the lake. The EPA granted the Army Corps of Engineers a waiver from treating floodwater before sending it into Lake Pontchartrain." Read interview. Any public input on this waiver?

{9-8 from Gristmill} "An article on CNN.com today quotes Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Mike McDaniel: "Everywhere we look there's [an oil] spill ... there's almost a solid sheen over the area right now." The story also describes destroyed sewage plants, natural gas leaks, and oozing vehicles of all shapes and sizes. It is, as McDaniel says, 'almost unimaginable'."

{News 9-2): Explosion at a chemical depot in New Orleans. Potentially huge oil spill into the Mississippi.

{News 9-6} Reports on the toxic brew and e-coli situation by CNN (E.g., Rodney Mallett, communications director for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, say there do not appear to be any choices other than to pump the water into Lake Pontchartrain or the Mississippi River, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico, a key maritime spawning ground. "I don't see how we could treat all that water," Mallett said.") Reuters (Bass and Murphy oil spills, 25 damaged sewage treatment plants)

[New] Just received an email from a guy who both warned about (in 2002) and survived hurricane Katrina, New Orleans environmental reporter Mark Schliefman, sent me this email:

Bit too tired to go thru all the toxic potential involved here, but in
general, you've got some 250,00 batches of household chemicals mixed
with leaking gasoline and kerosene from underground tanks, cleaning fluid
from dry cleaners, chemicals from a variety of businesses, etc. Then
you've got a myriad of tanks containing who knows what that would have
floated off their footings, breaking their connections and spewing their
contents. (9-2-05)

New Orleans now 'hazardous waste site,' experts say by Craig Pittman, Times Staff Writer (August 31, 2005) Thanks and hat tip to Confined space.

Dave Roberts at Gristmill put up many links on environmental damage and debate about Katrina. Likewise, Risk World on damage to oil and energy resources.

The finger-pointing has already begun. Nobody causes a hurricane. Of course, there's a history behind the limited preparedness of this heavily industrialized region. But who bears responsibility for the concentration of industrial toxicality in the poor counties of Louisiana and Mississippi? The responsibility is dispersed, like barrels of pollutants in a toxic stew.

Kaspit

{Update} Gov't portal for environmental info to help interpret the Katrina and New Orleans situation.

About the makings of a disaster like Katrina, Impact Analysis and Mark Schleifstein's work. About fingerpointing (e.g., Agonist) , for instance, The Commons blog. For a quick photo of media justice, Hungry Blues.

[Update] Leaked DOJ memo, reg waivers, and other Katrina updates (9-16)

With the glut of texts about hurricane Katrina and its (mis)management, I'd add the following sources and items to my interim analysis:

{9-16} Under political "emergency response", the Mississippie Clarion-Ledger reports on a leaked DOJ email, showing the Bush Administration staff is working to shift the blame to environmentalists. (HT Sierra Club) This comes on the heels of similar efforts by right-wing writers to blame enviro demands for an enviro impact analysis for levee work. However, there's nothing wrong with environmentally-sound levees and -- furthermore, the levees involved were NOT the ones that broke. (Also: the story reports that the Bush Admin cut $400 million from Army Corps requests for flood control.)

{New} FEMA's fearsome and fascinating list of governmental "waivers and dispensations" from INS, DOT, DOE, HHS, Coast Guard, etc. Much laudable. But, for instance, it notes that, on 8/30, EPA issued an "enforcement discretion determination to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers facilitating the pumping of [toxic] water out of flooded areas." Also, "the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has issued emergency exemptions ... authorizing them to waive all hazardous materials transportation safety regulations (except those applicable to radioactive materials) on shipments to, from, and within the Hurricane Katrina disaster areas when necessary to support the recovery and relief efforts." How, if at all, is the FEMA allowing and handling public input and accountability on these reg waivers?!

(9-16) Joshua Marshall on behind the scenes legal fumbles at DHS by Chertoff (a Knight-Ridder story) and how Cheney responded rapidly (only) for a pipeline.

Follow the money. Tracking insider patronage with Halliburton (Effect Measure)(9-16). CNN on Halliburton's reconstruction contracts (HT to Adina Levin). Meanwhile, Bush suspends Davis-Bacon (Newman) and minimum wage law (Eyeteeth). The Administration is also weakening worker protection regs, eg DOT (HT Confined Space)(See new FEMA link, above.). Gas prices chart & (conservative) analysis.

{New} Terrific debunking of myths about Katrina. Local govt at fault, too. Brian's selection of Katrina links.

Wikipedia has an excellent series on Katrina, including one on criticism of government agencies and leaders. Discussion of crisis management, debris, etc at Impact analysis.

Media questions about Homeland Security (via Town Crier): Breakdowns Marked Path From Hurricane to Anarchy (NYT) and After 9/11, a master plan for disasters was drawn. It didn't weather the storm (LA Times)

Political misjudgments update by Eyeteeth.

Critique of federal aid package. Alternatives for Katrina donors, as recommended by Nathan Newman and Hungry Blues (the People's Hurricane Relief Fund). Sabbath Meals reports on "Sharon Wachsler, a disability rights activist, put together an email listing the organizations that are helping people with disabilities on the ground in New Orleans. She recommends donating to Food Not Bombs."

See also comments on interim report and my comment to Hassagot, who downplays the duties of the federal government. I welcome other suggested links for this post.

Kaspit

Bioremediation of Katrina flood waters

As New Orleans' toxic waters get pumped out, Jewish activists are among those advocating for the bioremediation treatment of flood waters. The flood waters are highly polluted by oil, toxic wastes, and biological hazards (e coli, etc). As an alternative to chlorine bleach or other chemical treatments, bioremediation involves the use of microorganisms to break up pollutants (USGS fact sheet).

In particular, the use of Effective Microorganisms (EM) technology has been debated by participants with COEJL (Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life) and elsewhere. Circulating in the internet, this memo claims that EM was used for the recent tsunami and saved many lives. The company also claims EM was used for the giant 2002 Elbe flood. (Hat tip to Terry Gips at Alliance for Sustainability.)

{New} Here is a link to their database of research on EM. I can't vouch for the quality of the research but it is extensive.

As posted earlier, it is problematic that the toxic flood waters are being pumped into ecologically-sensitive waters without any treatment.

However, it is unclear that bioremediation of any sort would be effective in the New Orleans situation. [1]

Kaspit

[1] Alan Ismond, P.Eng. gave permission for me to cite his comment: "I have worked with microbial / enzyme / nutrient products for remediating wastewater. I agree ... that this is a complex field and not as simple as pouring a product down the drain to unclog a pipe. I do not believe that one single product can be a panacea that will address all of the issues in contaminated water. For example the contaminated water in the disaster area could contain widely diverse pollutants ranging from heavy metals to harmful bacteria to fuels and hydrocarbons. There may be specific organisms that can break down specific pollutants.... However, I do not know of one organism or mix of organisms that can do everything under the sun.

Another important concern is the dose rate of a remedial product and controlling the environment so that the product can work effectively. Sewage treatment plants are a controlled environment that are maintained for optimal performance. Acres and acres of wastewater in contact with an endless supply of pollutants and wastewater volumes of millions and millions of gallons is hardly a controlled environment. With the concentration and mix of pollutants and volume of wastewater to be treated being unknown or constantly changing, and no ability to control the environment that remediation products will be exposed to, I am skeptical of a quick fix. I would be thrilled if a vender could provide documented, controlled and reproducible test data and independent studies or case histories."

Mainstream Jewish relief efforts after hurricane Katrina

Update: JTA news "Jewish groups pitch in to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina"

Mainstream Jewish organizations are coordinating an enormous outpouring of charitable and volunteer efforts in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. The attached joint memo deals with relief efforts at the local community level; it exemplifies the high-level degree of coordination. (If only FEMA and Homeland Security had the kind of leadership...)

I received a cover letter that stressed: "Please know that we are concerned with ALL the residents of the area and contributions you send will go to help all residents of the area." (I think this is implicit in the attached memo.) This emphasis is important to me, in light of the disproportionate poverty of the many non-Jews who need help.

Kaspit

PS I deleted the memo's contact info, due to confidentiality and spam concerns. Let me know if you need this information.

No child left behind?

No child left behind... unless they were among the poor and/or black of New Orleans. Am I being too harsh? Due to a muddle of prejudice, incompetence and systemic  disregard for the underclass, the response of our government is shameful. In its urgent charitable work and political response, the Jewish community ought not overlook the injustice(s) at work.

"Hurricane Katrina pulled back the curtain, exposing the things many knew existed and even more wished not to acknowledge: race, class, privilege, cavernous health and income disparities; poverty amidst opulence..."  (Effect Measure)

The Commons: "60 percent of New Orleans residents are black, but it has been little noted that a third of those black families do not own a car -- nor do 15 percent of white families. It is these people who were left behind when those with cars evacuated."

"We all have seen over the years images depicting the horrors faced by refugees in third world countries.  But the images of people in our own country, rich as it is in so many ways, without any food or water for days, using the floor as toilets, sitting among rotting cadavers, or women with infants (in one report I read) being given two diapers and told to scrape them off and reuse them, are hard to accept.

[... This] not only raises questions about how we treat the poor among us, but forces us to confront some difficult issues about race in this country. Ann Althouse asks over on her blog, "Were the provisions for flood prevention and for evacuation and shelter so inadequate because mostly black people were affected? Would the rescues have come more quickly if the victims were white? Would viewers and reporters express more utrage at the pace of relief if we were seeing white victims?"  Good questions." From Susan Stabile at Mirror of Justice (Catholic legal theory blog)

As New Orleans journalist Mark Schleifstein and many others had forewarned, the levee failure was predictable and predicted so "either the President doesn't know what he's talking about, or he's not telling the truth" when he claimed otherwise. (Mark Kleiman)

Surely the dreadful emergency response will be investigated. Maybe the delay was caused by the deal to hire Halliburton has been hired for storm cleanup in Louisiana and Mississippi?! Or maybe the Federal Emergency Management Agency was busy directing donations to Rev. Pat Robertson!? (Courtesy of Hungry Blues coverage of justice aspects) Even Newt Gingrich criticized the relief effort (Timnah, with more tales of injustice in New Orleans.)

Why the foot-dragging, why the dreadful responsiveness to those who were left behind?

Arguably, BusinessWeek noted, the Bush Administration had us "mistakenly lulled into thinking" that terrorism is the most urgent threat. Homeland Security? (Dubious public health measures?) Perhaps hurricane Katrina will wake us up. Too many people are threatened at home by economic and social injustice, by environmental and health risks, by political invisibility. Hurricane or not, their vulnerability is real. In a world of complex risks, it is our responsibility not to get too distracted.

Certainly, the resourceful Jewish community should be taking care of our own displaced families and children. At the same time, I suggest that our tzedakah (charity) also reach those with far less resources, who are most exposed in a structural economy of prejudice and uncertainty.

 

Kaspit

Previous posts on Katrina: where to donate (and global warming), social justice, looting for food under Jewish law, toxic pollution, Mark Schleifstein, and BusinessWeek noted.   

Solidarity with Business Week...

BusinessWeek seems right on the money. Here is how Dave Roberts sums it up:

"The America-hating commies at, uh, BusinessWeek have a must-read article on Katrina and the implications for U.S. policy. The major lesson policymakers should draw from the catastrophe is just how vulnerable the U.S. is becoming to natural disasters and energy disruptions. In fact, some experts say, Americans have been mistakenly lulled into thinking terrorism is the most pressing threat -- and they argue that the relentless focus on staving off suicide bombers has left crucial gaps elsewhere. Here are their policy recommendations: Restore natural buffer zones Limit development in the most vulnerable areas Get serious about climate change Make a Presidential appeal Increase energy diversity Boost energy efficiency. Read the whole thing. (via David Corn)"

Ok, I could strengthen the bullet points (sustainable rather than petro-chemical economy) but it's good to notice that BusinessWeek is on "our side" and vice versa. As Beck says about the boomerang effect: "The basic insight... is as simple as possible: everything which threatens life on this Earth also threatens the propery and commercial interests of those who live from the commodification of life and its requisites." (Risk Society 39)

Good shabbes,

Kaspit

Looting after hurricane Katrina per Jewish law

Is "looting" permitted under Jewish law (halakhah) after a disaster? I received this email:

I think a strong argument can be made that according to Jewish law, one can violate most laws in order to save one's life (except for the big 3--idolatry, murder, illicit sexual relationships) as the key is v'chai bahem [i.e., you shall live by the commandments -- K].  It seems that for some of the people, they have reached that state of desperation. Whether the situation is so dire that looting and stealing is justified would probably depend case by case.

This email then correctly cites Talmud Sanhedrin 74a and an article at J-Law "Stealing To Save Someone's Life" by Charles J. Harary, Esq. The article's conclusion doesn't do justice to its thorough halakhic analysis, but here is the bottom line:

In conclusion, the dominant view in Jewish law follows the Shulchan Aruch and the Rambam, which allows a person to steal or damage property of another to save his own life. Thus, one may break in to the house of another, or steal insulin if that was necessary to save his life. However, such a person must compensate the owner of the property.

The Jlaw.com article also compares Jewish law to Anglo- American law on stealing to save a life.

[I also wonder whether Jewish law might allow the taking of food and other perishable goods, which have been de facto abandoned by the owners (ye-ush). However, abandonment (ye-ush) usually cannot take effect unless the goods are outside of the possession (reshut) of the owner.]

This post does not refer to any specific cases of taking or stealing due to the Katrina hurricane and disaster. Certainly, Jewish law condemns indiscriminate theft and looting. Still, I agree that Jewish law may readily condone situations where people are in doubt about feeding and otherwise caring for themselves and their family. The situation in New Orleans is quite shocking.* Prayers...

Kaspit

* See the agonizing Times-Picayune editorial that "Hurricane Katrina has created a humanitarian crisis of unimaginable proportions."

Social justice and Katrina

Is the suffering brought about by Katrina distributed evenly in our society? I received this email: "In the Boston Globe sports section today, Bob Ryan made a chilling comment:

I fully realize that there were always two New Orleans, the one I and other tourists saw, and the other New Orleans, the one inhabited by the thousands of poor people, mostly of color. Judging from the shots we see of those who were herded into the Superdome, the white people mostly managed to get out. The others weren’t so fortunate.

Shouldn’t we be guided by the Talmud’s direction not to build a tannery in the city?  Isn’t this exactly what we’ve done in New Orleans -- at least for the people who don’t have the means to get out when a catastrophic event hits?"  -- sent by an anonymous reader, thanks.

I do sense that the poor and people of color are most likely to not be properly evacuated. Along with sick and elderly, they may lack the money and/or vehicles to leave. Furthermore, they may have less means to cope with the hurricane's aftermath.

Blacks may also be portrayed by the media as "looting" rather than coping with a desperate situation. See Ben's telling photos at Hungry Blues.

This disaster also makes it difficult for people to get their drugs, whether meds for mental health or narcotics. (Plus, more stress for caffeine and nicotine addicts). Not certain how the pharmacolization of society is distributed, but again the poor are disadvantaged.

As Ulrich Beck wrote in Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity:

Some people are more affected than others by the distribution and growth of risks, that is, social risk positions spring up. In some of their dimensions these follow the inequalities of class and strata positions, but they bring a fundamentally different logic [than wealth] into play. Risks of modernization sooner or later also strike those who produce or profit from them. They contain a boomerang effect, which breaks up the patter of class and national society." p23 trans.Ritter

Beck points out the complexity of social justice. In a natural catastrophe, like Katrina, a wide swath of people are harmed. Certainly, many wealthy folks will suffer physically and economically. The boomerang strikes those invested in the development of New Orleans, Biloxi etc, in the concentrated petro-chemical industries of the region. Nevertheless, before the boomerang, hurricane Katrina strikes hardest and first at the poor and disadvantaged. In a risk society like ours, social justice issues may be more obscure and difficult to ferret out.

Kaspit

Also writing about the poor and/or people of color: Larry James and J-wild. Jack Shafer in Slate. Larry James writes: "Hurricane Katrina ravaged the poor. Almost 30% of the population of New Orleans lived below the national poverty line before she hit. As is usually the case, the poorest citizens in the city lived in the worst places in terms of vulnerability to a storm like Katrina. .... Politicians and preachers take to the stages of America to pray and to pronounce. The following day the poor continue to suffer. Just once I wish we were honest enough to link this call and its promise to our out-of-control materialism, to our systemic national injustices and to our failure to care for the weakest among us."

[UPDATED NEWS] Jewish environmental journalist as Jonah: Mark Schleifstein on catastrophic hurricane risk

Prophecy was not the intent of Pulitzer-prize winning Mark Schleifstein, an environmental reporter for the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Still, Schleifstein hit the nail on the head when he warned that a hurricane could have a catastrophic impact. He co-authored: "Washing Away: How south Louisiana is growing more vulnerable to a catastrophic hurricane" (Eye-opening journalism. Awards for the series listed below.)

{ADDED} Mark Schliefstein is Jewish and non-partisan. He tells me that he serves both as the gabbai in his Conservative shul (Shir Chadash, Metairie) and "I try to be as available as I can, considering my work schedule, for filling in at evening minyan at the Orthodox shul around the corner on Canal St. in New Orleans." Here's his understated precis of the last few days:

My house has about 10 feet of water in it, based on satellite photos I've seen, as does Beth Israel [DovBear]. Don't know yet about my synagogue. We stored our torahs in a third floor room in our Jewish Community Center, across the parking lot from us, and expect they survived. We stayed at the paper during the storm, safe place, and ended up evacuating the next day when water was rising a bit too quickly around the building. Loaded into the back of newspaper delivery trucks, I went to Houma, La., 65 miles southwest, where we put out our web edition of the paper the next two days, and my wife went to Baton Rouge and then flew out to her dad in Atlanta. He's in the Jewish Tower. I'm now in Baton Rouge, sharing a dorm room with 10 staffers at Louisiana State University.

{ADDED} Of course, now Mark's series is getting a storm of attention for exposing the danger and the flaws and negligence with preparedness efforts, e.g., Cox News, SLC editorial, Ronda Hauben on the negligence of prevention, Eric Zorn, and The Wall Street Journal (HT Romenesko on journalism).

Gristmill reports on what Mark says the press should cover now (i.e., coastal wetlands not yet the questionable global warming connection).

Transparent Grid recaps the "Washing Away" series' worst case scenario, see also TG's part II and part III (Bush budget cuts).

Mark Schleifstein is a splendid journalist and environmental hazard investigator. I couldn't find on the web all his excellent earlier work, e.g., on chemical industry pollution in Louisiana. His prior articles and accomplishments include:

Have evacuation plan, will travel  (Dec 2004)

Biggest mercury polluter in La. to clean up its act  (August 5, 2005) (You can be sure I wouldn't skip his work on quicksilver, which PPG uses in Lake Charles, Louisiana to make chlorine. More on mercury air pollution here.)

Washing Away: How south Louisiana is growing more vulnerable to a catastrophic hurricane, notes the SJE bio, "won the American Society of Civil Engineers' 2003 Excellence in Media award and the 2003 National Hurricane Conference media award. It also was a finalist for the 2003 Edward J. Meeman Award for Environmental Reporting for newspapers with over 100,000 circulation. He also recently received the Governor's Award from the Louisiana Wildlife Federation, presented annually to the person or organization deemed to have made the most outstanding contribution toward the protection and wise use of the state's natural resources."

Mark's "2001 series, Unequal Opportunity: How local programs to help disadvantaged businesses are enriching wealthy entrepreneurs, won the 2002 Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism ...  The 1998 series, Home Wreckers: How the Formosan termite is devastating New Orleans, was a finalist for the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for national reporting and won awards from the [AAAS] .... A 1996 series, Oceans of Trouble: Are the World's Fisheries Doomed? won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service .... The 1994 series, Stacking the Deck: The Birth of Louisiana Gambling, won .... The 1991 series, Louisiana in Peril, was a finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for explanatory journalism. .... Before joining The Times-Picayune, he worked for the Jackson, Miss., Clarion-Ledger, the Norfolk, Va., Virginian-Pilot, and the Suffolk, Va., News-Herald. He is married and has two children." Source: Society of Environmental Journalists w/ Photo credit.

Katrina, hurricanes and global warming

I caution against blaming Katrina on global warming, as does Ross Gelbspan (generally a good environmental journalist). Granted, oil and energy policies should change, but Arthur Waskow overplays the Katrina card.

See the analysis, links and debate at RealClimate. Here's a scientific paper on hurricanes and climate change courtesy of Prometheus. Gristmill debates this connection, too. (Cp. enviro law who sees a connection.)

My 2 cents is that there is a macro relationship but we are too prone to articulate a spurious correlation.

You can donate via UJC, the Orthodox Union, or see Miriam's list. A Chabad effort. Prayers...

Kaspit

For a halakhic argument regarding climate change, see Eliezer Diamond's paper. The Harvard publisher claims:

He convincingly argues that halakhic reasoning about notions of conventionality and equity in environmental matters could be applied meaningfully to the problem of global warming. Such application requires a careful analysis of concrete human situations as well as a creative analysis of Jewish legal sources.

My own tongue-in-check post on energy policy and halakhah here.

While here I've looked the global warming connection, other Jewish bloggers properly compare Katrina to the tsunami (Mystical Politics) and refute Jews who connect hurricane Katrina's refugees to divine punishment for Israel's evacuation of Gaza (DovBear, Hirhurim, Miriam at Bloghead, and Orthomom).  Cp. Christians who say that Katrina is divine retribution New Orleans and gays. Hat tip Gristmill.