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.
Recent Comments