Report offers 'grave' view of impact on (N.O.)environment (Houston Chron.)

[Up2Late]

(Yuck! Now that is the really bead stuff.)

Sept. 15, 2005, 1:09AM

Report offers 'grave' view of impact on environment

Associated Press
A front-end loader pushes thousand of gallons of sludge down the street in Chalmette., La. The oil was spilled into a residential neighborhood after Hurricane Katrina breeched storage talks at a refinery.

By DINA CAPPIELLO
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Drums full of hazardous medical waste and industrial chemicals float in the tainted floodwaters. As the water recedes, it leaves behind a sludge so laden with petroleum that federal officials are having trouble analyzing it.

Millions of gallons of oil have spilled from refinery storage tanks. And at least one hazardous waste site — an old New Orleans landfill — is submerged, increasing the risk that chemicals buried long ago could escape.

These are the early signs of the environmental destruction wrought by Hurricane Katrina, a storm that struck one of the most industrial and polluted areas of the country when it made landfall on the Gulf Coast.

Along the hurricane's path sat 31 hazardous-waste sites and 466 facilities handling large quantities of dangerous chemicals. What impact — if any — the storm had on these areas is still being analyzed by the hundreds of personnel deployed, including those aboard mobile laboratories and in air-pollution-scanning aircraft. "This is the largest natural disaster that we believe the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and nation has faced," EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said during a media briefing Wednesday.

<http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/special/05/katrina/3354612>
(more at link above)

[truthisfreedom]

1. where do you push sludge? is there a safe place for sludge?

maybe we can sell it on ebay, considering how much crude is selling for now.

[Up2Late]

6. Not really, this is the stuff that new "Toxic Waste Dumps" are made of.

Most of the time they either fill 55 Gallon drums full of the sludge, and then store them in some sort of "repository," or they try to convince some Poor, Southern community in Mississippi or Alabama that it's O.K. to burn the stuff.

I'm sure we'll hear from our so-call "Representatives" that this stuff can be burned safely, or even hear that Bechtel or Halliburton is going to build a new "State of the Art" sludge burning power plant for only 50 Billion Dollars.

[reprobate]

21. A modest proposal: Put it all up Mad George's ass.

[Psephos]

27. Some of it can be incinerated

The incineration process converts many nasty chemicals into more benign substances.

It all depends on what the goo contains.

Peace.

[Javaman]

2. Speaking of which, were there any landfills that were submerged?

now that could be a major clean up.

[Up2Late]

4. You mean other than the "...old New Orleans landfill..." they mention?

I sort of remember the words "Toxic Gumbo" being thrown about lately.

[Javaman]

7. From what I heard, the toxins came from the miles of chemical plants...

that were submerged.

I'm talking about landfills and dumps.

[pushycat]

8. try submerged Superfund site near levee breach

http://www.nola.com/speced/unwelcome/index.ssf?/speced/unwelcome/stories/0523g.html

Agriculture Street neighborhood near the Industrial Canal..

<snip>The Environmental Protection Agency declared the area a Superfund site, targeting it for a $20 million cleanup to skim 2 feet of topsoil off people's yards. The EPA decided the soil was not toxic enough to pose a deadly health threat that would justify relocating residents.<snip>

[Javaman]

9. Thanks, this was I meant. :)

[DeepModem Mom]

3. LAT: Katrina Toxic Threat Still Vague but Ominous, EPA Says

Toxic Threat Still Vague but Ominous, EPA Says
Health risks are many but the measurements are inconclusive, agency chief says. Some contend the tests are inadequate.

By Marla Cone, Times Staff Writer


Calling Hurricane Katrina the largest disaster that the Environmental Protection Agency has ever encountered, the nation's top environmental official said Wednesday that the Gulf Coast was still facing an array of serious health threats, including lack of clean drinking water, astronomically high bacteria counts and unsafe levels of several toxic metals in floodwaters.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said it was impossible to estimate how long the cleanup would take because no one knows the magnitude of the problems.

Signs are emerging that there could be widespread hazardous waste in New Orleans that could delay rebuilding efforts, although the EPA so far says it has detected just three chemicals in the floodwaters at unsafe levels....

***

Some environmental researchers are suspicious of the reliability of the EPA's tests because they have reported no detectable amounts of benzene or several other substances in petroleum products, even though oily sheens are visible on the floodwaters.

But Johnson said petroleum residue has been absorbed into the dirt. He said the soil and other sediment contain so much petroleum-based material that it is hard to isolate specific compounds in the tests. Johnson said the EPA has requested assistance from a panel of scientific experts on how to analyze the samples....


http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-pollute15sep15,0,4831601.story?coll=la-home-nation

[Up2Late]

5. Let the spin begin!

"...EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said it was impossible to estimate how long the cleanup would take because no one knows the magnitude of the problems."

I bet he has no idea how MUCH it will cost either.

[barb162]

10. I saw some news footage of this two nights ago

absolutely HORRIBLE. Two dogs were running around in it and they were covered with this stuff and you just knew they were going to die very soon. Animals are dead by the millions, the birds, etc. from this crap. All the vegetation, the grass, weeds, trees, everything was completely dead from this sludge.

[Up2Late]

12. You ever heard of "Breton National Wildlife Refuge" in the Gulf?

Read this from the Wednesday, September 07, 2005 The Huntsville Times:

...The bad news is Fish and Wildlife Service officials have been unable to locate Breton National Wildlife Refuge in the Gulf southeast of New Orleans. It is the nation's second-oldest refuge, established and visited by President Teddy Roosevelt 101 years ago.

Aerial surveys show the famed Chandeleur Islands, Grand Gosier and Curlew chain suffered intense damage. There are signs of white sand replenishment, but it may take years for recovery, if it ever happens....

Take a look at a map of Louisiana, (and if you have a Fast internet connection, checkout the Satellite pictures I posted there) ALL of those Islands of the "toe" of Louisiana are just GONE! I think most of East Ship Island and the entire Deer population of Cat Island are gone too. They say a lot of the Deer are washed up dead at Pass Christian, Mississippi.

I posted about this and a few other things at the link below:

<http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4764213>

[barb162]

14. I was at the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve

in March and one segment of it is about 10 or 20 miles south of NOLA. It was just wonderful, these bayous, swamps, etc., and there's a long long boardwalk, a few miles long, where you can just see these birds, alligators, nutria ,etc. I bet it is all gone and all those animals are dead. I think a lot of Plaquemine Parish is also still under water. I heard or read last week that the lower 40 miles were still completely under water. I don't know if I have the guts to open your thread. I love the NOLA area because it is so different from where I live. I also like to birdwatch and the Mississippi is a huge bird flyway. When migration starts these birds are going to try to find where they typically stay down there and it won't be there. Therew will probably keep being huge bird and other species dieoff over the next several months and years.

Yes I have heard of the Breton Preserve and know where it is; the destruction of it sickens me

[Up2Late]

15. Here's a Press Release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: bad news

(This is an official U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Press Release, which I don't think fall under the 4 paragraph rule. I just had some info on Wetland Loss due to the storm, I'm still looking for it. Below they says, "Breton National Wildlife Refuge now about half its previous size...," but if you look at the Satellite pictures you'll see that those Islands are now sandbars.)

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Conducting Initial Damage Assessments to Wildlife and National Wildlife Refuges

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 9, 2005

Contacts: Jeffrey Fleming, 404-679-7287
Jim Rothschild, 404-679-7299



With a huge storm surge and winds over 150 miles per hour, Hurricane Katrina swept into coastal Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Sixteen coastal national wildlife refuges (NWR) were temporarily closed in its aftermath, and initial damage assessments to Fish and Wildlife Service facilities now exceed $94 million. Impacts to wildlife are just beginning to be assessed.

Here are some preliminary examples of Hurricane Katrina’s impact on wildlife:

Refuges covering nearly 365,000 acres still closed: In Alabama, 6,816-acre Bon Secour NWR in Gulf Shores; 4.218-acre Choctaw NWR in Jackson. In Mississippi, 14,060-acre Grand Bay NWR; 20,000-acre Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR in Gautier; 48,000-acre Noxubee NWR in Brooksville; 24,445-acre St. Catherine Creek NWR in Sibley. In Louisiana, 15,222-acre Atchafalaya NWR in Whiskey Bay; 22,770-acre Bayou Sauvage NWR in New Orleans; 9,028-acre Bayou Teche NWR in Franklin; 17,094-acre Big Branch Marsh NWR in Lacombe; 37,600-acre Bogue Chitto NWR in Pearl River; 13-000-acre Breton NWR in Gulf of Mexico; 9,463-acre Cat Island NWR in St. Francisville; 48,800-acre Delta NWR in Venice; 4,212-acre Mandalay NWR in Houma; 70,000-acre Tensas NWR in Tallulah

Breton National Wildlife Refuge now about half its previous size: Breton NWR, which is part of the Chandeleur Islands and celebrated its centennial last year, is roughly half the size it was before Hurricane Katrina swept across the Gulf Coast last week.

Worst damages to refuges: Besides Breton NWR, Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR, Big Branch Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, Delta NWR; Bogue Chito NWR; and Bayou Sauvage NWR appear to have taken the greatest impact.

Sea Turtles: About fifty sea turtle nests along the Alabama coast were lost. All ten of the nests at Bon Secour NWR were destroyed.

Mississippi sandhill cranes: A captive flock of Mississippi sandhill cranes at the Audubon Center for Research of Endangered Species (ACRES) in New Orleans survived the hurricane. At Mississippi Sandhill Crane NWR, about 38 of the 140 remaining endangered Mississippi sandhill cranes have radio transmitters. 25 of the 38 transmittered birds have been found alive after the storm. Although access to the refuge is restricted in several areas, preliminary assessments indicate a high survival rate for the cranes.

Red-cockaded woodpeckers: Significant numbers of trees are down at Noxubee NWR, and these include cavity trees used by roosting and nesting red-cockaded woodpeckers. Tree loss also will impact foraging habitat for these endangered birds.

Coastal Wetlands Impacts: Though it is still early and more analysis is needed, the Service and its partners have completed some preliminary assessments and expect significant coastal wetland impacts. Coastal marshes in the Mississippi River delta and the Parishes south of New Orleans were hard hit by winds, surge, and saltwater. Spartina was extensively uprooted, and Phragmites was laid over and "burned" by saline storm surge. Further spatial analyses will be needed to quantify the acreage of those wetlands that were converted to open water. Coastal forested wetlands in the eastern Lake Pontchartrain Basin to the Pearl River were defoliated, and heavy damage to standing trees was sustained. Prior to Hurricane Katrina, roughly 23 square miles of valuable coastal wetlands were being lost annually.

Alabama Beach Mouse: Primary dunes, which are typically the beach mouse’s best habitat have been destroyed. In addition, 90 percent of the secondary dunes were destroyed. Scrub habitat was damaged by salt spray from the ocean. Both habitat types serve as food sources for the beach mice and it is likely that their population will be substantially reduced from the effects of both Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Ivan from last year. Biologists are looking at the possibility of supplemental feeding of oats and seeds in places where beach mouse tracks are found.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprised of more than 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of wetlands, and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management offices, and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to State fish and wildlife agencies.

Photos of Hurricane Katrina

For more information about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, visit our home page at <http://www.fws.gov/southeast> or <http://www.fws.gov/>.

NOTE: You can view our releases or subscribe to receive them -- via e-mail -- at the Service's Southeast Regional home page at <http://www.fws.gov/southeast>. Our national home page is at: <http://www.fws.gov/news/newsreleases/>, Atlanta, GA 30345, phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

2005 News Releases

<http://www.fws.gov/southeast/news/2005/r05-088.html>

[Up2Late]

16. Found it at the USGS National Wetlands Research Center website

(This is an official Press Release from the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Geological Survey, which I don't believe come under the 4 paragraph rule.)
<http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/>

Please Note: This is a large file and will several seconds to load even on a DSL or Cable Modem connection.

pdf map file-
<http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/hurricane/breton_poststkatrina_letter.pdf>

(Editors, please note; for imagery related to this story, see Breton Sound Area Wetland Loss.)

Press Release
U.S. Department of the Interior
U.S. Geological Survey


Address
U.S. Geological Survey
National Wetlands Research Center
700 Cajundome Blvd.
Lafayette, LA 70506

Email
[email protected]

Web Address
<http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov>

Release: September 14, 2005 Contact: Gaye Farris Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

USGS Reports New Wetland Loss from Hurricane Katrina in Southeastern Louisiana

U.S. Geological Survey scientists report that preliminary analysis of satellite data indicate Hurricane Katrina caused substantial marsh loss in St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes.

This land loss potentially further reduces southeastern Louisiana’s natural protection from future storms. Louisiana already had previously lost about 1,900 square miles of coastal land, primarily marshes, since the 1930s.

Scientists estimate that the effects of Katrina transformed more than 30 square miles of marsh around the upper portion of Breton Sound to open water, or 20 to 26 percent of this 133-square mile area.

Future observations of Landsat imagery over the fall and winter will allow scientists to determine how much of the loss is permanent. This marsh area is located southeast of New Orleans in St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes. The area had already lost 21 square miles or 16 percent of its land area between 1956 and 2004.

Scientists from the USGS National Wetlands Research Center in Baton Rouge and Lafayette, La., used remote sensing technologies and geographic information systems to compare land and water areas identified by using Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper satellite imagery. Landsat data from November 11, 2004 were compared to data acquired on September 7, 2005 to identify potential wetland loss.

The imagery was collected by the USGS National Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Early speculation is that the morphology or shape of the Breton Sound basin might have contributed to a northwesterly movement of storm surge that weakened levees to the south of New Orleans. Usually, storm surge to the northwest of a hurricane eye wall is less significant than it appears to have been with Katrina. The marsh area contains large shears or shreds, scoured marsh and significant shoreline erosion.

Although this early analysis of wetlands does not take into account possible future reduction of flood waters and some marsh recovery, indications are that much of the loss may be permanent. Some of the open waters will likely become new lakes.

(Editors, please note; for imagery related to this story, see Breton Sound Area Wetland Loss.)


The USGS serves the Nation by providing reliable scientific information to describe and understand the Earth; minimize loss of life and property from natural disasters; manage water, biological, energy, and mineral resources; and enhance and protect our quality of life.

To receive USGS news releases go to to subscribe.

[barb162]

18. my heart is in my throat...I am going to cry and I am not a crying type

those poor animals

[lovuian]

11. New Orleans is a waste dump and is inhabitable

They don't want to tell the people the truth!!!

[musiclawyer]

13. I'm with you. The Mayor is contributing to this F___Up

By telling everyone to come back and vist the French Quarter etc..... Do you want to drink any water from anywhere near NO? Do you want to eat their shellfish right now. Tell me the water is shipped in from elswehere tand the fish is from New England, and I still won't go. Real leaders would stand up tall and tell the truth abou this environmental disater and what minimal precautions to take.

[pitohui]

17. oh that's a real helpful attitude

if you don't want to come, then stay home, don't try to stop the rest of us from rebuilding our lives

jeezus

[Psephos]

28. No one knows yet...

...but so far, I'd say the MSM has overdramatized some of the worst effects. (No flames please, I said some.)

Let's all keep our ski caps on our skulls until the waters recede and some real science can be done. I know, I know, it's not as much fun as ranting and all that. But no one can say we haven't had our fill lately. :-/

I'm with Pitohui. What good does it do for the people of New Orleans to have people from half a continent away spreading rumors and half-facts around? Answer: none.

Peace.

[despairing optimist]

19. This is like NY's Love Canal on a horribly grander scale

Those chemicals will seep into the groundwater, so anyone sinking a well had better keep testing the water for chemicals like benzene, PCBs, dioxin, and who knows what other nasty compounds. I wouldn't eat anything grown in the soil there either.

Upstate NYers, help me out on this one, but I think no one was allowed to build housing on the Love Canal, right? I think homeowners were compensated by Occidental Petroleum, which inherited responsibility for dumping the toxic wastes there from one of its acquired companies.

I definitely wouldn't believe anything coming out of EPA regarding the safety of New Orleans's air, water, or soil. If you want safety, communities should band together and have their neighborhoods tested independently of any government agencies. Remember that NYers were told the air downtown was safe after 9/11, and lots of people are still sick from it.

[Bravo411]

20. And this stuff is being pumped into the lake...

It will eventually make its way down to the Gulf.
No more seafood industry in that area.

NOLA will become our Chernobyl.

Posted by Bravo411
http://bravo411.blogspot.com

[0007]

24. It is already!!

The negativities are being limited.

[buzzsaw_23]

22. Katrina Oil Spills May Be Among Worst on Record

Katrina oil spills may be among worst on record

Julian Borger in Washington and John Vidal
Friday September 16, 2005
The Guardian


The oil pollution in the wake of Hurricane Katrina could be among the worst recorded in North America, officials trying to coordinate the clean-up say. The US coastguard, which is responsible for the marine environment, said yesterday more than 6.5 million gallons of crude oil had been spilt in at least seven major incidents. The previous worst spill in US waters was the 11m gallons in Alaskan waters from the Exxon Valdez in 1989.

The figure does not include petrol and oil spilt from up to 250,000 cars which have been submerged, or that spilt from hundreds of petrol stations. The coastguard says it has received almost 400 reports of spills, the vast majority of which have not been assessed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/katrina/story/0,16441,1571591,00.html

[Up2Late]

25. Wow, that sucks, but check out this Quote!

I didn't know it had gotten that bad.

From the last Paragraph:

"...The extent of the political damage was underlined yesterday in a column on the federal response by a conservative columnist and former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan, Peggy Noonan. "The White House was spinning when it should have been acting," she wrote in the Wall Street Journal. "In this area the administration has gotten way too clever while at the same time becoming stupider."

[Ilsa]

23. "Mommy, can we go out and play in the toxic waste dump?"

I wouldn't want to go back, especially with my kids, for anything.

[hootinholler]

26. When I saw the big pipe across the levee...

The first thing I thought of was why are they pumping all that 'water' into Ponchatrain?

This will set back the lake's ecosystem big time.

-Hoot

[Sgent]

29. Yep it will

That being said, the entire flood plan of NOLA has Lake Pontchatrain acting a as a resevoir (and therefore the Gulf). They have pumpted greywater runoff into the lake for years -- its the only place that can handle the amount the have.

As for wells, don't be funny... There are no wells in NOLA. Remember the city is under sea level -- digging a well is only about 2 feet in most places, and it gets you salt water.

NOLA drinking water comes from the Mississippi River. Of course, since the river is at the end of a long industrial canal.... the water is heavily treated.

Most people of even lower middle class means do not drink the water, they get bottled water. This has been true for decades.

[rainbow4321]

30. EPA whistleblower:"reckless and irresponsible" to let people move back

http://www.wwltv.com/local/stories/WWL091605environmental.646d31b9.html


A new health risk emerged Friday from the sediment of New Orleans -- test results showing that diesel and fuel oils, which can take years to break down, make up as much as a 10th of the weight of some sediment samples.


Scientists worry that as the sediment dries, the pollutants in it can evaporate and, as gases in the air, they could be inhaled by people. Some chemicals found in fuel oils can easily evaporate, while others more easily dissolve in water. The agencies plan to collect air samples.


Hugh Kaufman, a senior policy analyst at EPA who has been a longtime whistleblower within the agency, called it "reckless and irresponsible" for EPA to imply that people moving back into New Orleans will be safe.


While EPA has conducted limited monitoring by aircraft of air pollution in New Orleans, Kaufman said there has not been an environmental assessment of all of the contaminants in the air "to allow the public back in, especially without respirators and other protective gear."