Oil spills after Katrina rival Exxon Valdez
Hurricane Katrina is rapidly becoming the worst environmental calamity in U.S. history, with oil spills rivaling the Exxon Valdez, hundreds of toxic sites still uncontrolled, and waterborne poisons soaking 160,000 homes. New Orleans' flooded neighborhoods are awash with dangerous levels of bacteria and lead, and with lower but still potentially harmful amounts of mercury, pesticides and other chemicals. Much will wind up in the soil as the water drains, or in Lake Pontchartrain, hammering its already battered ecosystem.
The total does not count the gasoline from gas stations and the more than 300,000 flooded cars, which was likely to add another 1 million to 2 million gallons. Nor does it count the oil from hundreds of smaller or undiscovered spills. Altogether, 396 calls had come in to the Coast Guard's national oil-spill hotline by Wednesday afternoon. Thomas W. LaPoint, an aquatic biologist who heads the Institute for Applied Sciences at the University of North Texas, said history's infamous toxic sites might prove simple by comparison. "This is pretty much unprecedented," said Dr. LaPoint. "At other toxic sites, such as Love Canal and Times Beach, there was a point source. Here, the potential for contamination is pretty widely spread throughout the area.
Throughout the Gulf Coast hurricane area, crews were trying to check 466 industrial facilities that had highly dangerous chemicals before the storm. The EPA also has visited four Superfund toxic waste sites near New Orleans, looking for obvious damage, but hadn't tested yet to see what happened there.
The air, too, is a source of danger in New Orleans. An EPA airplane equipped with electronic sensors to spot air pollution detected a plume of chloroacetic acid, an industrial agent and defoliant that poses extreme toxic risks when inhaled. Ground crews found the source, an open, 55-gallon drum, and secured it, Mr. Johnson said.
Those who have been working in the floodwater understand the danger all too well. One is J.T. Ewing, who for his living deals with some of the world's most toxic muck, the pungent and flammable stuff that leaks out of oil tankers in the Gulf of Mexico. But it was in the neighborhoods of New Orleans, steering a rescue boat past the roofs of ruined homes, where he didn't want to touch the water. "Normally, you get your boat stuck on top of a car, which does happen, or on top of a fence, you just put your foot down on it and push off," said Mr. Ewing, who works for the Texas General Land Office's oil spill program. "This time, nobody wanted to put their foot in the water unless they were wearing rubber boots."
Major oil spill feared on Mississippi River
9/3/2005 11:27 am ET source: MSNBC
Fearing a major oil spill southeast of New Orleans, officials on Saturday monitored what they described as an “oil-like slick” on the Mississippi River and near two petroleum storage tanks.
In a statement late Friday, the department said that “the slick is visible and is leaking into the river from an area near two storage tanks. Because the area is not accessible at the moment, there is no way to verify that the tanks are the cause of the leak. Also, there is no confirmation on how much of the product, which appears to petroleum based, has leaked.”
Army working to help stop New Orleans flooding
One source of flooding was the Aug. 30 overtopping and subsequent breaching of the London Avenue Canal floodwall at 6100 Pratt Drive, New Orleans...
One element of this [the Corp's] plan is to use up-to-3,000-pound sand bags on the 17th Street Canal.
The Mississippi River is closed to vessel traffic from Southwest Pass to Natchez, MS.
In support of FEMA, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is contracting for [a long list of services -- see article].
Gage data for Lake Pontchartrain indicates that the lake is slowly draining, officials said. Based on the present rate of fall observed for the last eight hours, they said the lake level should return to normal level in about 36 hours.
Governor: Everyone Must Leave New Orleans
8/31/2005 11:33 am ET source: Breitbart.com
Army engineers trying to plug New Orleans' breached levees struggled to move giant sandbags and concrete barriers into place... The Army Corps of Engineers said it planned to use heavy-duty Chinook helicopters to drop 3,000-pound sandbags Wednesday into the 500-foot gap in the failed floodwall. But the agency said it was having trouble getting the sandbags and dozens of 15-foot highway barriers to the site because the city's waterways were blocked by loose barges, boats and large debris.
Officials said they were also looking at a more audacious plan: finding a barge to plug the 500-foot hole.
A full day after the Big Easy thought it had escaped Katrina's full fury, two levees broke and spilled water into the streets Tuesday, swamping an estimated 80 percent of the bowl-shaped, below-sea-level city, inundating miles and miles of homes and rendering much of New Orleans uninhabitable for weeks or months.
At the same time, sections of Interstate 10, the only major freeway leading into New Orleans from the east, lay shattered, dozens of huge slabs of concrete floating in the floodwaters. I-10 is the only route for commercial trucking across southern Louisiana.
Katrina kills 80, New Orleans floods
After making landfall Monday morning with 145 mph winds, Katrina damaged levees protecting New Orleans, which by midday Tuesday was 80 percent flooded. Mayor Ray Nagin said bodies were seen floating, although neither city nor state officials released a death toll.
Martial law was declared around the Crescent City. The Alabama National Guard activated 450 troops to secure Mobile, while two other Alabama battalions, or about 800 troops, were activated to assist in Mississippi, CNN reported.
More than 1.7 million homes and businesses in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida were without electricity.
