Repopulating New Orleans at Any Cost

The new New Orleans is a post-apocalyptic frontier town. Residents trickle in to scavenge among the ruins or begin scraping layers of mold from waterlogged homes. Workers pile sodden chunks of houses into putrid mounds on the street, feeding an estimated 50 million cubic yards of hurricane debris.

Amid warnings that the city is reassembling itself in the deepening shadow of toxic contamination, local officials are undaunted. Backed by reassurances from state and federal environmental authorities, Mayor Ray Nagin is beckoning people to come back, clean up, go on with life and get back to business.

"It's a dirty town," said Jeffrey Thomas, a local environmental lawyer who has returned regularly to the city on volunteer relief missions. "It's dusty, and a lot of the residue from the flooding is evident everywhere."

Disturbed that he has no idea if his own neighborhood is safe to live in, Thomas complained, "Nobody's telling me anything … At what point does the public get apprised of this situation and involved?"

A Sopping Mess

According to sampling data from the Environmental Protection Agency, sediment left over from Katrina's floodwaters harbors fuel components, metals, pesticides and other chemicals. Many contaminants could potentially cause acute and chronic health effects, including nervous system damage and cancer, and some are steadily evaporating into the air that residents are breathing.

Meanwhile, splotches of fuzzy mold consume walls, ceilings and furniture. Indoor mold spores can cause or aggravate respiratory illnesses, especially in people with weak immune systems, and emit chemicals known as mycotoxins, which studies have tied to debilitating illnesses.

"You have a real gemischt in these houses," said David Straus, a microbiologist and mold specialist at Texas Technical University, of the mix of biological and chemical substances. "It's not just mold. You have all these other potential toxins." He pointed out the possibility of "a synergistic effect" as airborne mold compounds the effects of chemical pollutants.

Despite detecting persistent contamination for over a month, the EPA's analysis has generally deemed the chemical concentrations not "immediately hazardous to human health." The EPA has also stated that fuel oil residues would not harm emergency responders wearing appropriate protective gear. The agency reported that most readings for the toxic fuel components benzene, toluene, and xylene were safe for short-term, 24-hour exposures.

Concerned that the EPA's assessments were inadequate, Wilma Subra, a local environmental chemist, conducted her own testing in New Orleans and neighboring St. Bernard Parish last month. She found several carcinogenic toxins, including the probable carcinogen Benzo(a)pyrene, along with concentrations of arsenic up to 75 times greater than the EPA residential safety standard. Subra also detected heavy metals, like lead, and hazardous petrochemicals.

Subra said that although her results are comparable to what the EPA has found, her evaluation lacks the EPA's positive spin. The agency assesses contaminants in isolation, she said, whereas she looks at the confluence of overlapping biological and chemical hazards.

"If it was a Superfund site," said Subra, "and the concentrations were at the levels we're finding, they wouldn't allow people to go back and live there. They would require that that material be removed, treated, detoxified."

Safety Second

While monstrous fungal growths and chemical-encrusted sludge drape the Crescent City, environmentalists say that the EPA's response is scarcely visible, eclipsed by the political momentum of the rebuilding process.

Dana Tulis, deputy director of the EPA Office of Emergency Management, said the agency's role "continues to evolve" and essentially follows the cues of policymakers. "The locals are making the decisions, and we're trying to provide them with the best data we can," she told The NewStandard.