EPA Measures Toxins in Flood Waters. Or Do They?

Posted on September 15, 2005

News.com reports that the EPA has made an initial test of flood waters in New Orleans and found high levels of bacteria and lead contamination. The article also says the EPA is going to get a soil sample to study.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) chief Stephen Johnson said samples of floodwater in New Orleans were "highly contaminated with bacteria, both E (Escherichia) coli and coliform, and high levels of lead".
He told the CNBC network that tests are being done on sediment, which is contaminated in some areas with a lot of oil and which scientists say could store chemical toxins for years.
"Obviously, we're concerned about both the ecological effects of the storm as well as effects on industry, particularly the fishing industry," Johnson said.
In a teleconference with journalists, environmental scientists underlined that the EPA needs to stay vigilant.

There is also a rumor that toxin levels and dangers are being covered up by the Bush Administration and that the city will actually be uninhabitable for a decade and that the water being pumped out of the city could damage Lake Pontchartrain and the Mississippi river. Another article says that Hugh Kaufmann, Hugh Kauffman, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Environmental Protection Agency, is accusing the Bush Administration of refusing to allow the EPA to release information about the toxins.

Kauffman, who was the chief investigator for the 9/11 clean up, also said that the Bush administration engaged in the same practice after 9/11�covering up the truth about the dangers in the air and water and lying to the public in the weeks after the disaster. Kauffman said that over 75% of the heroes who responded to 9/11 have gotten sick and in some cases have died because of exposure to toxins at Ground Zero, and that he fears a similar fate will befall relief workers and residents in the Gulf Coast now.

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