Katrina debris buried hastily in landfills may threaten rural well water

[intheflow]

Rural wells may be in danger
Buried debris full of contaminants
By BRENDAN McKENNA
SUN HERALD WASHINGTON BUREAU
Posted on Wed, May. 23, 2007


WASHINGTON --Rural residents of the Gulf Coast face a looming public health problem: contaminated drinking water.

...

"It's going to be a cumulative effect seen later on in terms of contaminated drinking water, especially in rural areas where the population is sparse and you don't see the impact as fast," he said after the hearing.

...

Hall and Tulane University's Maureen Lichtveld, who are both public health experts, said contaminated groundwater has the potential to be much more serious than air quality problems like mold, formaldehyde contamination of trailers and other respiratory concerns that have been studied so far.

...

"Before Katrina and Rita we went... to significant trials to make sure debris was disposed of in a certain way," Thompson said. "For the last year or year and a half now, everything is just put in a hole. Now I see paint, petroleum products, everything just put in the same place and I wonder what we can expect?"

http://www.sunherald.com/278/story/60137.html

This has been a question in my mind ever since I first witnessed the mounds of debris after Katrina: where the hell were they putting all that debris? I actually assumed they were dumping it in the Gulf, since even 21 months later our beaches are still being closed for swimming due to high levels of staph infections. But perhaps that's just from the debris that washed out when the 20-35 foot wave invaded and retreated from the Coast.

To be fair, the state DEQ has said there is no risk for ground water contamination. But it's hard to believe that in a state where the EPA first claimed there was no risk of groundwater contamination from an Agent Orange (dioxin) clean-up site touched by Katrina's floodwaters, but MDEQ is now in the process of cleaning up some 100,000 tons of dioxin contaminated soil around the Seabee base.

Katrina recovery was first projected to be an 8-12 year process. It's beginning to look like recovery will take decades. :(


*Edited to add that this information is deeply buried in the media. The only access to the third article I cited is from the Biloxi Sun-Herald's pay-access archives. The final story I cited/linked to is from November 2006. There is a more recent article, dated February 8, 2007, reporting on this same cleanup, but it is also only available in the Sun-Herald's paid archives (available on this search of the Sun-Herald web site).

[Kurovski]

1. K&R. (nt)

[EFerrari]

2. And this government wants us to fear terrorists.

:(

[Mika]

3. Just who are the terrorists?

Just askin'.

[EFerrari]

5. What happened in NOLA looked like murder to me. n/t

[kestrel91316]

4. When the wells become unusable they can just DRINK BOTTLED WATER.

They can have it with their CAKE.

[intheflow]

7. And then they can throw the water bottles away!

Filling up more landfills! Which in turn will leach chemicals into groundwater supplies when as the bottles age! I tell you, bottled water is a brilliant, self-perpetuating industry!

:sarcasm: obviously.

[lonestarnot]

6. Damn never ends!

:grr:

[Horse with no Name]

8. The gift that keeps on giving

:(

[uppityperson]

9. k&r

[HeeBGBz]

10. That's fkn great

I wonder where it's buried (besides the area of the Seabee base)?

k&r

[intheflow]

13. None of the articles say where it's buried.

The Seabee base contamination is a separate story/part of Gulfport from the well water contaminiation article that came out in this week's paper. My friend who lives north of I-10 with a well is totally scared.

[HeeBGBz]

14. The kennel I work at is north of I-10

Last time it rained really hard the water was cloudy for days after. Kind of orange/rust colored.

[intheflow]

15. I've seen that same color run-off north of the 10.

But I've always thought southern soil was reddish. Is that wrong? Did I just watch Gone With The Wind too many times as a kid?

[HeeBGBz]

16. That's what I thought too

Now, though, I'm going to wonder.

[chicagolefty]

11. It makes me sick

It makes me sick to think our government is dumping all this waste any place they can find.

[BlueIris]

12. Is there anything more shameful in American history than Katrina

and our failure as a society to care for the survivors or the lands who were so damaged by her? I mean, in my eyes, this is right up there with slavery and slaughter of the Native peoples.