Re: Government says New Orleans environmentally safe

[Guest guest]

Absolutely unbelievable!! They continue to lie and people will suffer!!!

Government Says New Orleans Environmentally Safe

(except for that little bothersome mold)

By Mark Babineck 2 hours, 9 minutes ago

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Most of the air, water and soil around New Orleans is

as

clean -- and in some cases cleaner -- than it was before Hurricane Katrina

devastated the region, government officials said on Friday.

[Guest guest]

Unbelievable. Probably another pack a government

lies.

--- snk1955@... wrote:

> Government Says New Orleans Environmentally Safe

> (except for that little bothersome mold)

>

>

>

> By Mark Babineck 2 hours, 9 minutes ago

>

>

> HOUSTON (Reuters) - Most of the air, water and soil

> around New Orleans is as

> clean -- and in some cases cleaner -- than it was

> before Hurricane Katrina

> devastated the region, government officials said on

> Friday.

>

> But environmentalists presented a sharply different

> view and urged the

> government to begin immediately cleaning up toxic

> chemicals that floodwaters left

> behind in the soil.

> State and federal officials gave the " all-clear " to

> residents and tourists,

> saying recent alarming reports by environmentalists

> about toxic sediment are

> unfounded.

> In fact, the state's chief environmental officer

> said the deluge that covered

> 80 percent of the city was no more polluted than

> typical floodwater.

> " There was no toxic soup, " Mike Mc, secretary

> of the Louisiana

> Department of Environmental Quality, said at a New

> Orleans news conference. " The

> water was unsanitary and contaminated with sewage,

> as is typical in floodwater

> situations. But we found no chemical contaminants

> that would cause a short-term

> or long-term threat of exposure. "

> In fact, Mc said neighboring Lake

> Pontchartrain's water quality is now

> " about as good as we've seen them, " and is fit for

> swimming and harvesting

> seafood.

> Air quality actually is better than normal because

> of reduced industrial and

> vehicular activity, he said.

> ARSENIC AND OLD DUST

> Environmentalists, led by the Natural Resources

> Defense Council, have

> released their own testing they said shows

> potentially dangerous levels of several

> contaminants in the dried sediment left behind by

> floodwaters.

> Environmental chemist Wilma Subra, working for the

> council and the

>

> _Sierra Club_

>

(http://search.news./search/news/?p=Sierra+Club)

> ,

> said arsenic was a particular worry, but that

> sediment also contains chromium,

> lead, barium, cadmium, mercury and hydrocarbons.

> " The government has a legal obligation to begin the

> cleanup immediately, "

> said Hardin, co-director of the New

> Orleans-based Advocates for

> Environmental Human Rights. " People have a right to

> return to healthy homes and

> neighborhoods. "

> Government officials counter that residents can do

> so now.

> " We're not seeing anything out of the ordinary that

> we wouldn't normally see

> this time of year from the standpoint of upper

> respiratory illnesses, " said

> Louisiana State Health Officer Dr. Jimmy Guidry.

> The two biggest health issues in post-Katrina New

> Orleans, Guidry said, are

> cleanup-related injuries and mold that has grown

> unabated in moist

> structures.

> " Mold is a major issue -- we do want people to be

> very careful with that, " he

> said.

>

>

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

>

>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I wonder if it is safe the why does a friend of mine who has to go

back need to get three shots to hopefully be safe.

>

>

>

>

> Absolutely unbelievable!! They continue to lie and people will

suffer!!!

>

> Government Says New Orleans Environmentally Safe

> (except for that little bothersome mold)

>

>

>

> By Mark Babineck 2 hours, 9 minutes ago

>

>

> HOUSTON (Reuters) - Most of the air, water and soil around New

Orleans is

> as

> clean -- and in some cases cleaner -- than it was before

Hurricane Katrina

> devastated the region, government officials said on Friday.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>