Katrina Environmental Health News Timeline

Selected articles which highlight the changing environmental health perceptions and concerns related to reinhabitation. The most recent articles are posted first.

8/25/06
EPA Should Stick Around
Less than a year after Hurricane Katrina, the Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that the storm's flooding did not leave a trail of chemical contamination across the New Orleans metro area. That is welcomed news.
From The Times-Picayune

8/19/06
Final EPA Report Deems N.O. Safe;
Pockets of contamination to be monitored; activists disappointed
Wrapping up the agency's 11-month effort to pinpoint chemical contamination of soil and water following Hurricane Katrina, Environmental Protection Agency officials Friday gave most of New Orleans and surrounding communities a final clean bill of health, while pledging to keep watch over a handful of toxic hot spots and the million-gallon Murphy Oil spill in St. Bernard Parish.
From The Times-Picayune

8/13/06
State of St. Bernard Soil is Still Murky; Researchers analyze effects of oil spill
A team of University of Michigan graduate researchers said Saturday there are no easy answers to soil contamination issues facing St. Bernard Parish residents after Hurricane Katrina, but the group is trying to identify the most common questions and link worried residents to possible solutions.
From The Times-Picayune

8/8/06
"Katrina Cough" Sending Many to the Doctor; Complaints may not be hurricane-related
Nearly a year after the hurricane, some New Orleans residents say they have "Katrina cough" — they blame the storm and its aftermath for their respiratory problems.
From USA Today

5/28/06
After 9 Months, EPA Cleanup Continues; Nearly 9,000 tons of waste removed
The floodwater drained long ago, the oil spills are over and government tests of soil, water and air found no catastrophic contamination in the fallout of Hurricane Katrina. Yet the Environmental Protection Agency keeps dozens of staffers working full time in the New Orleans area.
From The Times-Picayune

4/19/06
Bay Area Bioremediators at Work in New Orleans; Plants prove good at cleaning contamination Katrina spread
In the midst of the vast devastation of this city's eastern neighborhoods, populated during the weekdays mostly by men in hard hats standing on rooftops or next to trucks, the hopeful signs are gutted homes with FEMA trailers in front, a "We're Open" sign on a neighborhood shop or community initiatives such as the Meg Perry Healthy Soil Project.
From Sanfrancisco Chronicle

4/19/06
Louisiana Clears the Air on "Katrina cough"; Respiratory ills not surging, study says
Forget about "Katrina cough." Despite claims that there have been more coughs, sore throats and runny noses since Hurricane Katrina roared through the New Orleans area, a new state health department study has found that the monster storm's lingering local effects do not include an increase in severe respiratory problems.
From The Times-Picayune

4/6/06
Prior to Katrina, elevated lead levels were found through much of the city. Read this article by Matt Brown in the Times Picayune. 

4/6/06
Lead Found in Soil of Many Areas of N.O.; Contamination by toxic metal predates Katrina, scientists say
When she learned Wednesday that her Central City neighborhood was among 14 areas across the city flagged by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency this week for dangerously high lead levels in the soil, Hayandra Harvey did not even blink.
From The Times-Picayune

2/23/06
Safety of Post-Hurricane Sludge Is Disputed; Government has minimized public health threat of toxic contaminants in new orleans, group says
Floodwaters from Hurricane Katrina deposited arsenic, lead and petrochemical compounds across greater New Orleans in amounts that are potentially dangerous to human health despite federal and state assurances that the sludge is safe, according to a new study based on Environmental Protection Agency data.
From The Washington Post

2/10/06
Debate renewed as soil retested; EPA downplays risk, but activist cries foul
Another round of testing on sediments deposited by Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters have turned up toxic petroleum products, pesticides, lead and arsenic at multiple locations in New Orleans and St. Bernard Parish, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday.
From The Times-Picayune

12/15/05
Researchers Doubt Clean-Soil Findings; Buried lead surface, toxicologist reports
Children in New Orleans could face an increased risk of lead poisoning after Hurricane Katrina, which may have triggered the release of large amounts of the heavy metal buried in the soil, a team of Texas Tech University researchers reported Wednesday.
From The Times-Picayune

12/15/05
New Orleans Soil Poses Hazard; Study finds elevated lead levels in neighborhoods
Some New Orleans neighborhoods are covered in a layer of sediment containing lead above the concentration the federal government considers hazardous to human health, a new study has found.
From The Washington Post

12/10/05
N.O. Area Delcared Safe to Live In; But environmentalists say threats ignored
The soil, air and water across the region is mostly free of the toxic contamination once feared to be Hurricane Katrina’s lasting environmental legacy, federal and state officials said Friday, as they declared the majority of the New Orleans area safe to live in, work in or visit.
The Times-Picayune 

12/2/05
Groups Brand Storm Sediment Unsafe; They say public being misled about danger
Environmental groups that analyzed sediment left over from Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters said Thursday they have found chemical contamination at 30 of 31 sites tested and said state and federal agencies are "grossly misleading the public" by playing down the health risks of living and working in New Orleans.
From The Times-Picayune

12/1/05
All-Clear Close on Sediment; But federal officials want all sites checked first
State environmental officials are pushing their federal counterparts to issue a clean bill of health on an estimated 3 million cubic yards of floodwater sediment left behind by Hurricane Katrina.
From The Times-Picayune

11/16/05
Mold Levels Stand Out in Health Tests; Gutted homes, yards still rank 'high' in spores
Johanna Congleton wasn't too surprised that she has been fighting off the sniffles the past couple of weeks. After all, she has been helping the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention take samples of mold spores in houses in flooded areas of New Orleans.
From The Times-Picayune

11/14/05
‘Toxic soup’ tales give way to palatable seafood today
Although it hit Louisiana more than two months ago, Hurricane Katrina is still pummeling the state seafood industry.
From New Orleans CityBusiness

11/6/05
Extreme Cleanup On Tap in New Orleans; Massive effort planned to remove hazardous chemicals deposited in soil by flood
The Army Corps of Engineers is planning one of the biggest environmental cleanups ever attempted: scraping miles of sediment laced with cancer-causing chemicals from New Orleans' hurricane-flooded neighborhoods, The Dallas Morning News has learned.
From The Dallas Morning News

10/26/05
Bucket Brigade Warns of Toxins in St. Bernard; Post-flood muck has toxins group says St. Bernard returnees need warning
A Louisiana environmental group said Tuesday that the cake-like muck that Hurricane Katrina dumped in much of St. Bernard Parish is loaded with toxic substances in amounts exceeding federal and state recommended levels, and the group contends that federal and parish officials are not giving returning residents enough warning about potential health risks.
From The Times-Picayune

10/12/05
Analyses of Floodwater Find Lower Levels of Toxic Chemicals Than Feared
Tests of the floodwater that filled New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina show lower levels of toxic chemicals than had been feared, researchers reported yesterday. But they added that concern about the sediment remained.
From The New York Times

10/12/05
Floodwater Not as Toxic As Feared, Experts Say; Metals seen as chief hazard In survey of New Orleans
The floodwater that covered New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was not unusually toxic and was "typical of storm water runoff in the region," according to a study published yesterday.
From The Washington Post

10/7/05
Group Wants Warning About Health Risks; Tests will monitor air, soil contaminants
An environmental research group says the federal government is failing to adequately inform the public about the health risks caused by Hurricane Katrina and is critical of New Orleans’ plans to allow citizens back into the city.
From The Times-Picayune

10/2/05
Blanket of Mold Threatens Health and Homes
As residents of New Orleans begin to re-enter the homes and businesses left standing after Hurricane Katrina, many may face an obstacle more pervasive and possibly more dangerous than mud and rotting wood: mold spores reproducing inside tens of thousands of buildings. Public health experts say mold could present ...
From The New York Times

9/17/05
Katrina's Aftermath:  St. Bernard Parish; Potential dangers of oil and sewage sludge could linger for years; Officials worry about the planned return of residents.
The bacteria and gasoline tainting floodwaters in the New Orleans area have wound their way into the sludge covering the city and surrounding parishes, where it could persist for years and escape into the air to be inhaled by people returning to the hurricane zone, environmental officials said Friday.
From The Houston Chronicle

9/15/05
Floods' Pollutants Within the Norm; Oil Spills Seen as the Only Exception
Early tests on the floodwater that covered most of this city do not suggest it will leave a permanent toxic residue or render residential areas uninhabitable for more than a short time, officials of both state and federal environmental agencies said yesterday.
From The Washington Post

9/15/05
Exposed to a flood of filth, homes must be bulldozed
The putrid floodwaters left by Hurricane Katrina are so bad that Louisiana's top environmental official warned Wednesday that many houses will have to be bulldozed because of contamination.
From USA Today

9/12/05
The next menace: Mold
When Hurricane Katrina's floodwaters poured into the Gulf Coast -- saturating walls, shoes, sofas, floors, and roofs -- billions of dormant mold spores woke up.
From the Boston Globe

9/6/05
Katrina Takes Environmental Toll Water Could Be Unsafe for Years; Bush, Congress To Probe Relief
The dank and putrid floodwaters choking this once-gracious city are so poisoned with gasoline, industrial chemicals, feces and other contaminants that even casual contact is hazardous, and safe drinking water may not be available for the entire population for years to come, state and federal officials warned Tuesday.
From The Washington Post

9/1/05
Hazards Contained in Waters Are Not as Toxic as Feared
Although the water that now covers much of New Orleans is a fetid broth of sewage, with gasoline from gas stations, solvents from dry cleaners and chemicals from household cleaners mixed in, it could have been a great deal worse, experts said yesterday.
From The New York Times