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Katrina’s Toxic Toll
Gulf Coast, United States
Katrina’s storm surge overwhelmed the Gulf Coast as the hurricane passed by on August 29. Freshwater from Lake Pontchartrain poured into low-lying New Orleans. The floodwaters mixed with the city’s sewage and chemicals, including oil, gasoline, lead house paint, pesticides, household chemicals, and salt water from the Gulf.
Officials had two choices of where to pump the contaminated water: return it to Lake Pontchartrain or flush it into the Mississippi River. The former was considered the best choice environmentally. However, how quickly the lake’s ecosystem can recover from the toxic influx is unknown.
Image Credits
Hurricane Katrina–NASA-GSFC, data from NOAA GOES
New Orleans–Lawrence Ong, EO-1 Mission Science Office, NASA GSFC
Flooding/Pumping–Associated Press
Data Sources:
- Louisiana Department of Environmental Qualityhttp://www.deq.state.la.us/
- U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyhttp://www.epa.gov/
- ENN: Contaminated Water Had to Be Poured into Lake, EPA Chief Sayshttp://enn.com/today.html?id=8749
- NASA Earth Observatory: Hurricane Katrina Floods the Southeastern United Stateshttp://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13120