we apologize for the interruption in posting articles, more coming soon!
Health Hazards on the Gulf Coast; Similarities with Lower Manhattan after 9/11 Examined,on WBAI-FM today, Monday, November 7th at 1 PM
"Katrina Cough" Floats Around, by Scott Gold and Ann M. Simmons, Los Angeles Times, November 4, 2005 http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cough4nov04,0,7514027.story?coll=la-home-headlines The Storm's Residual Mold and Muck May Be Causing Respiratory Illnesses in People Who Have Returned Home
NEW ORLEANS A large number of people along the Louisiana and Mississippi coasts are developing a condition that some have dubbed "Katrina cough," believed to be linked to mold and dust circulating after Hurricane Katrina.
Health officials say they are trying to determine how widespread the problem is. There are suggestions that it is popping up regularly among people who have returned to storm-ravaged areas, particularly New Orleans.
Dr. Dennis Casey, one of the few ear, nose and throat doctors seeing patients in New Orleans, called the condition "very prevalent." And Dr. Kevin Jordan, director of medical affairs at Touro Infirmary and Memorial Medical Center in downtown New Orleans, said the hospital had seen at least a 25% increase in complaints regarding sinus headaches, congestion, runny noses and sore throats since Katrina.
In most cases, Casey said, patients appear to be "allergic to the filth they are exposed to." Those allergies make the patients more susceptible to respiratory illness, including bacterial bronchitis and sinusitis.
Among the public, the condition is known alternately as "Katrina cough" and "Katrina's revenge" much to the consternation of physicians who feel the monikers paint a needlessly alarming portrait of the environment.
"It started out as a sore throat and scratchy eyes. That turned into a cold, and that turned into a cough again, and that's where it stayed," said Christophe Hinton, 38, who was on the way to a medical clinic Thursday to address an illness that had hung around for weeks, impervious to over-the-counter cold medicine.
Hinton, who lives in the French Quarter, drove a taxi before Katrina but now is working with a chain-saw crew, cutting up toppled trees that need to be hauled away.
"Everybody's got this thing," he said. "Everybody I know."
Among healthy people, the condition is not considered serious and can generally be treated with antihistamines, nasal sprays or, in the case of bacterial infections, antibiotics.
"A lot of the patients I've been seeing, what they want to know is whether I see black, furry stuff inside of them. The answer is no," Casey said. "I think the air quality is safe. I think it's noxious. But is it dangerous? No."
But the condition could be more serious for people whose health is otherwise compromised for example, organ transplant patients; people who are undergoing chemotherapy; or people who suffer from emphysema, asthma, chronic bronchitis or other ailments.
"It could be life-threatening to those people," said Dr. Peter DeBlieux, associate medical director of the Spirit of Charity, a MASH-style clinic that has been set up in downtown New Orleans. "Those people are already living on a precipice and could be pushed off. Those people are encouraged not to come back to the city."
Some community and environmental advocates say that message is not getting through to the public.
"People are going back in and getting sick," said Wilma Subra, a Louisiana environmental consultant and activist. "They are letting people in without any information or any warning."
Health officials in fact have attempted to warn people with certain conditions to think twice before returning to New Orleans. State and federal officials have handed out hundreds of thousands of fliers and have taped warnings about mold to front doors in badly damaged neighborhoods.
"We have made an effort to get the message out there," said Kristen Meyer, spokeswoman for the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. "But we're not working in ideal conditions here."
Numerous factors have contributed to the public's confusion, Subra and others said.
For example, despite the mold warnings, the government has issued repeated public assurances that the air quality in areas affected by Katrina is safe. But tests of air quality have been aimed almost entirely at toxins, such as benzene, in areas where the storm caused oil spills. There has been very little testing, officials said, of "biologicals" namely, the airborne mold that appears to be causing much of the problem.
Most state and federal officials believe there is no need for additional testing because the contamination is confined largely to houses that were flooded during the storm.
"It is an indoor environmental problem, primarily," said Dr. Stephen Redd, chief of the air pollution and respiratory health branch at the National Center for Environmental Health, an arm of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But some in the New Orleans area are developing respiratory conditions without going inside badly damaged buildings or homes, Casey said.
"People who are actually going into the destroyed residences are having a more severe time of it," he said. "But I've also seen some patients who have not actually engaged in that but have started having symptoms just after driving through some of the affected areas."
Several agencies have launched efforts to determine the scope of the problem. The CDC is working with state health officials in Louisiana and Mississippi to "see if it's more common than would be expected in a normal situation," Redd said. The CDC also will track records of healthcare facilities to determine if there is an "unusual pattern of illness," he said.
"We are being watchful," said Bernadette Burden, a CDC spokeswoman in Atlanta. "Everything is very much in the infancy stage."
Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times"Katrina Cough" begins to spread in New Orleans, by Eric Schmeltzer, The Huffington Post, November 4, 2005 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-schmeltzer/katrina-cough-begin_b_10136.html The Los Angeles Times reports today that "Katrina Cough" has started to affect those who have returned to the City. Residents who have been exposed to toxic muck, that has turned into toxic dust, have started to complain of "sinus headaches, congestion, runny noses and sore throats," which one doctor describes as "very prevalent" among returnees. Yet, the EPA continues to maintain that the air is safe in New Orleans, telling the City Council that the air is no different than before Katrina. Additionally, in the LA Times story, government health agencies say there is no real longterm problem. This is, they say, simply an allergic reaction. Where have I heard this before? In New York, post 9/11, the EPA and other government agencies did everything within their power to downplay any health risks to those exposed to World Trade Center dust, basically calling anyone who tried to warn the public alarmist. The comparisons are eerie. Just look at these quotes from today’s LA Times story compared to New York, post 9/11. LA TIMES, TODAY: "Numerous factors have contributed to the public's confusion…. For example, despite the mold warnings, the government has issued repeated public assurances that the air quality in areas affected by Katrina is safe. But tests of air quality have been aimed almost entirely at toxins, such as benzene, in areas where the storm caused oil spills. There has been very little testing, officials said, of "biologicals" namely, the airborne mold that appears to be causing much of the problem.Most state and federal officials believe there is no need for additional testing because the contamination is confined largely to houses that were flooded during the storm."It is an indoor environmental problem, primarily," said Dr. Stephen Redd, chief of the air pollution and respiratory health branch at the National Center for Environmental Health, an arm of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention." WASHINGTON POST, JANUARY 8, 2002: "The EPA, which has conducted thousands of tests of Lower Manhattan's air since Sept. 11, has repeatedly assured residents that the air is safe to breathe. Doctors note that some symptoms could be caused or enhanced by stress -- and many will undoubtedly dissipate as the last smoldering fires go out and the air grows clearer…. Alerted to concerns about Tabb's building, he said, the project hired an independent industrial hygienist to conduct tests of surfaces there on Dec. 3, using methods published by the American Society for Testing and Materials. The tests found the presence of settled asbestos dust 555 times above the suggested acceptable level. Asked about those results, spokesman Geoff Ryan of the city's Department of Environmental Protection said the department does not recognize this type of test, and that its own tests at the building, done on Dec. 12, had come back negative." LA TIMES, TODAY: "Among healthy people, the condition is not considered serious and can generally be treated with antihistamines, nasal sprays or, in the case of bacterial infections, antibiotics." FOX NEWS, JANUARY 11 2002: "The Uniformed Firefighters Association estimates that about one-third of its 9,000 members suffer from "World Trade Center cough." One must wonder, though, how many of these men are simply suffering from the flu-related symptoms it is flu season after all. What's going on with the Tabbs and others, if not World Trade Center Syndrome? My bet is a combination of anxiety salted with hypochondria. Stress is a well-known asthma and headache trigger." Many reporters trusted government spin, both from Federal and City agencies. After all, these were government agencies charged with doing everything they could to protect the public health. Why in the hell would they want to downplay health risks, and endanger the public health?! Why would the Pentagon, which is supposed to help provide for Troops and protect them continue to refuse to acknowledge things are screwed up in Iraq and our Troops need help? In their quest to be "fair and balanced," the press overcompensates, unfortunately. Whether it is Iraq or Gulf War Syndrome or World Trade Center cough or Katrina Cough, the media so tries to not be alarmist that it ends up being apologist. In the end, that keeps pressure off the decision makers and things don’t get done right until it is too late. So what happened to those who had World Trade Center cough? Well, read this story from yesterday, which reads, in part: "The latest follow-up report on lung function in New York City firefighters shows that firefighters who served in rescue efforts in the World Trade Center collapse are showing "accelerated pulmonary function decline"…." Yes, that’s right. That cough that was just stress, or allergies and was supposed to be short-term has resulted in pulmonary decline that is 12 times higher than the normal aging process. If Mayor Nagin doesn’t act like a leader and take charge, and if the EPA doesn’t stop sending it’s downplayed messages, they will have blood on their hands. For more information, visit New Orleans Environment Watch at neworleansenviro.blogspot.com Back to Top "Katrina Cough" and a Call for Respirators, by Sandy Smith, Homeland Response, November 4, 2005
http://homelandresponse.org/full_story.php?WID=14268
Residents and responders alike in parts of New Orleans appear to be suffering from a respiratory ailment some are dubbing "Katrina Cough," and Physicians for Social Responsibility Louisiana are requesting donations of respirators for returning residents and workers. While physicians in the area say that they do not want to alarm residents unnecessarily, Dr. Kevin Jordan, director of medical affairs at Touro Infirmary and Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans, told the Los Angeles Times that the hospital had seen at least a 25 percent increase in complaints such as sinus headaches, congestion, runny noses and sore throats since Katrina. Many of the symptoms are probably allergy related, say doctors, because people are exposed to dust and mold while trying to repair and clean homes and businesses. As people begin to repopulate Southeast Louisiana and salvage what they can in their flooded and wind damaged homes, concerns about exposure to mold, endotoxins, particulates and other potentially harmful substances grow. Preliminary testing results indicate that the indoor mold spore count in flooded homes is reaching 2.5 million; a count of more than 50,000 is considered severe by the National Allergy Board. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending the use of N95 masks, which filter 95 percent of particulates and are relatively inexpensive (a box of 20 costs about $18, a set of two can be purchased for about $5). However, federal and state agencies are refusing to distribute the masks, leaving it up to the residents. Moreover, home improvement stores in the area are beginning to run out the N95 model, making them publicly unavailable. Physicians for Social Responsibility-Louisiana was able to locate and purchase 480 N95 masks. A Red Cross station in New Orleans East allowed PSR-Louisiana to join their cleaning supplies distribution line and deliver masks to families with instructions for use. Not a single family PSR encountered had been using an N95 model. Mask use was limited to painters' masks, which are not effective, or nothing at all. While PSR was able to distribute all of the masks, supplies only lasted for just over an hour, indicating the urgent and immediate need for additional supplies and volunteers to hand them out. The group is seeking emergency funding to purchase and distribute masks through Red Cross cleaning supply lines. The station located in New Orleans East is allowing volunteers who were in charge of mask distribution to return to their location, and other stations seem amenable to the idea. For more information, contact PSR-Louisiana Director Johanna Congleton by e-mail at Congleton@psr.org or by cell phone at (504) 638-1058.Officials Send Message: Water in N.O. Unsafe, by Sonya Kimbrell,Baton Rouge Advocate, September 30, 2005 http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/093005/new_badwater001.shtml Most of New Orleans is opening to many residents today and next week, but on Thursday federal and state environmental officials were vague about just how safe the city is for inhabitants. One message was clear: Don't drink the water. "We know that there are parts of New Orleans where there are high levels of bacteria and chemicals. But that's not true of every part of the city," said U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson, who was in Baton Rouge for the first time meeting with Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality officials. DEQ Secretary Mike McDaniel said the joint effort between local, state and federal agencies in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita is going well. Currently, there is no safe drinking water in New Orleans, and officials could not say when the city's water will be safe to drink. EPA and DEQ officials also are still testing sediment and air quality but the other immediate problem for safe habitation is raw sewage. There's only one wastewater treatment plant -- in New Orleans' West Bank -- that is pumping, and it's pumping untreated waste water into the Mississippi River, said Chuck Brown, assistant secretary for environmental services with DEQ. "We don't believe that's hazardous for now, but it's not a long term solution," Brown said. The water supply for both Orleans and Jefferson parishes normally comes from the Mississippi. The only wastewater treatment for at least 90 days will be to break down the solid waste before it's discharged into the river. "As more people move back in ... well, I don't think I have to spell it out," Brown said. Environmental officials said they are still testing water in Lake Pontchartrain, where floodwater was pumped. They urged returning New Orleanians to "use common sense," and they are still cautious about discussing air and water quality. In fact, they ended a news conference when a reporter asked Johnson if he would want his family living in New Orleans now. While air quality and water safety are still uncertain, removal and disposal of the millions of tons of debris and wreckage left behind by Katrina has begun. The EPA has estimated there are 30 million tons of tree waste, demolished houses, furniture, carpet, appliances and other storm-damaged items. Brown said there are 12 million tons of debris from Orleans Parish alone. There will be many phases to the process that Brown estimates could take up to two years "and that's best case (scenario)." The first phase is woody waste, Brown said, which will take about six months, and recycling automobile parts. At least 350,000 vehicles flooded. He said vehicles are being dismantled and that some parts, such as tires, are being recycled. Brown said government and law-enforcement officials are trying to control how vehicles are removed, but it's possible that some vehicles could "slip through the cracks" and be refurbished and resold. "I wouldn't buy a used car in the South for a long time," he said.
Signs of Environmental Hazards Dampen Katrina Homecoming, by Michelle Chen, NewStandard, September 30, 2005 http://newstandardnews.net/content/?action=show_item&itemid=2423 City officials urging residents to repopulate select parts of New Orleans know little about the storm’s ecological impact, leading critics to question the sensibility and motives of the effort. Sep 30 - Beverly Wright just wants to go home. The New Orleans college professor has not been back since Hurricane Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast last month. Like tens of thousands of others, she is anxious to salvage what is left of her life there – the family pictures, a child's christening dress. But as the founder of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, Wright has evacuated to Capitol Hill, to advocate for tighter government oversight as New Orleans barrels down a road to recovery that is still being hastily paved. "While they're talking about rushing to get things rebuilt," she said, "it would all be for naught if in 10 to 20 years people are sick and dying." Both the White House and the New Orleans mayor's office have heralded a rebirth of the city. Recovery seems imminent, if for now ill-defined, as Mayor Ray Nagin pushes to repopulate some neighborhoods, and corporations snatch up contracts for rebuilding projects. But beneath the celebratory tone, potential environmental hazards swell in silence. To activists, evidence of pollution, in a historical context of what they consider institutionalized racism, suggests that even after the city is pumped dry, long-term health risks will dampen visions of renewal. The Environmental Protection Agency's limited outdoor sampling throughout the impacted area has uncovered E. coli bacteria and industrial toxins like lead and fuel oil. But according to EPA officials, the contamination is generally below what they consider severely harmful levels, and it is too early to determine exactly what health risks returning residents will face. Tom Natan, research director with the advocacy organization National Environmental Trust, said a rigorous, comprehensive environmental health assessment would be "extremely costly and time-consuming." Since authorities are trying to press forward with economic recovery, he said, "there may be a tendency to just say, 'Okay, go back, be careful.'" The problem, say environmental groups, is that no one seems to know, or be willing to say, how careful is careful enough when dealing with the filth that now blankets the homes awaiting tens of thousands of New Orleanians. According to a September 29 situation report, the plan for incremental repopulation first allows business owners and residents to reenter the French Quarter, the Central Business District, Uptown New Orleans, and the minimally damaged Algiers area. By October 5, residents and business owners will be able to enter all parts of the city except the battered Lower Ninth Ward. But returning residents might find their homes caked in sewage, mold and other toxic substances after weeks of immersion in putrid floodwaters. And they will have to cope with a compromised public services and a weakened emergency response system. According to the Mayor's office, although the city just revamped its 9-1-1 emergency system, only about 110 inpatient hospital beds are available. Many fire stations are not fully operational, and in the most impacted areas, though one of the only uses of the undrinkable water is fighting fires, problems with low water pressure could make it difficult to actually extinguish a blaze. Outside of Algiers, returnees are advised to bring enough bottled water for drinking, cooking and washing. Wastewater poses another challenge, since people returning to the Central Business District and French Quarter will be flushing their toilets directly into the Mississippi River, to bypass the area's heavily damaged sewage treatment system. No Sigh of Relief In Katrina's aftermath, the EPA has explained its environmental data with qualified safety assessments tempered by grim health warnings. The EPA's analysis of the initial sediment samples lists potential health impacts of exposure to fuel oils, which it found at elevated levels. Harm from short-term inhalation exposure includes nausea, increased blood pressure and poor coordination. Prolonged contact with fuel vapors "may cause kidney damage and lower the blood's ability to clot." But the agency has not provided detailed information on risk levels for returning residents, stating only that it "will perform air sampling to monitor potential inhalation risks and will also assess long-term exposure scenarios." Environmental groups question the integrity of the data, noting that many of the contaminants sampled for were suspiciously "not found." For instance, one key fuel component, the known carcinogen benzene, did not show up in the latest published data, even though EPA officials have publicly stated that petroleum has constituted a significant portion of some samples. "When they say they didn't find it, does that mean they couldn't detect it," Natan asked, "or that they know it's not there?" He explained that such data discrepancies might reflect not the true environmental situation, but rather the limited sensitivity of the equipment used. As the recovery process lurches forward, the EPA acknowledges that it is still in the first phases of the environmental assessment process, which mainly serve to gauge the nature of the contamination and determine the need for further testing. But at this rate, said Natan, by the time a comprehensive plan emerges, "a lot of the potential hazard might be gone" – not necessarily because the problem has been eliminated, he stressed, but because it has already done its damage, dissipating into the air and entering people's bodies. Darryl Malek-Wiley, a New Orleans resident and environmental justice organizer for the Sierra Club, said the EPA's sampling has ignored the most common environment returnees will encounter. "There's not been any systematic testing of inside houses to let people know what risks they're going to be facing," he said. Environmentalists fear a reprise of past EPA disaster responses that drew criticism for placing political goals of "recovery" above people's health. In a letter to the White House last week, Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-New York) recalled that after the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City, residents and workers were given premature safety assurances, resulting in widespread health and respiratory problems from toxins at the World Trade Center site. "Clearly," he wrote, "people should not return to the Gulf Coast until EPA does its job. After 9/11, we let people rush back into contaminated areas. It is imperative that we learn from those mistakes." A Word of Caution But Not Much Help Environmentalists say that a lack of coordination and accountability across all agencies involved in the response is impeding public health efforts. "Nobody is taking responsibility for making a decision about when it is actually clean enough for residents to return," Natan said. In theory, according to the Department of Homeland Security's National Response Plan for catastrophes, that responsibility should be shared by state, local and federal agencies, which should defer to one another's health and safety expertise. Yet, critics see more deflection than deference in the joint response. Bernadette Burden,a spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control, said that health authorities at various levels have collaborated on developing public education materials. She stated that overall, federal agencies are "in full support of the mayor of New Orleans' plan to repopulate" and are encouraging residents to take the health advice of local authorities. But according to Wright, who has met with the mayor and community representatives in Baton Rouge, New Orleans leaders are looking to federal authorities for guidance -- and finding little. "What our mayor needs, and what our city council and state legislature need," she said, "are really good facts about the environmental contaminants and the conditions that exist now, in terms of toxics, and when, and if, we will be able to return." Entering at Their Own Risk While federal agencies pass the buck to local counterparts, environmental groups say that all levels of government are united in sloughing the responsibility for cleanup onto individuals. The mayor's guidelines for returning home advise people that they are entering at their own risk, and that they "must supply [their] own protective equipment," including filter masks and eye gear to protect against airborne mold. The EPA advisory on post-hurricane home remediation cautions people not to handle asbestos or lead-containing debris themselves and to "seek the assistance of public health authorities" or "specially trained contractors, if available." But the agency also provides ample do-it-yourself options: if people must handle the hazardous debris, they should "at a minimum" wear gloves, goggles and face masks. If they cannot remove pregnant women and children from the hazardous environment, they should "at least completely seal off the work area." Aside from listing informational websites and a hotline, the directive contains no advice on applying for relief funds and other direct government assistance. Marjorie Clarke, an environmental scientist with the City University of New York, predicted that many residents will see no choice but to risk their health to clean their homes. Despite the government's responsibility to protect people during disaster recovery, she said, "telling people to come in and take care of whatever needs to be taken care of themselves… is basically encouraging people to have exposures to toxic materials." Environmental Concerns Evoke Burdens of History The environmental politics of the recovery effort are layered with contrasting interests within the community. Norris McDonald, president of the African American Environmentalist Association, said that right now, local officials fear the dilution of their black constituencies more than they fear environmental threats. For upcoming elections, he said, "they'd still need those black citizens back. That's a lot of votes." Beverly Wright noted that among community representatives and small business owners she has met with, there is pressure not to lag behind in revitalizing the city, as neighboring white parishes kick off their rebuilding efforts. "We see all those people going home… who don't look like us for the most part, who lost less than what we lost," she said. "So, there is that political reality, then there's an emotional reality." At the heart of this tension, environmentalists are trying to link social needs with long-term environmental issues as part of the same struggle. Wright said that while she understands the eagerness to rebuild, "we have to find a way to do it that's clean, safe and economically and politically feasible." Activists hope to prevent the comeback of New Orleans from becoming a relapse into a legacy of inequality. Katrina's fatal deluge, they say, was just a drop in the bucket of systematic environmental abuse. According to an analysis of government data by the advocacy organization Environmental Defense, Orleans Parish, which is over 60 percent black, has more than ten times as many federally designated toxic release sites per square mile as Louisiana as a whole. Robert Bullard, director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University, said that in protecting these already-embattled communities from future harm, "we have to make sure that Katrina does not push them deeper into poverty and deeper into environmental health problems." Local advocates see their city perched on the cusp of learning history's lesson and repeating its mistakes. The Agriculture Street Landfill site in New Orleans, flooded by Katrina and also born of another great hurricane, has come to symbolize the cycle of environmental devastation coloring the city's past and future. During the recovery that followed Hurricane Betsy in 1965, the government filled the site with debris and later built housing developments on top of it. In the 1990s, the EPA discovered the area was so polluted that it declared it a federal Superfund site. Looking back, Wright reflected, "it's not like we don't know what can happen if, in fact, places aren't cleaned up properly… We have that example." © 2005 The NewStandard. Katrina/Rita Responders and Residents Facing Serious Hazards with Inadequate Protection, NYCOSH Update on Safety and Health, September 29, 2005 http://www.nycosh.org/UPDATE/view_updates.php?updateid=109#articleAnchor500 Thousands of disaster responders, workers, and volunteers in the Gulf Coast area affected by Hurricane Katrina are being put at risk because they are not receiving adequate protection from exposure to environmental health hazards.
The Gulf Coast floodwaters have been contaminated by 6.7 million gallons of petroleum spilled from refineries and pipelines and another 1-2 million gallons of gasoline from gas stations and submerged cars. There have been at least 400 smaller oil spills.
The storm surge and water from broken levees washed over 31 designated hazardous waste sites, at least 446 industrial facilities that use or store highly dangerous chemicals and 57 sewage-treatment plants.
As a result, the potential for exposure to toxic substances in the flood waters is high. EPA test data show elevated levels of bacteria, lead, mercury, hexavalent chromium, arsenic, and pesticides. Thousands of damaged buildings and debris piles are contaminated with mold and asbestos. Environmental scientists believe that some contaminants, such as benzene, must be present in the water and air (because it is a constituent of almost all petroleum and petroleum products), even though EPA claims that its tests do not detect any benzene. Dioxin – one of the most potent poisons existing – is likely to be present because it was known to be present in southwest Louisiana before the hurricane, but no tests for dioxin in the water have been reported.
Heavy exposure to the contaminants can cause illness, including cancer, or even death. EPA, OSHA, and state and local agencies have issued multiple statements concerning the possible hazards, but they have all stated that the danger is only moderate, and can be controlled by anyone who is careful. "Although we do not have a lot of information and although we hope to be proven wrong, it appears that, four weeks into flood response, government efforts thus far to ensure worker and volunteer health and safety have been slow and weak," said NYCOSH industrial hygienist Dave Newman. "Environmental hazards have not been characterized or evaluated and sampling data is skimpy. Although many responders are professional, many others are not properly trained or equipped with appropriate respiratory protection and personal protective equipment. Enforcement of applicable environmental and occupational health standards appears to be nonexistent."
A number of EPA samples have shown levels that would certainly be dangerous to a person exposed to them over an extended period of time, but rather than tell people going into those areas that they must have the training and equipment to protect themselves, EPA says that it is "urging individuals to use caution when returning to hurricane-damaged homes and buildings," and issuing "an advisory to the public that provides general guidance to help address potential hazards in structures damaged by hurricane Katrina."
"It is irresponsible of EPA, which is a public health agency, to imply that people will be adequately protected if they use caution," said NYCOSH executive director Joel Shufro. "EPA does not know exactly what is in the water and the air, and they certainly don’t know how much there is. What is needed is not just caution, but rather precautions, and that means training and protective equipment."
"The failure to order the use of essential protective equipment and the training a person needs to wear it properly puts countless workers and residents at risk of contracting preventable environmental and occupational diseases," Shufro continued. "This was our experience in the aftermath of 9/11, when thousands of workers and residents were unnecessarily exposed to toxic substances after being assured by EPA that the air was safe to breathe. At the same time, the failure of OSHA to enforce its respiratory protection standard and other regulations resulted in the workers’ needlessly being exposed to harmful contaminants. The illnesses of thousands of New York workers and residents today are in part the result of the failure of government agencies to enforce environmental and occupational health regulations after 9/11."
On the Gulf Coast, OSHA is giving advice to employers and workers, but leaving compliance up to employers. A week after Hurricane Katrina, an OSHA response team in eastern Louisiana, the area hardest hit by Katrina, determined that emergency response workers there were potentially exposed to "Salmonella, Ecoli, West Nile Virus, Encephalitis, St. Louis Encephalitis, Shigellosis, Listeria, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Guardia, Cryptosporidiosis, Campylobacter, Hep A and Hep B." Yet OSHA has neither mandated nor recommended the use equipment that would protect workers from those pathogens. Instead OSHA’s official advice was "frequent hand washing and proper disposal or laundering (160 degree Fahrenheit) of contaminated items." The same OSHA document that lists the contaminants in eastern Louisana and advises hand-washing for protection notes two pages later that "there is . . . no rest rooms, no restaurants, no water, available in the eastern side of the state."
"Our hearts go out to the thousands of workers and hundreds of thousands of residents who have already suffered so much and now are potentially exposed to the contaminants," said Shufro, "but the potential for exposures that could cause serious illnesses is very real and can be expected to increase when the contaminants dry out and have the potential of becoming airborne. EPA and OSHA must develop and implement a sampling protocol that would tell people exactly what the hazards are, and what they must do to be protected from them. The agencies must provide the data to the public so residents and workers can make informed decisions. Cleanup workers need to be trained, as do returning residents who are attempting to repair their homes or salvage their possessions. OSHA should rigorously enforce their regulations and provide workers and residents with detailed information about health risks of exposure to the contaminants that are present."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/29/AR2005092901683.html
WASHINGTON -- Federal officials acknowledged great uncertainties remain about the health risks from contamination left by Hurricane Katrina but said Thursday the decision on whether people should return to New Orleans is a local one.
As water is drained from the city, among the new worries cited at a congressional hearing are exposure to contaminated sediments and widespread mold in water-logged homes as well as people breathing unhealthy air that includes fine, contaminated dust.
"This a very complex environmental situation -- sediment, mold, debris removal," Dr. Henry Falk, director for environmental health and injury prevention at the Centers for Disease Control, told a House hearing on Katrina's environmental impacts.
While 80 percent of the drinking water systems in the region affected by Katrina were again operating, water systems that once served 2.3 million people, many in New Orleans, remain shut down, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Samples of floodwater and sediment in New Orleans have shown high levels of bacteria, fecal contamination as well as arsenic and lead and the EPA acknowledges those samples are "snapshots" that do not give a total picture and may miss contamination hotspots.
Falk and Deputy EPA Administrator Marcus Peacock told the House hearing that environmental conditions vary in different parts of the city and decisions to allow people back should be made on a neighborhood basis.
Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif., wondered why the EPA should not make the decision on whether it's safe for people to return to New Orleans.
"The EPA ... will not lift the evacuation order and tell people it's safe to go back," replied Peacock, adding that is the responsibility of local officials.
New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is pushing aggressively to reopen the city and have people return.
Visiting the stricken Gulf region on Thursday, EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson declined to take a position on Nagin's approach, but noted the city's bacteria-laden floodwaters, lack of drinking water and sewage system as areas of continued concern.
Falk, testifying before the House Energy and Commerce environment subcommittee, said there could be long-term chronic health problems for some people as a result of returning to New Orleans.
"The potential for any long lasting effects depends on the degree of exposure. ... How long people are exposed" to contaminated sediments, bacteria-laden floodwater or other health hazards, said Falk.
As floodwater recede, there is growing concern about contaminated dust getting into the air from dried sediment, or mold-contaminated structures, environmentalists said.
Peacock said that EPA's ground-based air monitoring is only beginning, although an extensive sampling program is planned "to assess potential inhalation risks from particulates."
Environmentalists and citizen advocates said the EPA is understating the health risks in New Orleans and that federal and local officials are not providing people with information they need to decide whether to return.
Erik Olson, an attorney for the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group, said the EPA monitors showed unhealthy levels of benzene and other toxic chemicals in the air in some areas of the city.
"Returning citizens and many responders do not understand the risks," Olson told the subcommittee.
"If you read the (EPA) web site (showing sampling results) you practically have to have a degree in chemistry to understand it," he said, adding that most people seeking to return to New Orleans don't have computers to even get that information.
Peacock said the EPA and Coast Guard responded to more than 400 reported oil or chemical spills, including five major spills in the New Orleans area, releasing more than 8 million gallons. Environmentalists contend those numbers understate the situation and do not include oil that has leaked from some 350,000 motor vehicles and toxic chemicals from industrial sources.
In a bit of good news, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Thursday that tests on fish caught in the Gulf of Mexico two weeks after Hurricane Katrina showed no increases in contamination by oil.
Additional tests for exposure to bacteria, pesticides and other toxic chemicals have not been completed. Testing of shrimp samples from Mississippi Sound also are still underway. On the Net: EPA: http://www.epa.gov© 2005 The Associated Press
Probe of New Orleans Police Conduct Begins, by Adam Nossiter, AP, September 29, 2005http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5311116,00.html
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The police department said Thursday it is investigating about a dozen officers suspected of looting during the lawlessness that engulfed the city after Hurricane Katrina.
News reports in the aftermath of the storm put officers at the scene of some of the heaviest looting, at the Wal-Mart in the Lower Garden District. Some witnesses, including a Times-Picayune reporter, said police were taking items from shelves.
``Out of 1,750 officers, we're looking into the possibility that maybe 12 officers were involved in misconduct,'' police spokesman Marlon Defillo said.
He rejected the use of the term ``looting,'' and said authorities were investigating ``the possibility of appropriation of nonessential items during the height of Katrina, from businesses.''
Earlier this week, the city's police superintendent, Eddie Compass, resigned after weeks of criticism about the department's conduct during Katrina and its aftermath. On the same day, the department said about 250 police officers could face discipline for leaving their posts without permission during the crisis.
Meanwhile, business owners started streaming back into newly reopened sections of the city Thursday morning at Mayor Ray Nagin's invitation, some vowing to rebuild, some saying they were pulling out.
The areas thrown open to business owners were: the French Quarter; the central business district; and the Uptown section, which includes the Garden District, a leafy neighborhood of antebellum and Victorian mansions. The neighborhoods escaped major flooding during Katrina.
Under the mayor's plan, residents of those neighborhoods will be allowed to return on Friday, a move that could bring back about one-third of the city's half-million inhabitants.
At Igor's, a pub and coin laundry in the Garden District, owner Halina Margan returned after Katrina and never left, despite Hurricane Rita's threat last week. She was ready to open for business on Thursday.
``It's lonely here. We need people,'' she said.
Blues music poured out the door of Slim Goodies diner, where by 10 a.m., owner Kappa Horn had already served pancakes, bacon and eggs over easy on plastic plates to more than 100 people.
``This is the first hot meal I've had in a month,'' said George Wichser, a Tulane University police officer who rode out the storm on campus.
Mary Russo parked her car in front of Shanty Too, her niece's boarded-up boutique on chic Magazine Street, and started to cry. Her niece could not bear to come, so Russo and other relatives were there to close the shop for good and bring anything salvageable to her other store closer to Baton Rouge.
``I just can't believe this has happened to the city,'' Russo said. ``So much of this could have been avoided.''
The mayor is pushing aggressively to reopen the city despite concerns raised by state and federal officials.
Serious health hazards remain because of bacteria-laden floodwaters, a lack of drinkable water and a sewage system that still does not work, said Stephen L. Johnson, chief of the Environmental Protection Agency.
``There are a whole lot of factors that need to be weighing on the mayor's mind,'' Johnson said.
He said the EPA was not taking a position on Nagin's plan. But he refused to answer when asked if he would allow his own family to return to New Orleans.
Federal officials said it would take at least another year to clean up all the hurricane debris in Louisiana. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 Back to TopWorsening Storms Compound Legacy of Chemical Waste, by Rebecca Clarren, NewStandard, September 29, 2005
http://newstandardnews.net/content/index.cfm/items/2421
As sea-borne threats promise to worsen with warming waters, the "long-term" dangers posed by disastrously lax hazardous waste policies have become immediate, but few in power seem to care.
Sep 29 - The recent pounding of Southern states by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caught most Americans off guard. Yet climatologists predict that global warming may do far more to roll out the welcome mat for future ocean storms.
Nevertheless, in the face of these increasingly intense hurricanes, few if any politicians or agency officials are talking about how to prepare for what might be one of the most troubling impacts: the fallout of the American government's century-old romance with the chemical industry.
For more than 100 years, the Gulf Coast – with its cheap labor and lax environmental regulations – has been home to a slew of former and current industrial facilities. In just the area affected by Katrina, there are more than 200 hazardous-waste repository and handling sites, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group. Rita had the potential to impact more than 160 chemical plants.
When such facilities have closed, instead of fully remediating sites, federal and state governments have mostly behaved like impatient children, throwing the mess under the bed.
As hurricanes pound this contaminated landscape and floodwaters flow through these heavily industrialized zones, officials predict a slew of toxins such as lead, the pesticide PCB, and herbicides will lace water in the impact zone.
The Environmental Protection Agency's testing of soil and air samples in New Orleans has been cursory so far, but the process has already turned up high levels of diesel and fuel oils in the sediment deposited by the floodwaters. FEMA reports that over 8 million gallons of oil have spilled in the impact zones; by comparison, Alaska's infamous Exxon Valdez spill dumped 11 million gallons.
The EPA warns that short-term contact with the fuel oils can cause "itchy, red, sore or peeling skin, nausea, eye irritation, increased blood pressure, headache, light-headedness, loss of appetite, poor coordination, and difficulty concentrating." While long-term exposure can lead to "kidney damage and lower the blood's ability to clot."
The EPA also reported finding elevated levels of lead and arsenic, but said so far the amounts were not enough to "immediately" cause human health concerns. Still, testing to ascertain long-term health risks have yet to be completed.
Eventually, where it has not already, this sludge will settle onto the soil and filter into the groundwater below, explains Gina Solomon, a medical doctor and senior scientist at the environmental advocacy group Natural Resources Defense Council. While it may be too early to predict the levels of total contamination, many of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, birth defects or neurological problems.
"Contaminated soil is now in the water that is spreading all across the land," said Solomon. "We're talking about [potential] problems with groundwater and drinking water supplies and contaminants building up in shellfish. The environmental mess and contamination could haunt this area for many years to come."
William Fontenot spent 27 years working for the Louisiana attorney general's office helping citizens grapple with environmental problems, before retiring recently. He knows this map of potential poison all too well. When asked to describe some of the companies that have dumped toxic waste into Louisiana's Waterways, Fontenot, his voice weary, offered a list that drags on like a limping dog.
One such company, American Creosote, was situated on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, near Slidell. Beginning in 1900, the company treated wood to create railroad ties. In 1970, a fire ruptured a tank and a hazardous chemical called creosote spilled onto the property and into the Mississippi River.
Coast Guard divers took sediment samples that were 8 percent creosote, and in 1983 the site landed on the Superfund list, a nationwide roster prioritizing the country's most polluted places. Although the EPA cleaned up the property and 1,200 feet of the river, it ignored the other 6,000 feet of waterway that was devoid of any living organisms.
During the 1970s in Ponchatoula, north of the lake, the Ponchatoula Battery Company dumped between 3 and 5 million spent lead-acid battery cases onto the ground. The waste liquid acid was directed into holding ponds that had no containment structures. Drainage with acidic concentrations high enough to burn the skin off a person's hand bled from the facility into various ditches into Selser's Creek.
This mess was also declared a Superfund site, but, said Fontenot, "when they ran out of Superfund money, the cleanup just stopped. The EPA and the state of Louisiana don't want to put too much burden on industry to clean this stuff up."
He continued, "Just normal to a little rainfall has an effect on all these sites. Just the sun shining on them affects them. How do you think the storm affects all this?"
Even completely dry, New Orleans itself was a living museum of lousy environmental cleanup. Now floodwaters have compounded the problem, probably many times over.
For example, from 1941 to 1986 the Thompson-Hayward Chemical Plant, near Xavier University in the center of town, packaged and mixed pesticides such as DDT, as well as the herbicide 2,4,5-T -- the main ingredient in Agent Orange -- and the fungicide pentachlorophenol, the latter both containing dioxin.
While the city and federal governments launched a massive cleanup effort throughout the 1980s and '90s, the remediation was not entirely successful: 2,600 tons of herbicide-contaminated soil reportedly could not be removed because it was too toxic to legally dispose of in any state.
Nearby, at the Agriculture Street Landfill, soil and debris are laden with DDT, lead, asbestos, and industrial waste -- ironically, everything that was scraped from the city floor after Hurricane Betsy struck in 1965. While the EPA eventually declared the dump a Superfund site after the city had filled the area and built homes and a school above the infill of trash, the only cleanup the landfill underwent was the removal of a 5-inch layer of soil. The agency put down a plastic barrier and threw clean soil on top.
"I have worried for years about what's in those sites," said Daryl Malek-Wyley, an environmental justice organizer with the Sierra Club in New Orleans. "Now that all of that stuff has gotten into the floodwaters and into [people's] houses, I worry for everyone. It adds insult to injury. There are so many bad things out there for these people to deal with, this is just one more bad thing we don't need."
Yet finding money to clean up the environmental contamination will not be easy. FEMA officials say that while they are funding short-term environmental cleanup, such as oil spills, any long-term problems would be turned over to agencies such as the EPA.
But the EPA's Superfund bank account – money that would normally be used to pay for cleaning up hazardous waste sites – is essentially broke. A casualty of several years of passive-aggressive de-funding, the Superfund's evisceration was no more accidental than most of the "spills" and other acts of environmental degradation it was founded to address.
The tax on chemical and oil industries that pays for Superfund cleanups expired in December 1995. According to the most recent statistics, a 1998 report by the US Public Interest Research Group, an environmental and health advocacy organization, $4 million for cleaning up hazardous waste sites goes uncollected every day that the tax is not restored.
In fact, every year for the past decade a few lawmakers have attempted to reauthorize the polluter payments, and every year a congressional majority has voted the bill down. The Bush administration has consistently opposed the fee. Without the inflow of industry money, taxpayers have instead funded the Superfund budget.
Today, most of the $1.2 billion currently appropriated from the general revenue fund has already been committed to other sites around the country.
"The Superfund is supposed to be our safety net," said Lois Gibbs, director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, a nonprofit group based in Falls Church, Virginia. "These fees could make a large dent in the costs of cleanup." Then Gibbs posed the question that the nation will likely spend the next several years trying to answer: "The entire community is now a hazardous waste dump. How do you clean up an entire city, an entire region?"© 2005 The NewStandard. See our reprint policy.
Update on Health Issues Related to Mold, Mildew and Mud in Hurricane and Flood Affected Areas, CommunityDispactch.com FEMA Announcements, by Center for Disease Control and Prevention, September 29, 2005 http://communitydispatch.com/artman/publish/printer_2249.shtml Note: To listen to the telebriefing, go to the original source (http://communitydispatch.com/artman/publish/printer_2249.shtml) Wednesday, September 28, 2005 MR. SKINNER: Thank you, Laura, and thank you all for joining us today for this important call. There continues to be a lot of interest, and rightly so, about the potential health concerns for people in areas that have been impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. One particular concern that continues to be gathering a lot of attention are the potential health effects to mold and mildew, and so we decided to pull this media briefing together. With us today is Dr. Stephen Redd from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mr. Barnes Johnson from the Environmental Protection Agency, and Mr. Fred Cerise, the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. What we'll do is have each one of them provide two or three minutes of opening remarks and then we'll open it up for question and answer. And let me remind everyone on the call that we do have someone from the state of Louisiana, you know, Mr. Fred, Dr. Fred Cerise on the line, but much of what we're going to be talking about is also applicable to the other areas that have been impacted by these hurricanes in Mississippi and Alabama and parts of Texas as well. So we hope you are able to get some useful information from this call and with that, I'd like to begin by having Dr. Steve Redd provide some opening remarks. DR. REDD: Thanks, Tom. I want to just reiterate a couple of the things that you mentioned, that mold exposure is just one of the hazards or potential hazards that people are going to be exposed to as they return to their homes and start their lives in the aftermath of these hurricanes. The mold issue is something that will affect the entire Gulf Coast region but is going to be a particular problem in New Orleans because of the flooding that's occurred there and the duration of the flooding. What I would like to do in my remarks here is go over briefly just a little bit about what mold is, what the health effects are, and then our recommendations for cleanup and protection from mold exposure. So molds are a class of organisms that is separate from plants and animals. They have some characteristics of both of those but they live on organic material and the thing that--they're present everywhere. The thing that kind a keeps them in check in indoor environments normally is the limitation of moisture. They require a nutrient source, the right temperature and water, and normally, there's not enough water present to promote their growth. As we know, both from wind and rain damage, and then from flooding as well, the conditions for mold growth in the Gulf Coast region in many buildings is really optimal now. The health effects of mold--the second thing I'm going to talk about--there are really three major categories. The first is infection and that is particularly a problem in people that have suppressed immune systems. Either they're taking medicines that prevent their immune systems from fighting infection normally, or they have illnesses that suppress their immune system. The second general category is allergy and this is for people who have allergies to particular molds. If they're re-exposed to those molds, they'll have symptoms like hay fever or skin rash or worsening of asthma. The third category is that of toxin-mediated disease. Some molds are capable of producing toxins. They won't produce these toxins at all times but under certain circumstances, like the nutrient supply is getting short or some environmental issue, they may start producing toxins and those can be dangerous if they're eaten or if they're touched. There's up to now not been evidence that airborne mold toxins have produced disease. Now the next category is talking about what to do to get rid of mold. The thing that we say under normal circumstances is you have to identify the water source. In this case that is no mystery but once the water source is addressed and further water intrusion is stopped, the surfaces that are mold-contaminated, that can be cleaned need to be cleaned, and those that can't be cleaned need to be removed, and we do not recommend testing or sampling for mold. We believe that if mold is present, it needs to be removed, and the real distinction is the amount of mold that is present. So for small amounts of mold, those can be taken care of by the property owner. Larger amounts, and usually we use a rough yardstick of ten square feet of mold, that that needs to be taken care of by professionals who have more experience with the kinds of personal protection measures that need to be put in place to prevent exposure. That leads us, actually, to the third or the final category I was going to talk about, which is how to prevent mold exposure. We recommend that people who are susceptible, that's people with suppressed immune systems, or allergies, that they avoid areas with mold. For people who don't have those conditions, we recommend, for the normal person who's just entering a building, we're not recommending any specific protection, but if they're doing things that would cause them to be exposed to airborne mold, such as remediating, taking down walls, stirring up dust, we do recommend respiratory protection and that generally means an N95 mask. These are the kinds of things that can be purchased at normal home supply stores, and I'd like to mention, finally, that all the work we're doing is being done in close coordination with health departments of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Texas, and federal partners such as EPA, and that one of the really critical things here is that this information about what kind of protection to use, in what situation, is available on our Web site. There are fact sheets and we're working to get that information to the people who may be entering these kind of environments, so that they can protect themselves. MR. SKINNER: Okay. Thanks, Dr. Redd. Now I'm going to introduce Mr. Barnes Johnson from the EPA who's going to talk about this from the EPA's perspective. Mr. Johnson. MR. JOHNSON: Yes, thank you. Do I need to touch star one? MR. SKINNER: No; you're on; go ahead. MR. JOHNSON: Yeah, I would want to start by again echoing what Dr. Redd just mentioned which is EPA and CDC have had a very close partnership on the emerging mold issue over the last several years and we have benefited greatly by their leadership on this issue and tried to complement some of their public materials with some of ours. I think you know that EPA's Indoor Environments Program is a voluntary one and we spend a lot of time trying to get useful information out to people on mold, and EPA's Website www.epa.gov/mold is where we try to send our messages out to the public so that they can take appropriate action regarding mold. I want to just amplify briefly on just a couple of issues that Dr. Redd spoke about. The first one has to do with cleanup and just again echoing a couple of things. First of all, across the hurricane-affected areas I think we're going to see a wide range of conditions and there are going to be homes that have possibly been without air conditioning for a few days, have a small amount of water infiltration from damage possibly, and I think much of our conventional guidance on mold applies directly and people can deal with the problem without much difficulty at all. In other cases where water infiltration has been much more significant, much more lengthy, I think we all understand the grave circumstances in New Orleans with the flooding, mold problems are going to be much more severe. So we're dealing with a wide range of potential cleanup scenarios across the affected area and it's not going to be a one size fits all. Again, I think the main point on the cleanup as Dr. Redd mentioned is to first remove the water of the moisture source which may be a challenge in and of itself, and then to remove the mold. And removing the mold, the allergenic agent, is critical, so that's essentially the steps there. I want to talk a minute about a very substantial issue that I think many people will face and that has to do with sampling and contractors that are involved in mold remediation. The concern with sampling is that in many cases sampling can be useful, it has a defined purpose, and in many cases sampling for mold, testing for mold, determining what mold levels are, is simply essentially a financial diversion away from treating what the real problem is. So we encourage people to make sure that when they are approached to engage in some sampling to really understand why the sampling is being recommended and to really understand the purpose of it. Related to that is many people in the Gulf Coast region are going to be faced with having to seek professional help to deal with their mold problems and there are many excellent contractors out there and we encourage folks that when they are faced with seeking professional help that they do some pretty common-sense things like check references, certainly look for experience, and it's our experience that individuals with fire damage and water restoration experience tend to be very good in the mold remediation area. Lastly, pay close attention to contractors whose immediate suggestion is to do extensive testing, as I said before. So with that I think I'll stop and turn it back over to the moderator. MR. SKINNER: Thanks, Mr. Johnson. Now I'm going to ask Dr. Fred Cerise to speak for 2 or 3 minutes and certainly give us a local perspective on the situation. Dr. Cerise? DR. CERISE: Thank you. Good morning. As you know or are maybe aware, the city officials in New Orleans are moving forward with plans. They're trying to rehabilitate the city and people are coming back into the city, particularly workers, but also business owners to gather important information and things like that in order to keep their businesses going. So yesterday there was a part of the city that was repopulated on the West Bank of the river which was generally a dry area, but in the coming days and weeks there will periods where people are allowed back in to view their homes on the East Bank of the river which is one of the more affected areas by the water. So certainly in addition to the mold and the extensive discussion we've had on that, we've got other issues that we're paying close attention to particularly from a public health standpoint, these issues of clean drinking water and sewage systems which just doesn't exist at this time on the East Bank of the river which is a major area of Orleans. So we're advising people that do come into the city whether these are essential workers or people who are coming in for the day to inspect a home or business that there are other risks associated with coming back into the city and that has to do with the water that is not suitable for drinking, people can be exposed to bacterial contamination that could cause diarrheal illnesses. The East Bank of Orleans is still under a boil advisory meaning that there's potentially harmful bacteria still in the water supply and could be ingested not only from drinking the water but also if it's used to bathe or cook or brush teeth or wash hands or things like that. So we're asking people to pay close attention to that. We're also working with the businesses that are up in the area because we do have restaurants that are supplying the food to the workers and so we are making sure that they have sources of clean water and they have proper hand washing and following techniques, using disposable plates and things like that so that we're not contaminating the workers. We are making very prominent placards at these places from the Health Department saying that they have been cleared to try to, again, do as much as we can to educate the general public about the safety. So in addition to the issues of mold we have issues with drinking water and sewage, and also a concern of people that would come back and attempt to stay in the city at this time. We have other things like hospitals. We don't have operational hospitals in the city at this time. The 911 system is not operational. Major trauma care is not readily available in the and there's a lot of cleanup going on in the area with broken glass and things like that that you can imagine. So we've got a number of concerns. We're working closely with the city on addressing those things as, again, obviously people are very anxious to get back into the city and get back into their homes. MR. SKINNER: Thanks, Dr. Cerise. With that, Laura, I'd like to turn it back over to you. We'll begin the question and answer, and depending on how many reporters we have in queue, let's just allow one question at this time. So we're ready to begin. OPERATOR: Thank you, and at this time, if you would like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your touchtone phone. To withdraw your request, you may press star two. Once again, to ask a question please press star followed by one. Our first question comes from John Pope with the Times Picayune. QUESTION: Good afternoon. Greetings from ground zero. I'm calling because I've been hearing from colleagues and friends with children, that they are anxious about moving back into New Orleans with their children for fear of contamination, possible long-term health damage to their children from stuff that may have been in the water, that is blown around as the water dries. What can you say to address those concerns? And please identify yourself because I'm not sure which is who. MR. SKINNER: Yeah. John, it sounds to me like you're asking about sediments and what are some of the possible health effects associated with sediments and that sort of thing? QUESTION: Yes. The whole [inaudible]; yes. MR. SKINNER: Okay. I'll ask Mr. Johnson, do you want to try to take a stab at that question, sir? MR. JOHNSON: Sure. I can speak to it. I can speak to it a bit. Yes, we, EPA has in close partnership with the state of Louisiana, we have implemented a fairly extensive sampling program that is focusing both on the floodwaters, on the sediment, and on the air quality, and we are looking at a variety of potential contaminants, including organic compounds, metals, CCBs. We're looking at fecal coliform in the sediment in water, and petroleum hydrocarbons, and the like. And so I think, as you're able to see on our Web site, we are evaluating that information and trying to provide, in partnership with CDC, health advisories, and we have issued some health advisories to focus on people limiting their contact with the sediment, limiting their contact with the floodwater, and that's what we've been up to. MR. SKINNER: And Dr. Redd or Dr. Cerise, if you all have anything to add, feel free to do that. Laura, let's go to the next question, please. OPERATOR: Thank you. Our next question comes from Maggie Fox with Reuters. MS. FOX: Thanks. I'd like to expand on that because I think what John was asking was about whether this stuff's blowing around and in the air, and my question expands on that, because when I left New Orleans and went to Houston, I heard some amazing rumors from my college-age niece, such as that the evacuees were carrying these contaminants on their bodies, and that they could breathe mold spores on to you. There's a lot of fear about that. What can be done and what concerns do you have about some of these fears that may or may not be founded in fact? MR. SKINNER: Dr. Redd, do you want to take a crack at that question? DR. REDD: Sure. I think from the mold standpoint, the specific thing that you mentioned, that's not possible. Actually, the kinds of effects that molds can cause, all the ones I mentioned would not be communicable. That the illnesses that people get are from direct exposure from the environment and I think there's a chance that a mold spore could be on--you know, a person could carry that from Louisiana to Texas but I think that the number of spores and there's really not a possibility of a health effect occurring from that kind of transportation or a person actually carrying something on their body for any distance, really. That I think that really shouldn't be a concern. Barnes might want to talk about the other exposure. I think it's probably pretty much the same case, that there are environmental exposures that expose the person but they're not generally going to create a risk from that person transferring it to someone else. MR. SKINNER: Mr. Johnson, do you want to add anything? MR. JOHNSON: Sure. I can add something very briefly, and again, I would direct you to EPA's Katrina Web site, and, in particular, the air data. Within the last couple of days, we have posted some additional air data which outlines the kind of monitoring we did pre-Rita in the New Orleans area, to examine the particular issue of windblown dust. At this point in time, we have had a number of monitors out, in and around the city, in St. Bernard Parish, to look at the particulate matter levels, and we have found at certain locations, on certain days, that for unusually sensitive people, the levels--we found some levels that would be of concern to them, and we've also found somewhat higher levels in the unhealthy for sensitive groups range. These are all part of EPA's air quality index and it's reported pretty explicitly on our Web page. So, in summary, EPA's very concerned about the windblown dust. We are working hard with the state to get the ambient air quality network reestablished following the hurricane and we expect to be doing additional sampling in the coming days and weeks. MR. SKINNER: Thanks, Mr. Johnson. Laura, next question, please. OPERATOR: Thank you. Todd Zwillich with WebMD, your line is now open. MR. ZWILLICH: Hi. Thanks for having us on. This doesn't count as a question, Tom. Just to recap, when you said you found unusually--you found some levels that could be of concern to some people, you meant dust and not mold; right? You were referring specifically to dust? MR. JOHNSON: Yes. This is Barnes Johnson from the Environmental Protection Agency. I was referring explicitly to particulate matter measurement. MR. SKINNER: Go ahead with your question. QUESTION: Just a couple of quick examples of diseases that can be caused by toxin exposure in a mold. MR. SKINNER: Dr. Redd? DR. REDD: Yes. Well, ingestion of grains or foods that contain mycotoxins can, over the long term, lead to liver cancer. If high doses are ingested over a short period of time, they can lead to liver failure. I think these are not the kinds of problems we're likely to see. It's really a situation where foods are stored in moist conditions and mold grows and produces toxins, but those are, those would be two examples. MR. SKINNER: Next question, please. OPERATOR: Thank you. Our next question comes from Miriam Falco with CNN. MS. FALCO: Hi. Thanks for taking these calls. For one thing, could you clarify what the symptoms are, what the illnesses are. I might have missed that. But my question is you've mentioned a couple of times, that the EPA has done extensive testing, and you made a point of explaining what home owners should look for when they're trying to hire contractors. It strikes me odd that in a conference call like this you're pointing that out, which leads me to want to ask: Are you seeing scams already? Are you--it sounds more like a consumer alert rather than a medical alert. So what was the impetus for this type of consumer advice? MR. SKINNER: Mr. Johnson, do you want to take that and then we'll ask Dr. Redd to elaborate a little bit more on the symptoms. MR. JOHNSON: Yeah; absolutely. Well, mold is not a new issue and it's been our experience over the last several years, that while there are some excellent contractors out there, we feel that there are also some contractors out there who have diverted people's financial resources away from actually remedying the problem, and have, you know, had them do things that we do not believe are normally critical to fixing the mold problem. And, for example, while EPA has not done, and has no plans to do testing for mold in homes, that often is a path of first suggestion by some, and our advice is, to the consumer is simply if you're going to be doing testing, know why you're doing it, because it oftentimes requires many samples, it's oftentimes difficult to interpret, there are no standards for mold levels that you can compare them against, and it's simply often a diversion of resources. MR. SKINNER: Dr. Redd? DR. REDD: Yes. The types of illnesses that you would see, for people that have an infection, that could be pneumonia that would have a cough and fever associated with it. It could be a fungal sinusitis which would be pain in the sinuses, fever. For the allergy symptoms, that would be runny nose, itchy red eyes, and that would be kind of the hay fever complex. Or for people with asthma, that are sensitive to mold and that are exposed to mold, that could be shortness of breath, chest tightening, problems with breathing, just the typical asthma worsening type symptoms. MR. SKINNER: Great; thank you. Laura, next question, please. OPERATOR: Thank you. Our next question comes from Mike Stobbe with the Associated Press. MR. STOBBE: Hi. This question's aimed at Dr. Cerise. Doctor, you mentioned a situation where people are moving into the west bank and now going back to the east bank. Are you seeing increased cases of illness and injury now as compared to, say, a week ago? DR. CERISE: Actually, we have not seen--they're just beginning to go back. On Monday, they were repopulating a section of the West Bank of the river. But we're doing surveillance at the hospitals that are up and at a number of what we call DMATs, or these units, medical units that are spread around the city, and we're doing ongoing surveillance at those sites and we're not seeing a spike. Mainly what we're seeing is injuries, whether they're intentional or unintentional, but mainly injuries or accidents from people doing work in the area. After that we're seeing some respiratory symptoms, coughing, colds and allergic type symptoms, and then rashes from contact with the environment or from other purposes as well. But we're not seeing things that people were concerned about in terms of diarrheal illnesses. We really haven't seen spikes in that. And we haven't seen a big spike in respiratory type symptoms since people started coming back, but that just is a new happening just over the past few days. MR. SKINNER: Laura, next question, please. OPERATOR: Thank you. Our next question comes from Betsy McKay with The Wall Street Journal. MS. McKAY: Thanks. This question is for any one of you. There seems to be some confusion about going back to sediment and what could be airborne from the sediment. We know that when the flood waters were still pretty prevalent there was a lot of sewage related bacteria in them and presumably that all dries up in the sediment. But does that bacteria or any portion of it become airborne? And then is there any health hazard related to that? MR. SKINNER: Mr. Johnson, do you want to take the first stab at that one? MR. JOHNSON: Yes, I'll take a st