Enivronmental impact of Katrina | 09.06.2005 | 09:58:37 | Views: 4601 | ID: September 6 '05: Another challenge facing cleanup efforts along the Gulf Coast is the potentially enormous environmental disaster from flood waters lying in New Orleans which have become a cesspool of chemicals, human and animal fecal matter, human and animal remains and a breading ground for mosquitos and other water-born illnesses. Reuters reported on the environmental impact of flood waters lying in New Orleans waiting to be pumped out by engineers trying to cleanup the city. When the water is pumped out it "could trigger fish kills and poison the delicate wetlands near New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico at the mouth of the Mississippi." "State and federal agencies have just begun water-qualifying testing but environmental experts say the vile, stagnant chemical soup that sits in the streets of the city known as the Big Easy will contain traces everything imaginable." The polluted water which has filled the city also has no where to go once it is pumped out of New Orleans. According to Reuters, engineers working on getting the water out say that the only place to put it is back into the Mississippi River, Lake Pontchartrain and that eventually, all that water will flow into the Gulf of Mexico. One official from the Department of Environmental Quality said, "We're not happy about it (the polluted water). But for the sake of civilization and lives, probably the best thing to do is pump the water out." Reuters added, "The water will leave behind more trouble - a city filled with mold, some of it toxic, the experts said. After the floods, researchers found many buildings had to be stripped back to concrete, or razed."
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