Lead, Bacteria Foul Katrina Waters

Dangerous Levels Of Bacteria, Chemicals, Detected In New Orleans

(CBS/AP) 
There have been five oil spills in the New Orleans area. Some hazardous waste railcars are believed to be flooded, with water at least up to the wheels, although federal rail officials say they've had no reports of leakage so far.

EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, who called the hurricane flooding the biggest disaster his agency has ever faced, said the lead contamination is a mystery.

"Whether it's lead paint or lead from batteries, we don't know what the source is. But we know we've got a high level, and that's of concern to us," he said Wednesday, revealing test results from samples taken during the past two weeks. Johnson said he has convened a panel of outside experts to advise the agency on how to assess and clean up the flood damage.

Johnson briefed reporters after giving the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee what Sen. James Jeffords called "a grave and sobering assessment" of the trouble.

"We heard that the degree of environmental damage is considered catastrophic," Jeffords said. "We also heard that the EPA is still in the very early stages of collecting the soil and water samples that are needed to determine whether it is safe for residents to return to the area."

Tests of the city's air, which has a strong stench even from a couple hundred feet up, indicated no potential health issues. Only a few air pollutants were detected, such as methanol, a wood alcohol, isobutylene, a flammable gas, and freon, a refrigerant.
Federal agencies aren't predicting when the city will be habitable.

The latest chemical samples were drawn Sept. 4 and Sept. 6 by the EPA and the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

Like previous tests, they turned up high levels of chemicals such as hexavalent chromium, arsenic and lead. A slightly elevated level of thallium was detected at one sampling location, but it was not enough to harm the public.