Poison for all

**Jim** · 09-08-2005, 12:58 PM

Seems we should have a little better long term plan for this pumping thing.

Pumping Out the Filthy Water in New Orleans????

The water sitting in and around New Orleans is now filthy, replete with sewage, chemicals, oil, and worse.
Rodney Mallett, communications director for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, says there does not appear to be any choice other than to pump the water into Lake Pontchartrain or the Mississippi River. Mallet stated, “No one is happy about it, but for the sake of civilization and lives, probably the best thing to do is pump the water out.”

Hazards to the Environment & People
Not only is there debris floating in and above the flood waters, bacterial contamination has become one of the greatest concerns. Officials are less worried about cholera, but they are very concerned about the E. coli bacteria, which can cause diarrhea, serious illness or even death.

Pumping the contaminated water out, without treatment, will almost assuredly be an environmental disaster. The water laced with gasoline, diesel, anti-freeze, bleach, human and animal waste, acids, alcohols, and other hazardous material will pollute Lake Pontchartrain, the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico.
Can we not contain this "ugly" water like an oil spill or something?

Pumping the contaminated water into the surrounding water bodies will trigger all kinds of problems like; algae blooms, fish kills, and poisoning of fragile disappearing wetlands along the Gulf shores. All kinds of death will follow this poisoning.
Fishing caught in this polluted habitat will be dangerous to eat for a long time to come.
The full impact of Katrina and her aftermath on humans, animals and the environment will not be known for a long time, For both people and the environment it is a catastrophe that won't go away for years.
Isn't the pumping creating a bigger problem??

**Jacqui** · 09-08-2005, 01:23 PM

After having been there this last week as a volunteer, I think New Orleans should be left as it is and rebuilt some place further north, like maybe close to Kansas City or Omaha.

**chm2023** · 09-08-2005, 02:04 PM

I hope this does not appear to be a ghoulish question, but the cemetaries in New O are above ground for obvious reasons. Have these been destroyed and if so are the remains now part of the toxic soup?What a mess.

**chip anderson** · 09-08-2005, 03:12 PM

Jim: There actually isn't any other place to pump. Ponchetrain has been a near dead lake for some time.

Of course we could have left the dyke open, allowed N.O. to become part of the lake again. The Gators and Crabs would have eventually taken care of the polution problem, and we would have had the best crop of blue crabs in centuries.

Chip

I also got an E. Mail from a pet sympathetic friend today concerning what to do with all the pet refugees at the colusium. I contacted Ding How (a local Chinese resturant cited for having cat and dog in the freezer) they contacted all the Korean refugees who agreed to take all the dogs and cats.

**ken@foothills** · 09-08-2005, 04:41 PM

Originally Posted by chm2023

I hope this does not appear to be a ghoulish question, but the cemetaries in New O are above ground for obvious reasons. Have these been destroyed and if so are the remains now part of the toxic soup?What a mess.

After the funeral services are over and before the coffin is transported the casket is sealed, the only problem is identifacation of the person in the casket for reburial.

**chip anderson** · 09-08-2005, 04:51 PM

Ken: It may look that way at the funeral, but I have seen several of these crypts opened, the old bones pushed to the back to make room for the new.

**rbaker** · 09-08-2005, 05:41 PM

Have you ever been to Venice, Italy?

**finklstiltskin** · 09-13-2005, 03:27 PM

As for the original topic (pumping the water from N.O.), can Mother Nature not handle what She has caused?

**Jacqui** · 09-13-2005, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by finklstiltskin

As for the original topic (pumping the water from N.O.), can Mother Nature not handle what She has caused?

She probably can, but man is an impatient animal.

**finklstiltskin** · 09-13-2005, 03:51 PM

Amen to that, sister...myself included. I'm all for abandoning N.O.. As we see it, Little Rock's population will probably increase because of all this.

**Jacqui** · 09-13-2005, 03:59 PM

The population of many cities down there is increasing now, got word from a cousin in Memphis and they are growing. New Orleans will be rebuilt, too many people have too much invested not to.

**finklstiltskin** · 09-13-2005, 04:04 PM

I agree that they will rebuild, despite the incredible lack of intelligence in building a huge city below sea level right between the Gulf of Mexico and a lake the size of a small sea.

Look, I'm from Louisiana, and in my many years living there, I never got to visit New Orleans. I always wanted to, and now I never will because it will never be the same Big Easy, or even the same Crescent City. My love for the history of N.O. will not cause me to deny the idiocy that was the engineering of that city, though.

Hopefully, the rebuilding will include much more thought.

**Pete Hanlin** · 09-13-2005, 05:51 PM

New Orleans has always been one of my favorite destinations. Having toured the city numerous times, it was my understanding that a body placed in a crypt in NO is basically "naturally cremeted" within a year- due to the heat. In fact, the crypts are usually shared by family members (if more than one family member dies in a given year, a temporary crypt is used until the former occupant is sufficiently decomposed). That may be misinformation, but I've heard it from more than one tour guide as we visited one of NOs scenic cemetaries.