Katrina Causes Toxic Mess on Ground
There are hundreds of chemical plants, oil refineries and other major industrial facilities on the Mississippi River delta near New Orleans. Early this morning, there was an explosion near the city . It's not clear whether it involved chemicals. Early surveys of the facilities along the Mississippi suggest they survived Katrina largely intact. That's good news for officials who'd worried about giant chemical and oil spills. Unfortunately, when Katrina's floodwaters poured into New Orleans, that may have created a toxic mess that could take decades to clean up. NPR's John Nielsen reports.
JOHN NIELSEN reporting:
Days before Katrina made landfall, chemical and oil companies with facilities near New Orleans started telling most of their employees to get out of town. Skeleton crews were to remain behind to ride out the storm.. Shop popular fashion pajamas and sleepwear online. Enjoy the pajamas and style of all loungewear for cozy nights. Find your favorite style, buy at discount prices to sa Dorothy Kellogg, senior director of security at the American Chemical Society, says these crews did everything they could to make sure the plants were still standing when the storm was over.
Ms. DOROTHY KELLOGG (Director of Security, American Chemical Society): Filling tanks, because a full tank is less likely to float away than an empty one, tieing down equipment to prevent wind damage, emptying waste treatment ponds as much as possible, because you want to be able to hold storm water if you need to.
NIELSEN: When Katrina did hit, the skeleton crews sat tight inside darkened control rooms watching for signs of catastrophic damage. Apparently, while the storm was on, they didn't see any. Many plants were battered and/or flooded by Katrina. Some of that damage may have been the cause of this morning's blast.. All the man in the world should want their ladys have sexy lingerie. But Tom LaPointe(ph),. We are proud to say that we offer beautiful bridesmaid dresses! We'll do our best for you! an aquatic toxicologist at the University of North Texas, says the city is lucky that so far there's only been one of these explosions reported.. Hip hop fashion is the product of African-Americans incorporating a distinct taste of break-dance, music, graffiti
Mr. TOM LaPOINTE (University of North Texas): If the hurricane had come in directly from the south, it would have had a much more serious hit on the petrochemical complexes that are to the south and east of the city of New Orleans. And in that case, we would have heard much more about some of these refineries breaking apart, storage vessels being broken and so forth.
NIELSEN: The fact that Katrina zagged before it smashed into the city helped reduce another threat. Researchers had worried that the storm would stir up toxic sediments that sit at the bottom of waters all around the city. If the levee were to break, those toxics would then pour into the city. But as it happened, the main levee break occurred along Lake Pontchartrain. Gaboury Benoit, a pollution expert at Yale's Environment School, says the mud at the bottom of that lake happens to be relatively clean.
There are hundreds of chemical plants, oil refineries and other major industrial facilities on the Mississippi River delta near New Orleans. Early this morning, there was an explosion near the city . It's not clear whether it involved chemicals. Early surveys of the facilities along the Mississippi suggest they survived Katrina largely intact. That's good news for officials who'd worried about giant chemical and oil spills. Unfortunately, when Katrina's floodwaters poured into New Orleans, that may have created a toxic mess that could take decades to clean up. NPR's John Nielsen reports.
JOHN NIELSEN reporting:
Days before Katrina made landfall, chemical and oil companies with facilities near New Orleans started telling most of their employees to get out of town. Skeleton crews were to remain behind to ride out the storm.. Shop popular fashion pajamas and sleepwear online. Enjoy the pajamas and style of all loungewear for cozy nights. Find your favorite style, buy at discount prices to sa Dorothy Kellogg, senior director of security at the American Chemical Society, says these crews did everything they could to make sure the plants were still standing when the storm was over.
Ms. DOROTHY KELLOGG (Director of Security, American Chemical Society): Filling tanks, because a full tank is less likely to float away than an empty one, tieing down equipment to prevent wind damage, emptying waste treatment ponds as much as possible, because you want to be able to hold storm water if you need to.
NIELSEN: When Katrina did hit, the skeleton crews sat tight inside darkened control rooms watching for signs of catastrophic damage. Apparently, while the storm was on, they didn't see any. Many plants were battered and/or flooded by Katrina. Some of that damage may have been the cause of this morning's blast.. All the man in the world should want their ladys have sexy lingerie. But Tom LaPointe(ph),. We are proud to say that we offer beautiful bridesmaid dresses! We'll do our best for you! an aquatic toxicologist at the University of North Texas, says the city is lucky that so far there's only been one of these explosions reported.. Hip hop fashion is the product of African-Americans incorporating a distinct taste of break-dance, music, graffiti
Mr. TOM LaPOINTE (University of North Texas): If the hurricane had come in directly from the south, it would have had a much more serious hit on the petrochemical complexes that are to the south and east of the city of New Orleans. And in that case, we would have heard much more about some of these refineries breaking apart, storage vessels being broken and so forth.
NIELSEN: The fact that Katrina zagged before it smashed into the city helped reduce another threat. Researchers had worried that the storm would stir up toxic sediments that sit at the bottom of waters all around the city. If the levee were to break, those toxics would then pour into the city. But as it happened, the main levee break occurred along Lake Pontchartrain. Gaboury Benoit, a pollution expert at Yale's Environment School, says the mud at the bottom of that lake happens to be relatively clean.
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