Where is water going?
Chemical and bacteria-laden, it has the potential to ruin shorelines as far away as Mexico and Cuba
Re Toxic flood waters poisoning New Orleans thestar. com, Sept. 8.
There are so many questions concerning how the rescue operation in New Orleans and other areas affected by hurricane Katrina have been handled, but there are serious questions that need to be asked about the cleanup. New Orleans continues to pump billions of gallons of toxic water out of its flooded streets. But where is that water being pumped — Lake Ponchartrain? I’m pretty sure everything in that lake eventually winds up in the Gulf, and this toxic water will destroy wildlife — including endangered manatees — and shoreline there.
Businesses that rely on the Gulf for income, like shrimpers, charter fishing and tourism could face ruin. People who draw water from the Gulf may end up poisoned. And it’s not just the E. coli one has to worry about. There’s everything from toothpaste to toilet bowl cleaner in that water — not to mention all the industrial chemicals. Why are all of the vocal conservation organizations — the Sierra Club, the World Wildlife Fund, and Robert Kennedy Jr.’ s Waterkeepers Alliance strangely silent? And how about the World Health Organization? What is its opinion? How are the thousands of gallons of cleaning products and solvents that will be used in the cleanup going to be disposed of? How will toxic mould, already growing on exposed surfaces, be killed?
I’m not a rabid environmentalist, but any idiot can see that the long- term effects make the cleanup activities irresponsible, if not properly managed. So far, there doesn’t seem to be a plan.
If these chemicals, even diluted by the volume of the gulf, have the potential to ruin shorelines in Mexico and Cuba, does the United States care about polluting foreign interests? What are the plans to contain the contamination? Andrew Spencer, Calgary, Alta.