|
Post-Katrina environmental
catastrophe:
A Diary of Toxic
Injustice
Katrina's path tore through some of the most heavily
polluted territory on Earth. Ninety-five years of exploitation of
regional oil and gas reserves fueled the proliferation of refineries
and chemical factories along the lower Mississippi River. The heavily
industrialized and populated stretch of river between Baton Rouge
and New Orleans has been dubbed Cancer
Alley. The hurricane stirred up this "toxic
gumbo" and heaped misery upon misery.
Raw Data
"More than 500 Louisiana sewage plants were
damaged or destroyed, including 25 major ones. There were about
170 sources of leaking hydrocarbons and natural gas." -- Reuters
(9/7/2005).
"In New Orleans, on the flooded area of Jefferson
Parish and St. Bernard, there's oil sheens everywhere. You have
2,000-plus gasoline stations that are submerged with three underground
storage tanks each. So that creates an oil sheen. Cars. Every car's
gonna create an oil sheen. You've got well over 100,000 cars that
were submerged." -- Darin Mann of the Louisiana Department
of Environmental Quality, on Living
on Earth.
"Of the approximately 80 spill sites identified
with sheening during aerial surveillance, 8 facilities have been
identified and facility owners have been contacted. Surveillance
will continue over the next few days to see if any of the sheening
has been secured." -- "Katrina
Pollution Surveillance and Investigation," NOAA's National
Ocean Service, Sept. 20, 2005
"More than three weeks after Katrina came
ashore in Louisiana, the Coast Guard says the storm's surges and
winds unleashed at least 40 oil spills -- 10 of which are major
-- from ruptured pipelines and battered oil-storage facilities.
In total, at least 193,000 barrels of oil and other petrochemicals
were blown or driven by tides across the fragile marshy ecosystems
and populated areas of the Plaquemines and St. Bernard parishes,
southeast of New Orleans. The spills, the largest ever loss of oil
in the state, approach the scale of the famous 1989 Exxon Valdez
tanker spill, which dumped 240,000 barrels of crude oil in the
fish-rich waters of Alaska's Prince William Sound." - Ken Wells,
"Hurricane Rita Delays Work," Wall
Street Journal, Sept. 23, 2005
Major Petrochemical Facility
Damage / Toxic Hot Spots
- Agriculture
Street Landfill (New Orleans). Now-submerged homes and schools
rest atop this Superfund site.
Darryl Malek-Wiley of the Sierra Club says, "we don't know
what's happening now with the site underwater, and what type of
chemicals are bubbling up and further contaminating those homes."
- DuPont's chemical plants
in DeLisle
and Pascagoula,
Mississippi, "suffered extensive damage from high winds and
flooding. Assessment continues at both sites to identify the full
scope of the damage and to develop repair and clean-up plans,"
a
DuPont release stated. The local Sun
Herald reported on Sept. 9 'that The DuPont DeLisle plant and
DuPont's First Chemical plant in Pascagoula, which makes oil-based
solvents used in dying, were both under water during the storm and
neither is operating... Some DeLisle residents Wednesday said they
fear their homes or yards were contaminated by chemicals from the
DuPont plant when Hurricane Katrina's flood waters inundated both
the plant and the surrounding rural neighborhood."
-  Bass
Enterprise oil storage depot (Venice, Louisiana), oil
spill (est. 68,000 barrels).
- Bass Enterprises Production Company (Cox Bay,
La.), oil spill (est.
3.78 million gallons)
- Bass Enterprises (Point a la Hache): oil
spill (est. 461,000 gallons)
- Chevron (Empire, La.), oil
spill (est. 991,000 gallons)
- Chevron (Port Fourchon, La.): oil
spill (est. 53,000 gallons)
- Chevron oil refinery (Pascagoula, Mississippi),
shut. Located adjacent to DuPont chemical plant.
- ConocoPhillips
oil refinery (Belle Chase, Louisiana), "Shut.
Water damage expected."
- ExxonMobil/PDVSA
oil refinery (Chalmette, La.), "water
damage likely."
- Motiva Enterprises oil refineries (Norco and
Convent, Louisiana), shut.
- Murphy
Oil refinery (Chalmette/Meraux, La.), oil
spill (est. 819,000 gallons), shut, "water damage expected."
Oily sludge poured into hundreds of homes in St. Bernard Parish.
- Shell (Pilottown, La.), oil
spill (est. 1.05 million gallons)
-   Shell
Pipeline Oil (Nairn, La.): oil spill (est. 13,440 gallons)
- Sundown Energy (West Potash, La.): oil spill (est. 13,000
gallons)
- Venice Energy Services (Venice, La.): According
to msnbc.com, "About
840,000 gallons of potential discharge are enclosed in bermed and
boomed area, but only 25,000 gallons were actually discharged, of
which 4,800 gallons were recovered." See photos (right)
- Storm surge from Hurricane Rita deposited a 125,000-gallon
oil tank -- called the Sabine Offshore Services Tank -- in a marsh
near Port Arthur, Texas. (See Oct. 3 entry below)
- Hurricane Rita also damaged three oil refineries
in western Louisiana: the Venezuelan government-owned Citgo
oil refinery (324,000 barrel/day) in Lake Charles; ConocoPhillips'
239,000 bbl/day refinery in Westlake; and, the 32,000 bbl/day Calcasieu
Refining facility on the Calcasieu Ship Channel near Lake Charles.
All three remained
shut as of October 3, 2005. The Louisiana Bucket Brigade has
compiled a fact
sheet on pollution problems at these refineries.
See also:
Toxic Digest
Monday, October 3, 2005
NOAA
reports on the attempted recovery of diesel from a storage tank
that swept inland on Hurricane Rita's storm surge. "Port Arthur
incidents include the Sabine Offshore Services Tank. Storm surge
deposited this 125,000-gallon tank in a marsh. The tank continues
to leak oil, but the booms are holding a significant amount. The
lightering plan requires almost two miles of flexible pipe to be
laid between the tank and a barge. Pumping operations will be during
daylight hours so that any loss can be observed and emergency actions
put in place to stop the flow of diesel."
Thursday, September 29, 2005
The NOAA
Office of Response and Restoration reports on pollution where
Hurricane Rita tore across the Gulf Coast."There are approximately
40 pollution incidents in Lake Charles area and 29 in Port Arthur,
including a number of offshore incidents. No major oil spills have
been identified to date. The NOAA Scientific Support Team supported
the U.S. Coast Guard in the response to an offshore release approximately
67 miles off Vermilion Bay, LA. The initial estimate of the volume
spilled is 600 barrels (25,000 gallons).
"The offshore area has not been fully evaluated.
The Scientific Support Team is working with the U.S. Coast Guard
and state agencies in developing an offshore reconnaissance plan."
Monday, September 26, 2005
Members of the Lousiana Bucket Brigade and St. Bernard
Citizens for Environmental Quality get
together in Baton Rouge. About 180 people from St. Bernard Parish
attended, shared information, and started to "get organized
for the long road ahead." Primary questions included: What
are the Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental
Protection Agency doing in the parish? and How can the community
best communicate with one another now that everyone is scattered?
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
"Of the approximately 80 [Katrina-impacted coastal area] spill
sites identified with sheening during aerial surveillance, 8 facilities
have been identified and facility owners have been contacted. Surveillance
will continue over the next few days to see if any of the sheening
has been secured," reports
NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Anne Rolfes of the Louisiana
Bucket Brigade reports on her return to St. Bernard Parish.
"Those who lived in the devastated communities were part of
this initial work and MUST be part of the post Katrina work,"
she writes. "The sampling and monitoring that we have done
and will do with the Louisiana Bucket Brigade involves the St. Bernard
Citizens for Environmental Quality in the design and implementation
of the sampling. Partnering with those who live in the affected
communities is a fundamental principle of environmental justice.
"Katrina has struck, and the people that I have worked with
are scattered to the winds. The places, if they are still standing,
are drowning in mold, toxic sludge, and 800,000 gallons of oil spilled
by the Murphy Refinery."
Friday, September 16, 2005
Legendary
Louisiana activist Wilma Subra shares these notes from her field
investigations:
"The smell of death frequently slams into your face in Orleans
Parish. The smell of rotting vegetation is everywhere the land meets
bodies of water in St. Bernard and Plaquemine parishes.
"Spray paint markings are on most building and indicate that
the search and rescue teams have been by to check for survivors
or dead bodies. Some of the structures were searched for the first
time on September 14, 2005 - 16 days after Hurricane Katrina changed
the waters, lands and lives of the people of Louisiana forever.
"The storm surge transported sediments are prevalent throughout
the area. Sediment layers up to 6 inches thick coat the surfaces
of everything. In some areas the sediment layer has dried and is
a powder blowing in the wind when disturbed by recovery vehicles.
In other areas the sediment is still a wet sediment cake. While
in locations where the flood waters are still inches to feet thick,
the sediment is covered with a water layer coated with an oily rainbow
colored sheen.
"Personal belongings carried by the storm surge are snared
in barbed wire fences. Houses ripped from their foundations by the
force of the moving water are spread all over the landscape. Other
home and business structures are shredded or completely absent.
"Industrial facilities released oily chemicals which spread
in the flood waters and coated homes and property with thick layers
of gooey mess.
"The damage is severe and wide spread. The silence is deafening.
The National Guard patrols the streets that have been somewhat cleared.
The people are absent. The area has not been opened to allow community
members to return to their homes. When and if the people are allowed
to return they will be met with massive destruction or total absence
of their homes, businesses and places of work.
"Hurricane Katrina has changed Louisiana forever."
Thursday, Sept. 15, 2005
Wilma Subra reports from St. Bernard Parish, "I have been
in Chalmette and the surrounding area for the past two days Sep.
15 and 16, 2005. The entire area is covered with large quantities
of sediment deposited by the storm surge. The flood waters completely
covered the houses in some areas.
"The Murphy refinery was flaring with large quantities of
black smoke being released from the flare flame. On September 11,
the Murphy refinery was flaring but black smoke was not being released.
The cleanup crews were there in full force working on the tank contents
that spilled and coated the environment and residential homes on
the downriver side of the refinery. The national guard is limiting
access to the spill impacted areas.
"The Exxon/Mobil Refinery was not flaring but was the source
of fugitive emissions. The Environmental Protection Agency, the
EPA START team and local emergency responders were at the Refinery."
Saturday, Sept. 10, 2005
David Montero of the Rocky
Mountain News
reports on the hellacio us
scenes encountered by the Colorado National Guard in St. Bernard
Parish. "The makeshift camp is in a big field sandwiched between
an abandoned oil refinery and a grassy embankment that managed to
keep a little of the water at bay after Hurricane Katrina roared
through the Gulf Coast," writes Montero.
"Parts of St. Bernard Parish smell like a ruptured
septic tank molding on thick carpet. Other parts reek of rotting
flesh. All of the odors, including a nearby oil spill, cook together
in a giant steamer - making the experience worse than Iraq"
say Guardsmen.
Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005
Firefighters are getting soaked in hazardous floodwaters,
from head to toe, reports occupationalhazards.com.
"The firefighters' union quarantines and performs gross decontamination
on the returning workers who are soaked in contaminated floodwater.
EPA said the most likely symptoms of exposure to the water are stomachache,
fever, vomiting and diarrhea. 'I'm seeing lots of rashes and fevers,'"
said Eric Lamar, coordinator of disaster field relief for the International
Association of Fire Fighters.
Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005
As water pumps come back on-line, officials send the
heavily polluted floodwaters into Lake Ponchartrain.
The New
York Times reports that "what started flowing back into
the lake on Monday and continued spilling into it Tuesday is laced
with raw sewage, bacteria, heavy metals, pesticides and toxic chemicals,
Louisiana officials said... "
The Times-Picayune
reports that "Officials said they did not know whether
ejecting billions of gallons of foul pollutants would trigger a
massive environmental disaster in the state's wetlands."
Lousiana Secretary of Environmental Quality Mike McDaniel
says, "Everywhere we look there's a spill. It all adds
up. There's almost a solid sheen over the area right now.
Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2005
"The entire city of New Orleans now is an toxic
dump, underwater," Dr.
Robert H. Bullard warns on WPFW-FM. He was a guest on Earthbeat,
a WPFW-FM radio program co-hosted by SEEN director Daphne Wysham.
Dr. Bullard, a leading authority on environmental
justice has written extensively about toxic pollution and racism,
particularly in Cancer Alley. "Racism permeates our society,"
he said. "There is an historical legacy of emergency response
to all kinds of disasters, Superfund sites, etc., and in almost
all of these cases, a disporportionate number of people of color
are victims. There is different treatment."
Other guests on Earthbeat included Donele
Wilkins, founder of Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice,
climate specialist Dr.
Brenda Ekwurtzel of the Union of Concerned Scientists, and Tyson
Slocum, energy research director of Public Citizen. A complete
transcript will be posted on seen.org at a later date.
Sunday, Sept. 4, 2005
Louisiana DEQ Response
The Louisiana Dept of Environmental Quality (DEQ)
reports
(pdf), "Outside of search and rescue, principal concerns right
now are containers of large quantities of hazardous materials at
the industrial facilities, derailed and submerged rail tank cars,
radioactive sources, major oil spills, possible release of toxic
materials in explosions and fires, and water quality in the flooded
areas."
EPA Response
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency says it "has mobilized 12 environmental
emergency response teams to provide assistance with overall search
and recovery efforts and is conducting initial assessments of
the environmental impacts including potential impacts from chemical
facilities, oil refineries, and water treatment plants. Rapid needs
assessment is being done to identify damage in New Orleans. EPA
and state officials are compiling a comprehensive database of potential
pollution sources in preparation for additional overflights and
on-ground inspections in the coming weeks.
"EPA’s environmental surveillance aircraft is being used
to assess spills and chemical releases. On Sept. 3, the aircraft
surveyed the smoke plume of a large fire in the New Orleans warehouse
district. The survey did not reveal any contaminants of undue concern
in the smoke.
"EPA has collected six flood water samples in downtown New
Orleans . The samples have been shipped to labs in Houston and Lafayette,
La. , for analysis. EPA has granted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
a waiver from water discharge permits to aid the Corps in pumping
out hurricane flood waters."
"Teams are working closely with the Coast Guard to conduct
assessments of potential oil spills and chemical releases caused
by the hurricane."
The Murphy Oil leak
The New Orleans Times-Picayune's breaking
news blog reports, "Aerial photographs taken by the state
Department of Environmental Quality on Sunday indicate that oil
has begun to leak from a tank at the flooded-out Murphy Oil Refinery
in Meraux and that the leak is spreading into a neighborhood
directly west of the refinery. Darin Mann, a DEQ spokesman, said
the leak was spotted during a flyover by the department but that
state officials do not know how much oil has leaked out or when
cleanup efforts can begin. The tank that's leaking can hold 85,000
barrels of crude oil."
Saturday, Sept. 3, 2005
The New Orleans Times-Picayune's breaking
news blog reports, "An oil-like slick has appeared on
the Mississippi River, possibly leaking from two storage tanks,
according to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.
The area is not accessible, and DEQ officials spotted the slick
during a flyover of lower Plaquemines Parish Thursday evening. The
slick is an area near the storage tanks, but it could not be confirmed
that they are the source of the leak. The substance causing the
slick is unknown, but appears to be petroleum based. The amount
of substance leaking also is unknown, DEQ reports. The tanks are
approximately 280 feet wide and 20 feet tall. “The aerial data
team also estimated that if the storage tanks were full, they could
hold 80,000 barrels of petroleum,” a DEQ statement said."
Friday, Sept. 2, 2005
Appearing on the national radio program, Democracy
Now!, New Orleans native Dr. Beverly Wright, who is also
director of the Deep South Center for Environmental Justice, says,
"I see it in two ways: as a person who was born and raised
in New Orleans and loves the city very much; and, on the other hand,
looking at what the response has been, not only to the tragedy of
Katrina, but what the response has been now for years, the toxic
exposure for people living in the Mississippi River chemical corridor.
We have no emergency response for that. So, it's not surprising
that the emergency response for this catastrophic situation seems
to be non-existing."
A series of blasts
rock a chemical storage facility along the Mississippi River
in New Orleans. An EPA aircraft surveys the smoke plumes; the agency
later
reports, "Low levels of chemical compounds were detected
in air."
Chemical & Engineering News reports
on Katrina's impacts on the Gulf Coast region's petrochemical industry.
"The petroleum, natural gas, and petrochemical industries along
the Gulf Coast remain hindered or closed.... And the devastation
to research laboratories and other facilities along with the potential
for lasting environmental damage remain unknown but of acute
concern," C&EN writes.
It notes that the Environmental Protection Agency's "airborne
spectral photometric environmental collection technology (ASPECT)
plane is flying over chemical and oil facilities in flooded areas
from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. Thus far, the agency reports it
has found no major structural damage to those facilities and no
major spills.
"The ASPECT aircraft found a pipeline near Burris, La.,
leaking crude oil into a marsh, the agency reports. EPA says
the Coast Guard is responding to that leak."
Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Gasoline / diesel fuel pollution waivers
The US
EPA announced that is waiving some pollution standards for gasoline
and diesel fuel in response to supply disruptions. EPA Administrator
Stephen L. Johnson's remarks:
"Thank you very much. Today, I am exercising my authority under
the Clean Air Act to temporarily waive specific standards for gasoline
and diesel fuels to ensure that the Hurricane Katrina natural disaster
does not result in serious fuel supply interruptions around the country.
"As we are all well aware, we are seeing increasingly serious
impacts from the hurricane in a number of fuel markets around the
United States. Yesterday afternoon I exercised this authority with
respect to four states: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida.
It has become clear that the consequences of the hurricane have
become more widespread. So today, I’m sending letters to the
governors of the remaining 46 states and territories providing temporary
relief from volatility and sulfur standards. This action will result
in a needed increase in fuel supply.
"These waivers are necessary to ensure that fuel is available
throughout the country to address public health issues and emergency
vehicle supply needs. Under the Clean Air Act emergency authority,
I am making the waivers effective through September 15, 2005. These
waivers only apply to volatility standards - the rate at which fuel
evaporates - and the amount of sulfur in fuel."
Tuesday, August 30, 2005
Greenpeace USA submits
a Freedom of Information Request to the EPA asking for copies of
the agency's plans to prevent contamination from petro-chemical
plants and to test drinking water sources, soil and air in communities
before they are re-occupied.
Last updated: Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2005, 6:25 a.m.
|
