News Roundup

Bucket Brigade warns of toxins in St. Bernard

Post-flood muck has toxins group says
St. Bernard returnees need warning

The Times-Picayune
By Manuel Torres
St. Bernard/Plaquemines bureau

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

A Louisiana environmental group said Tuesday that the cake-like muck that Hurricane Katrina dumped in much of St. Bernard Parish is loaded with toxic substances in amounts exceeding federal and state recommended levels, and the group contends that federal and parish officials are not giving returning residents enough warning about potential health risks.

But the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it has found no reason to warn of health concerns, and St. Bernard Parish officials said they have told residents to take precautions as needed to return into the area.

The criticism from the Louisiana Bucket Brigade came as the group released results from its own soil testing last month in Chalmette and Meraux. Wilma Subra, a technical analyst who reviewed the results for the group, said substances ranging from the carcinogen benzene and other petroleum-based chemicals to toxic metals such as arsenic and chromium were found in excessive levels at 10 of 14 sites sampled.

Subra said some of the toxins came from the bottom of canals and marshes that were washed into the parish by Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge. Also, some of the contamination in some areas can be linked to an oil spill at the Murphy Oil Refinery in Meraux, Subra said.

She said children, the elderly and pregnant woman should not re-enter the area and that other people should wear protective gear in Chalmette.

“It’s not that we don’t want people to go back, but they need to protect themselves… . I just don’t want them to get sick,” Subra said.

The Bucket Brigade, a nonprofit group that is doing environmental testing in other areas devastated by the hurricane, paid $20,000 for the St. Bernard soil testing. Samples were collected between Sept. 16 and 29.

Not all the areas sampled showed toxic levels for every substance analyzed, the group said. But some of the samples greatly exceeded federal toxic levels for residential areas.

In Chalmette, at C.F. Rowley Middle School’s playground, for example, analysis found benzo(a)pyrene , a toxic petroleum-based product, in levels 33 times higher than the EPA recommendation for a residential area, Subra said. Likewise, arsenic levels on two sites in an area covered by an oil spill from the nearby Murphy Oil refinery were 29 times greater than standards set by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

Subra said people exposed to such toxins may have respiratory illness and allergic reactions, among other health problems. Those exposed for long periods increase their risk of cancer and birth defects, she said.

Anne Rolfes, director of the Bucket Brigade, criticized federal and state environmental agencies for not conducting similar testing and said authorities have failed to warn residents of the area’s toxicity.

“The scariest thing for everybody is not knowing the risks and the silence from agencies that are supposed to protect us,” Rolfes said.

But EPA and parish government officials rejected the criticism.

EPA spokesman Dave Bary said the agency would not comment on the Bucket Brigade’s testing because it did not know the group’s methodology and techniques. But he said EPA has ongoing testing and “as of now we have not received any data that causes us to have any health concerns.”

Don Williams, an EPA scientist, said the agency has so far taken eight soil samples in St. Bernard, all on Oct. 8 at Chalmette High School at the request of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Williams said those samples “came back clean.”

Bary said the agency also receives a part of every soil sample taken by a Murphy Oil contractor in the area of the oil spill, and is doing its own analysis to compare with the company’s. He said EPA has no other soil testing planned in St. Bernard.

Parish officials last month reopened the parish and encouraged residents to return to assess damage, saying EPA sampling of floodwaters showed no risk for short-term exposure. The agency made no assessment about long-term exposure, but officials warned residents to come wearing protective gear.

St. Bernard Parish Council Chairman Joey DiFatta said officials made their recommendation based on the information they received from EPA and health officials. DiFatta said EPA results on soil testing are expected soon.

“We have given the warning they have given us,” he said. “If (Bucket Brigade) knows more than the EPA then they need to come to us with this.”