Environmental group: Arsenic In New Orleans soil

NEW ORLEANS -- Four years after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans neighbors are still dealing with the environmental fallout from the storm.

They called it toxic gumbo: flood waters that covered 80 percent of the city after Katrina contained oil and gas, battery acid, mold infused building materials and a long list dangerous chemicals.

According to a new study by the San Francisco-based Natural Resource Defense Council, more than a third of sediment samples collected 18 months after the storm, exceeded the safe level for arsenic in the soil.

"The high levels of arsenic were not here before Katrina," said Darryl Malek-Wiley from the Sierra Club. "It is an issue of concern and we're trying to get EPA to do something to clean them up."

Wiley said every sediment tested after the flood exceeded the arsenic concentration of pre-flood soil collected in New Orleans 10 years ago.

"In some cases we know it's from treated lumber," said Malek-Wiley. "But, for the broad variety of arsenic in different locations, we don't know how it got here."

Malek-Wiley is one of the local environment leaders who presented EPA Secretary Lisa Jackson with the new data. Eyewitness News caught up with the New Orleans native as she toured new homes in the Lower Ninth Ward.

"Some of that data is going to show levels that aren't really levels of concern," said Jackson. "Some of it might show that there may be some hot spots. If that's the case that's where we need to focus all of our efforts together."

As part of the study, researchers tested soil samples taken from school sites and playgrounds that flooded in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. They found that 33 percent of the school yards and 13 percent of the playground had elevated arsenic levels.

"One of our prime areas of focus is the health of our children," said Jackson. "They are often the first line of being exposed to something. They are little people. They are nearer to the ground. Their bodies can't take toxic chemicals at the same rate as adults can."

Wednesday, 75-year-old DeSoto Jackson (no relation to the EPA Secretary) tended his garden in the Upper Ninth Ward. He said after hearing about the high levels of arsenic, he's thinking about getting his soil tested.

"I might bundle up a little bit and send it up to Baton Rouge and have it tested," said DeSoto Jackson. "But, I'm not a worrier. If God let it grow and if I give it to people, I know it's not going to do them no harm."

Rodney Mallet, a spokesman for the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, said DEQ studies show the arsenic levels in New Orleans to be about 10 times higher than EPA screening levels.

But he claims that level is still within an "acceptable range."

Dan Gill from the LSU Ag Center said if you want your soil tested, contact your parish cooperative extension office.