Tests find N.O. water less toxic than feared

[DoYouEverWonder]

Oct 5, 2005

More testing on the flood water being pumped out of New Orleans seems to confirm earlier tests showing that the water isn't as toxic as was once feared, according to the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

On Tuesday, DEQ released results of recent biotoxicity tests done in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. These tests involve placing aquatic invertebrates and fish in floodwater samples being pumped from New Orleans. The water samples were taken in the canals before they were actually pumped into Lake Pontchartrain, Chris Piehler, a senior environmental scientist at DEQ, said.

After 48 hours in the water, all of the fish survived. Only one of the 12 invertebrate test samples had more than a 50 percent mortality rate when exposed to a solution of 39 percent flood water, Piehler said.

Two additional samples showed a 50 percent mortality rate with a water sample that was 100 percent flood water, he said.

However, more recent testing came back with better results.

http://www.2theadvocate.com/stories/100505/new_toxic001.shtml

[Born Free]

1. Ground Zero air tested OK too...

I seem to remember they did tests and told everyone it was safe to workin the area, but later learned it was not as safe as the workers were led to believe

[texpatriot2004]

5. Exactly! That water is not less toxic just like the air wasn't n/t

[Gman]

12. Yup, my first thought too. And there was no problem at Chernobyl.

[kestrel91316]

16. But unlike air, everybody has the choice whether or not to drink the

flood water, and it has all been pumped into the lake by now anyway, so I don't get your problem with it.

I do have some working knowledge of water microbiology.

[shraby]

2. What invertebrates did they use?

Also, 100% flood water looks pretty lethal to me.

[no one]

3. the govt says depleted uranium is safe

I wouldnt trust anything they say.

[Kailassa]

6. But they've proved D.U. is safe.

Bin feedin the stuff to the B*s* clan fer years, an there aint nuffin wrong wiv dem.

[ReadTomPaine]

4. I wonder how credible this is. Katrina was recently "downgraded" as well.

Scrub, scrub, scrub...

[WatchWhatISay]

7. What, were they just kidding?

Lots of retractions stories like this lately. Whats this about?

Ex: Oh yeah, Katrina was really only a category 3?

[Kailassa]

8. They've been reading up

on how to make the opposition think thet're going crazy.

[BootinUp]

9. Not a huge surprise.

It is similar to rain water runoff.

[DoYouEverWonder]

10. Exactly

except for 'hot spots' I am not surprised by these results.

Beside unlike air quality, water quality is a lot harder to cover up. Anyone can take a water sample and get it tested. Most of the water in the NO area was very polluted to begin with, including the drinking water.

[RC]

11. Time for the clean up so the

rich people can come in and start building their casinos and high rise hotels.

[booksenkatz]

13. They've also deemed Gulf seafood as ay-o-kay

but you won't see me with a beloved plate of Gulf shrimp any time soon. Believe me, it is painful for me to give up Gulf seafood, but as long as the idea of having a plate right now continues to make me throw up in my mouth a little, that retch-factor overrides anything that the government tells me. Nor will I be the first in line for a tall, cool glass of N.O. water. I'm only human. Sorry.

[DoYouEverWonder]

14. At the moment the bigger problem

is red tide, which is covering the entire west coast and panhandle of FL.

The oil and debris from Katrina is actually being tracked and hasn't gone very far yet.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

15. Breaking News:

14-year-old girl not as pregnant as parents feared.

Pictures at 11.

[kestrel91316]

17. Sorry, invalid comparison. As much as some people might

believe otherwise, some with near-religious fervor, there are degrees of water pollution. There are no degrees of pregnancy (you are or you aren't).

[Javaman]

18. It's only merely toxic, so I'll only get merely sick...

[SoCalDem]

19. Well Gollllll-eeeee

Who'd a thunk-it :)



If people are told how toxic things are, they might ask for hazard pay or protective clothing or medical insurance guarantees..

[daleo]

20. Only a 50 percent mortality rate

As Homer Simpson would say, "I like those odds".

[tom_paine]

21. Unfortunately, Imperial Amerika is a corrupt Third-World Nation

And, as such, the pronouncements of it's various agencies are as suspect as other Tyrannical nations, such as the Soviet Union or Saudi Arabia.

This is the same nation that said unemployment is 4.9%, and that the post-9/11 air over NYC was okey-dokey.

NEVER believe the pronouncements of corrupt nations like Imperial Amerika.

Once in the bluest of moons, they might tell the truth, but Imperial Amerika is all lies all the time, now.