The lead pit

The city is (finally) preparing to do remediation work on the lot where the Central City incinerator once sat.  It's been a long time coming.

The city has planned a remediation for the space 10 years after the Jericho Road Episcopal Housing Initiative commissioned a grant-funded survey showing the dangerous levels of contamination. The work should be completed by the end of the year, according to the city.

It's not as if the Jericho Road study revealed anything unexpected. The incinerator was cited numerous times during its lifetime. And most New Orleanians are familiar with Howard Mielke's maps showing high concentrations of lead contamination in the older and formerly industrial parts of the city.

I'm not entirely sure but I think the reason they're getting around to actually doing something about it now is they have "resilience" money to spend re-habilitating vacant lots into stormwater management projects. This site sits right along the path of the uptown watershed currently receiving work.  But it isn't specifically included in the description. However this FOX 8 story does say the city claims it is associated with the project.

Anyway, they're about to go digging in the lead pit.  Hopefully they know what they're doing.  Not everybody is convinced.

But residents are worried that the plan, which involves removing a few feet of soil in some areas and up to 5 feet in others, will cause the lead and PAHs to migrate into their lawns, heightening their risk of exposure.

The 21-page removal plan, put together in March 2019 by the Leaaf Group for the LDEQ, details where the lead is highest and how workers will remove it. But it doesn't address residents' concerns about migration of the lead during heavy rains and during the remediation process.

Yeah well, good thing there's never any street flooding or anything like that in the area.  At least there isn't anything radioactive in the pit.... that we know of yet.