Delicious but deadly

I'm telling you man, I have an absolute iron stomach.

The same toxic chemicals also found in nonstick pans and shampoo are in New Orleans’ drinking water system at higher levels than previously thought, according to a report by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released Wednesday.

The environmental nonprofit tested water in 44 areas in 31 states and D.C. and found that New Orleans’ water system had levels of chemicals, known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), that reached 41.8 parts per trillion.

Since 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has had a health advisory for lifetime exposure to PFOS and PFOA — two types of PFAS — in drinking water set to 70 parts per trillion, but the limit is not enforceable.

The thing is, they say in there that some of the cleanest water in the country comes from Meridian, Mississippi and I have had the water in Meridian and can tell you it tastes like trash. Maybe the water here has a lot of actual trash in it but.. still....


Meanwhile, have you seen this? Have you heard about this?

The first state to enact any protections at all was Louisiana, in the late 1980s. “It was the only environmental issue in Louisiana anyone ever sprang on me I didn’t know anything about,” says chemical physicist Paul Templet, who as the state’s lead environmental regulator at the time ordered a study on oil-and-gas radioactivity. The results horrified him.

The levels of radium in Louisiana oil pipes had registered as much as 20,000 times the limits set by the EPA for topsoil at uranium-mill waste sites. Templet found that workers who were cleaning oil-field piping were being coated in radioactive dust and breathing it in. One man they tested had radioactivity all over his clothes, his car, his front steps, and even on his newborn baby. The industry was also spewing waste into coastal waterways, and radioactivity was shown to accumulate in oysters. Pipes still laden with radioactivity were donated by the industry and reused to build community playgrounds. Templet sent inspectors with Geiger counters across southern Louisiana. One witnessed a kid sitting on a fence made from piping so radioactive they were set to receive a full year’s radiation dose in an hour. “People thought getting these pipes for free from the oil industry was such a great deal,” says Templet, “but essentially the oil companies were just getting rid of their waste.”

So, you know, pipes. They've got bad stuff in them.

Sometimes the dirt just has a lot of radiation in it

There still isn't a definitive explanation for how the radioactive whatever got under the street. Wilma Subra's explanation sounds pretty solid, though.

Another possibility, according to Wilma Subra, a chemist and lead technical adviser for the advocacy group Louisiana Environmental Action Network, is that road fill may have contained some source of radioactivity.

“That entire area, including the university, is a (former) low-lying swampy area,” said Subra, referring to Xavier, which is just a few blocks from the site of the radiation. “That whole area is nothing but fill. That could have been a load someone brought in there and dumped in that spot."

Another theory is that someone lost a "tool" near the site with has leaked radiation since.  So maybe Thor's hammer is buried around there somewhere.

Another point to gather from this is that the radioactive hot spot is not actually on the site of the Thompson-Hayward plant but a few blocks away. It's still possible the two are related, or at least it's possible that the radiation is related to the industrial activity and/or subsequent remediation of hazardous materials in the area.  But it may be a separate matter altogether. 

Either way, a lot of people got cancer.

In testimony from a class-action lawsuit filed in 1989 against corporations that owned the plant over the years, residents said the vats overflowed and produced noxious-smelling fumes and dust. 

The suit was settled in 1996 for $51.6 million, with the money distributed among 3,800 residents and their lawyers. The money was divided based on how close a plaintiff lived to the plant and how sick they were. Cancer patients got the most money. Liver and kidney disease came next. People with afflictions like allergies and immune system issues were awarded the least.

Dorothy Travis was part of that lawsuit, as was her neighbor, Patricia Lassair, 55, who was born and raised on Lowerline Street. Lassair’s brother developed leukemia. A neighbor who she said is like a sister to her had four miscarriages. “Almost everyone around here died of cancer,” said Travis, looking out at her neighborhood from her front porch.

Is that a lot?

I don't know, really. But it sounds like a lot.

NEW ORLEANS, La. (WVUE) - Gert Town residents faced exposure to high levels of radiation due to material lying underneath their street, according to an EPA memo uncovered by FOX 8.

The memo, dated May 17, 2019 -- just 11 days before crews dug up radioactive material from beneath a Gert Town road and placed it into bins. In it, the federal government stated the site on Lowerline Street was a threat to public health, welfare and the environment, and removal would be the appropriate action, due to the actual or potential exposure to humans, animals and the food chain from hazardous substances, pollutants or contaminants

.......

The memo also states the Radium-226 exposure rate was several times higher than the EPA acceptable exposure limit, reporting:

“In fact, the annual dose allowable for the general public can be exceeded at levels at the street or adjacent areas in less than one hour per day.”

It says that memo was issued in May but, remember, also, the city was made aware of the problem (by federal security inspectors) at least six years before. How long was the stuff there before then? Nobody knows.

Mitch knew

I'm chuckling a little remembering all the ridiculous prep Mitch's people did just to host a Superbowl. They moved the Mardi Gras parade schedule around. They spent a bunch of money they didn't have to rushing the new streetcar into service.   There was a "clean zone" and a city mission command center. You would have thought they were trying to send someone to the moon.

Mitch Landrieu took all of  it extremely seriously. His entire term in office was built around setting artificial deadlines so he could rush through a bunch of projects and patronage ahead of  Katrina 10 or the Superbowl or the Tricentennial and make it all sound like some sort of emergency requiring everyone to definitely not complain or ask too many questions.   He even gave us all a lecture about being nice to Roger Goodell. That's why, after all of this hysteria, the power failure the night of the game was such a deliciously fun moment. We couldn't have asked for a more appropriate send-up of Mitch's arrogance. 

Of course, as usual, the joke was on us. As it turned out, the seemingly absurd "anti-terrorism" preparations in the weeks leading up to the game did yield some important information. Naturally, Mitch chose not to share that information with the public.

NEW ORLEANS — The attorneys representing residents in Gert Town claim the City of New Orleans not only knew about radioactive material in the area, but also knew the risk that it posed to the public and tried to keep it out of the public eye.

In 2013, when the city hosted Super Bowl XLVII, the federal government discovered radioactive material two miles away from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome while conducting sweeps of the area for the event.

But then they didn't tell anyone.

It's not clear exactly what took so long after that for anyone to get started with the remediation but it looks like that didn't begin until after the new mayor took over. And at that point, it doesn't look like there was a solid consensus among state, local, and federal officials as to how to proceed safely.

In May, Dr. Jennifer Avegno -- the city’s health department director -- emailed Tulane toxicology consultant, Dr. Luann White, asking her opinion on possible dust or particle containment during excavation. In her email, Avengo pointed out a particular recommendation to spray water on the site, stating it did not “seem adequate,” to her. She also said she was not comfortable with the information provided if homes in the area should be evacuated or if there were any possible risks to pregnant women.

White’s responded with:

“Misting water can control dust. They have to be careful to get enough to keep dust down, but not so much as to have waste water runoff they need to contain.”

White went on to say the following:

"Radiation seems to be only in the immediate vicinity of the source and does not extend as far away as homes or the sidewalk. The goal is to keep it that way during the remediation. This can be done as they describe, but they need to take care to contain the radiation.”

State epidemiologist Raoult Ratard also weighed in with his opinion during another correspondence this past May. When asked if residents need to evacuate their homes during the work, Ratard said no, so long as the dust was appropriately controlled.

Ratard was also asked if special instructions need to be given to pregnant women, women of child bearing age or children.

“None if they stay away from the site and dust is controlled," he replied.

And, to the question of: “How would the EPA best characterize the level of risk for individuals who have lived on the block and received cumulative exposure?”

Ratard said he did not know

Apparently what they ended up doing was digging into the ground, removing the radioactive goop or whatever while neighbors stood nearby and watched, before throwing it into some dumpsters which remained on site for several weeks.  It doesn't say in that report whether or not anybody misted the dust.

Anyway, according to one of the lawyers handling the residents' lawsuit, the Cantrell administration wanted all of this handled "discreetly." And maybe that's a step better than just never having told anyone at all. But there sure are a lot of questions left to answer now.