Read and weep: Katrina eco devastation, toxicity spreading for miles

[DeepModem Mom]

WP: Natural Buffers Took a Beating
Gulf's Woods and Wetlands Experienced Lasting Damage

By Juliet Eilperin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, September 21, 2005; Page A10


Until a couple of weeks ago, Mississippi's Clower-Thornton Nature Trail lured avid birders as well as small children, who wandered in fascination underneath its broad canopy of oak and dogwood trees. Now the trail's entrance sign warns: "Do Not Enter, Toxic," and the surrounding habitat is dying....

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The scene of devastation in Gulfport, Miss., is just one of the ecological disasters to emerge as scientists, activists and state and federal officials have begun documenting how the hurricane damaged one of the nation's largest networks of estuaries, wetlands and cypress swamps -- a varied and watery ecosystem that sustains a wealth of birds, fish and vegetation. From polluted fisheries to battered forests, the Gulf Coast's habitat has suffered losses that will take years to restore, they say....

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Federal authorities have devoted much of their attention so far to the contaminated water in New Orleans, where floodwaters are said to be laced with industrial toxins and untreated sewage. The city's flooded area includes 121 known contaminated sites and more than 1,000 that are possibly contaminated, according to Environmental Data Resources Inc., a firm that compiles environmental information on private and public property.

The polluted water is being pumped out into neighboring Lake Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico, and is likely to affect areas far beyond the city's confines. Federal scientists are already investigating whether the contaminants have damaged valuable fisheries in the gulf, and some scientists and local activists are worried that Lake Pontchartrain is being sacrificed.

Yesterday, environmental activists released satellite images showing large oil slicks a few miles offshore, in the Gulf of Mexico, some stemming from known oil platform locations and stretching as far as 40 miles. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said the agency has documented five oil spills in the New Orleans area....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/20/AR2005092001706.html