Just wondering what kind of chemicals from industries and railcar of know kind would contribute to the contamination of the water and air. What kind of industries are around that area?
As far as I know, the only chemical pollutants would be oil and fuel additives but there unfortunately must be more chemicals of concern.
Has the railroads to anyone’s knowledge reported the contents of cars left in the yards so the rescue crews know what to becareful of and for medical personal to know what to treat any survivors that may have come in contact with that either through injestion or absorbsion through the skin?
Andrew, sealed tank cars are probably OK. Hoppers carrying dry products could have seepage.
The thing is that anything and everything is in that water, though the source may not be industrial. Think of all the stuff people have in their homes. Cleaning products, solvents, pestacides, fertilizers, etc, etc, etc. Then there are all of the biohazards.
There have been pictures of people wading in that filth all week. One cut while wading could be death. There is no place to wash it off either.
Today pumping began. I can’t believe that they are just dumping that in the river or the lake, but what choice do they have?
There are about 100 industrial chemical plants between Baton Rouge and New Orleans plus several refineries. If it is a synthetic organic chemical you can find it being produced in one of these plants. I can think to two of the plants that produce over 1,000 chemical compounds each.
People are staying behind because they can’t take pets with them but an authority, whose name I didn’t catch, said all pets that have been in the water will be dead in two weeks.
When or if people return to New Orleans, I doubt they can ever be sure their homes and yards won’t poison them.
All of the plants are along the river for access to barge transportation but the have long standing procedures to button up for hurancandes as do the railroads serving New Orleans.
Ok, i have an opinion to state. THIS DOESNT NEED FLAMED why rebuild new orleans? it will just get wiped out! also, people can move into existing cities instead of having to worry about hurricanes and floods [:I]
It needs to be rebuilt, but not for the people who lived there, rather for the businesses and commerce that the city represents. Of course those businesses need people to operate them, so by default there needs to be housing, and shopping and movie theaters, blah, blah, blah.
It is a vicious circle that builds a city. Watch what happens, it should be very interesting, because what took over a hundred years to be built up, was mostly destroyed in days. Now you will get to witness the process in fast motion.
No flames, but don’t light a match. They don’t have a fire department, or any water to put a fire out.
P.S. If you really want to understand the dynamics of a city, get the game SIM City (whatever version). It is a fun and challenging game that if played properly is very difficult and realistic. You get to be the mayor.