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Article: Environmental damage from Katrina `unprecedented,' experts say.
- Article from:
- The Dallas Morning News (Dallas, TX)
- Article date:
- September 14, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 The Dallas Morning News. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Randy Lee Loftis
DALLAS _ Hurricane Katrina is rapidly becoming the worst environmental calamity in U.S. history, with oil spills rivaling the Exxon Valdez, hundreds of toxic sites still uncontrolled, and waterborne poisons soaking 160,000 homes.
New Orleans' flooded neighborhoods are awash with dangerous levels of bacteria and lead, and with lower but still potentially harmful amounts of mercury, pesticides, and other chemicals. Much will wind up in the soil as the water drains, or in Lake Pontchartrain, hammering its already battered ecosystem.
Across Southern Louisiana, the Coast Guard reported seven major oil spills from refineries ...