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Flooding
- Did the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) contribute to the flooding of St. Bernard Parish during Hurricane Katrina, and will this event expedite closure of the channel?
- I have heard that the standing floodwaters in New Orleans are heavily contaminated. Is that true?
- What will be the environmental impact of discharging polluted floodwaters into Lake Pontchartrain?
- Are there other areas of coastal Louisiana that are highly vulnerable to hurricanes?
- Flood waters damaged important paperwork and photos. Is there any way to salvage what is left?
Did the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet (MRGO) contribute to the flooding of St. Bernard Parish during Hurricane Katrina, and will this event expedite closure of the channel?
At this time, there are no reports available which delineate the degree of Hurricane Katrina flooding caused by the MRGO. However, coastal scientists at LSU have stated that the storm surge in St. Bernard may have been exacerbated by the wedge-shaped topography between levees on the MRGO and the Mississippi River.
Prior to Katrina, it was locally believed that MRGO-related wetland loss had greatly increased the vulnerability of St. Bernard Parish to hurricanes and tropical storms. During the past 40 years, the MRGO has exacerbated the direct loss and/or deterioration of more than 20,000 acres of coastal land in St. Bernard Parish. It is unclear, however, whether or not these wetlands would have provided a sufficient buffer from a storm of Katrina’s magnitude.
In the past five years there have been increasing calls at the local, state and federal level to address the environmental problems caused by the MRGO. In 2004, a controversial, $80 million dollar plan for reinforcing the MRGO was unveiled as part of the Louisiana Coastal Area (LCA) Ecosystem Restoration Plan. Earlier recommendations for closure have included a number of restoration options, including simply abandoning channel maintenance. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers spends approximately $22 million a year in annual maintenance dredging of the MRGO. Substantial increases to this cost typically occur after major storm events, such as the $42 million spent clearing the MRGO of sediments deposited in 1998 by Hurricane Georges.
http://www.seagrantfish.lsu.edu/resources/handbookinfo.htm#closemissoutlet
(Rex Caffey, Louisiana Sea Grant College Program/LSU AgCenter) 10-6-05
I have heard that the standing floodwaters in New Orleans are heavily contaminated. Is that true?
To contaminate, by definition, means to make something impure, unclean or polluted, especially by mixing harmful impurities into it or by putting it in contact with something harmful. In order to understand the water quality issue in New Orleans, we must qualify the level of contamination. Most of our surface waters are monitored and managed to meet designated use parameters, such as supporting aquatic life (fish and other aquatic organisms) and swimmable waters, which involve contact with the possibility of ingestion. Obviously, the standards for drinking water are much more stringent. Currently, there are no untreated surface waters, much less floodwaters, with “drinking by humans” as its designated use.
In the case of New Orleans floodwaters, the impurities didn’t get put into Lake Pontchartrain, the lake inundated the city. Just imagine everything in the city which could possibly contaminate water: household cleaning solutions, sewage, automobile fluids and fuel, trash, debris, etc. being picked up by floodwater. However, it’s important to consider the volume of water which inundated the city and how it somewhat diluted the contaminants. Early sample results showed some hot spots, but the majority of samples analyzed for toxins, volatile organics and other contaminants were at or below acceptable levels. The one major concern is the level of E. coli bacteria, which is an indication that the water can be infectious. It is recommended that contact with floodwaters be avoided if at all possible. Fortunately, almost all of the floodwaters have been pumped out of the city, and recent tests indicate the lake has had an amazing ability to assimilate these waters and associated pollutants. (See question on the impacts of floodwaters on Lake Pontchartrain above). For sample results and additional information about the monitoring of floodwaters in New Orleans, visit the Web sites below.
http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/portal/portals/0/news/pdf/EPAFloodwaterChemicaData9-11.pdf
http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/portal/portals/0/news/pdf/ACTIVITIESSEPT11.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/katrina/testresults/(Kevin Savoie and Brian LeBlanc, Louisiana Sea Grant College Program/LSU AgCenter) 10-6-05
What will be the environmental impact of discharging polluted floodwaters into Lake Pontchartrain?
The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are sampling and analyzing floodwater and the water of Lake Pontchartrain. Recently released information indicated very good news for Lake Pontchartrain. DEQ conducted tests of aquatic toxicity on flood waters taken from the streets of New Orleans, and these tests indicated that all fish species and 10 of 12 invertebrate species were able to survive in this water. Because these species were able to survive in the full concentration of floodwaters, we can expect minimal ecological damage to the lake, according to DEQ Secretary Mike McDaniel. The discharge of floodwaters will be further diluted in ambient lake waters, resulting in concentrations of pollutants below levels of concern. Ongoing tests of lake water along the south shore have shown little or no degradation of water quality compared with hundreds of analyses conducted prior to floodwater pumping. Tests indicate lake water quality post-Katrina is similar to conditions found during normal stormwater runoff events. As predicted, hurricane insults to water quality occurred along the north shore. These included low dissolved oxygen and some fish kills in the tributaries, but these are brief events. See links below for additional information and updates.
http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/portal/portals/0/news/pdf/fishkillpr.pdf
http://www.deq.louisiana.gov/portal/portals/0/news/pdf/EPAreleasesAdditionalFloodwaterSamplingData.pdf(Kevin Savoie and Brian LeBlanc, Louisiana Sea Grant College Program/LSU AgCenter) 10-6-05
Are there other areas of coastal Louisiana that are highly vulnerable to hurricanes?
As seen recently, the entire Louisiana coastline - from New Orleans to Cameron - is highly susceptible to hurricanes. Although Louisiana’s coastal marshes and barrier islands provide a front line of defense against storm surge, 90 percent of these wetlands are at or below sea level elevation. Furthermore, Louisiana is historically prone to major storm events. According to the LSU Hurricane Center, the central Louisiana coast has experienced landfall of more major hurricanes (Category 3 and above) than anywhere in the continental U.S. over the past century.
One area that escaped major damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita was Port Fourchon in lower Lafourche Parish. The national significance of this commercial port has grown rapidly in recent years. With the advent of Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) drilling technology, Port Fourchon has grown from two to 160 companies in the past two decades. Most of that growth has occurred since 1995 when the port was less than a third of its current size.
A direct hit on Port Fourchon by a major hurricane could have serious consequences to the U.S. domestic energy sector. Port Fourchon serves as the inter-modal support hub for 75 percent of Gulf of Mexico drilling, 16 percent of U.S. domestic oil and gas production and is the nation’s only offshore oil terminal, the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP). The vulnerability of Port Fourchon has been widely documented and was recently the focus of the Hollywood docudrama – “Oil Storm.”
The most hurricane-vulnerable aspect of Port Fourchon is LA Highway 1. This substandard, easily-flooded road serves the port and provides the only evacuation route for a population of 35,000 residents and 6,000 offshore workers. The Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development (DOTD) recently initiated construction of a long-awaited overhaul of LA 1. The DOTD project replaces the current road with an elevated highway that will begin at Port Fourchon and stretch 17 miles northward to higher ground. For additional information about the LA 1 Project or Port Fourchon, check out these links:
http://www.la1project.com/index.cfm
http://www.la1coalition.org/home.html
http://www.portfourchonla.com/home.asp
http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/oilstorm/main.html(Rex Caffey, Louisiana Sea Grant College Program/LSU AgCenter) 10-8-05
Flood waters damaged important paperwork and photos. Is there any way to salvage what is left?
The Western Association for Art Conservation (WAAC) has put together a document titled “Salvage at a Glance” that may provide helpful information. This document can be found at
http://palimpsest.stanford.edu/waac/ttl/wn27-3-salvage_at_a_glance.pdf(John Davis, Louisiana Sea Grant College Program) 11-17-05
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