Green Party of Louisiana
www.LaGreens.org
September 8, 2005
Contact:
Kathleen (Leenie) Halbert, phone: 504-343-1273, leenie@leenie.com
(escaped the flood and living in a van. Just arrived in Houston!)
Baton Rouge, Louisiana --The Green Party of
Louisiana today issued a strong condemnation of current plans to dump
flood waters into Lake Pontchartrain.
The Green Party of Louisiana is calling for the
immediate cessation of discharging untreated floodwaters into Lake
Pontchartrain, and asks for a thorough investigation by reputable
scientists in order to determine the best course of action.
"These flood waters contain pollutants which
will be highly toxic to marine life," Kathleen Halbert, Co-Chair
of the Green Party of Louisiana stated from her makeshift refugee
quarters at the Baton Rouge Centroplex. "Scientists are already
fearful that marine life in the entire Gulf will be adversely affected
by the destruction of oxygen in the waters, as well as the presence of
chemical pollutants, including asbestos, and a wide variety of harmful
bacteria."
"We cannot allow another disaster like that
of the Exxon Valdez in Alaska to destroy marine life in the Gulf of
Mexico," Halbert added. "In addition to its total disregard
for the human consequences of Hurricane Katrina, the Bush
Administration has put ALL life-reptile, fish, bird AND mammal, as
well as human-- at risk with its blatant disregard for environmental
standards. The relaxation of regulatory rules by the EPA at this time
is an irresponsible abdication of its authority to care for the
environment in which we all must live."
Halbert cited statements by Dr. Harold Zeliger, a
renowned environmental chemist, in Independent News Online. Dr.
Zeliger points out the consequences of discharging the polluted
floodwaters of New Orleans into Lake Pontchartrain are unknown.
""We're looking conceivably at zero-dissolved oxygen, which
will lead to the death of fish and other organisms," Independent
News Online quotes Dr Zeliger as saying. "If the migratory birds
who pass through the area find any fish to eat, they will be
contaminated so the birds will start dying in large quantities."
Dr. Zeliger is concern for the severe impact of
the toxic waters on the fragile ecosystem of the region.
"Reptiles and snakes are going to be driven out of their nests
and habitats, which has implications for human safety. We're going to
see water moccasins [a highly venomous snake], which are nasty
critters, and alligators threatening people."
Other environmental experts have added their
voices to the growing chorus of concern for the waters of Lake
Pontchartrain and the Gulf of Mexico. A spokesman for the Natural
Resources Defense Council in New York, Erik Olsen, says the lake's
water can be skimmed or cleaned by other means, but toxic residue can
remain in the sediments below.
Even worse, he says, the pollution runoff could
poison the Gulf of Mexico, whose fisheries are already threatened by
chemical runoff from Midwestern U.S. farms. Mr. Olsen foresees the
growth of a dead zone in the Gulf, where algae blooms and oxygen is
depleted.
"That already exists, and as we see more and
more of this raw sewage and runoff and toxic chemicals just coming in
a huge wallop all at once, we could exacerbate that dead zone and the
fisheries could suffer long term losses," he added.
The Green Party of Louisiana may be contacted for
further information at www.lagreens.org.
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
RELIEF EFFORTS:
Green Party web page with information on aid for victims of the
hurricane
http://www.gp.org/katrina2005/
Web page with information on relief efforts, set
up by New Orleans Greens Andrea Garland and Jeffrey Holmes
http://www.getyouracton.com/
Discussion list set up by Green Party member Bart
Everson from New Orleans, for exchange of information (advice,
requests for help and offers of direct material, other assistance)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/katrina-refugees/
