[CPEO-BIF] Groups say EPA must clean New Orleans contamination

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Natural Resources Defense Council
March 15, 2006

CIVIL RIGHTS AND RELIGIOUS GROUPS SAY EPA MUST CLEAN UP NEW ORLEANS 
CONTAMINATION

Government Has Legal and Moral Responsibility to Protect Returning 
Residents, Groups Say

WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency has a legal and moral 
responsibility to clean up the toxic contamination blanketing New 
Orleans in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, a coalition of more 
than a dozen civil rights, religious and environmental justice groups 
said today. They petitioned the agency to take immediate action.

The groups cited a recent analysis by the Natural Resources Defense 
Council (NRDC) of the EPA's neighborhood-by-neighborhood contaminant 
readings, which found high levels of arsenic, lead, and dangerous 
petroleum compounds across the city at levels that should have triggered 
a mandatory cleanup or additional investigation. For example, more than 
a third of the EPA samples had arsenic levels that exceed the threshold 
level requiring an investigation or cleanup. (The report, test results 
and maps are available here.)

"It's been six months since Katrina destroyed much of New Orleans, and 
the EPA has not lifted a finger to clean up the toxic mess that 
threatens the health of returning residents," said Hillary Shelton of 
the NAACP, a coalition member. "This is a scandal of major proportions."


...

For the entire press release, see
http://www.nrdc.org/media/pressreleases/060315.asp

--
Lenny Siegel
Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
c/o PSC, 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
http://www.cpeo.org
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