Thursday, September 08, 2005
Environmental Scare Tactics
This story was everywhere yesterday.
But this is not the same water that flooded the city. What started flowing back into the lake on Monday and continued spilling into it Tuesday is laced with raw sewage, bacteria, heavy metals, pesticides and toxic chemicals, Louisiana officials said on Tuesday.Yes, yes it is, but what level of those things are present, and how much water is being pumped back in comparison to how much is already there? One time environmental events are generally not a problem -- systems are well capable of absorbing a one time shock and coming out smelling like a rose, its the continual drip-drip-drip that does serious damage. It is quite likely that 6 months from now none of this will be detectable in Lake Ponchatrain. Besides, what are they supposed to do, leave the flood waters there until they can design and build a treatment plant 6 months to a year from now? Dump it into the ocean? What? This is asinine.
