Environmentalists: Katrina contaminated playgrounds, schools with arsenic

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A new report says schools and playgrounds flooded by Hurricane Katrina were contaminated by high levels of arsenic when flood waters poured into this below-sea level city.

On Monday, the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group, said a sampling sweep of the city found high levels of arsenic at six schools, two playgrounds and four neighborhoods.

And the report inflamed a running debate about contamination caused by Katrina. Government agencies, which took about 2,000 soil and sediment samples, have said their findings show that Katrina's flood waters were not toxic. Conversely, environmentalists insist they were.

The debate has been complicated by disagreements on how to interpret data, safe-level standards, legal mandates and testing protocol.

As for the new report's findings, NRDC said the government has a responsibility to create a safe environment for people trying to rebuild their lives after the worst natural disaster in U.S. history.

The group said that if further sampling shows there's a problem, those areas and other spots polluted with arsenic ought to be cleaned up. A cleanup would involve removing the top 6 inches of soil.
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