Taking out New Orleans’ waste

The Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality will begin the daunting task of cleaning up area homes affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the coming months, said LDEQ Press Secretary Darin Mann.
The LDEQ were joined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which reported it has already collected an estimated one million pounds of household hazardous waste, according to a late October press release.
Household hazardous waste consists of home cleaning products, lawn and garden products, pesticides and herbicides as well as fuels and paints.
On Nov. 7, the LDEQ and EPA announced more than 22 million tons of debris would have to be properly disposed of in an environmentally sound manner.
“What we are trying to do is dispose of the overwhelming amount of debris in an environmentally sound and efficient manner,” said Chuck Brown, DEQ assistant secretary of environmental services.
Mann said departments must follow strict protocol concerning debris disposal. Debris has to be separated into its proper categories. ‘White’ goods, such as air conditioners and refrigerators, must first be flushed of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, before being recycled. Food, curbside trash, hazardous wastes and construction and demolition debris each have assigned landfills where they must be disposed. According to the departments, ” – these efforts will protect human health as well as prevent hazardous substances from contaminating soil and groundwater – ”
“(We) must go through every single home and remove household hazard wastes, then ship them to separate waste facilities,” he said.
Mann said the EPA and LDEQ have distributed flyers announcing the collection system to effected areas. Several days later, the departments will return to pick up remaining materials placed in front of homes.
“You chip away at it,” Mann, a New Orleans native, said as he estimated the complete clean up could take anywhere from 18 to 22 months. “We’ll make it, it will be done. Recovery is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. We’re still very early on in the process.
“(The) biggest focus is not to create an environmental problem while dealing with one of the most environmental disasters of all time,” he added.
Mann said it will be up to local officials to decide exactly when the departments when begin clean up in homes. Mann called the storms ‘Equal Opportunity Destruction’.
“It puts a whole new perspective on it when you see the house you grew up in flooded,” he said.