Last month, "toxic gumbo" entered the American lexicon with the speed and force of the floodwaters it describes.... "I want to be very clear," cautioned EPA administrator Stephen Johnson, describing the situation in the devastated city to the press. "Emergency response personnel and the public should avoid direct contact with any floodwater."

It was a dire warning. And to some water-quality experts, it came as no surprise. Our national water infrastructure -- everything from streams, lakes, and coastal waters to treatment plants and the pipes that carry the precious liquid to our individual taps -- is in serious trouble, they say. Toxic gumbos are simmering, for the most part out of sight, all across the country. New Orleans was just the first to boil over on a grand scale.

Gulf Coast Cleanup Workers Must Be Protected from Serious Health Hazards

The U.S. Congress should immediately act to protect the health and safety of workers and residents engaged in the cleanup of New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, according to a group of more than 100 of the nation's foremost labor, religious, environmental, community, public health and public interest organizations and more than 100 academic, medical, religious and public health leaders.

Read the FDA press release on the new proposed regulations.

Read a Public Citizen press release: New Animal Feed Rules Sill Leave Consumers at Risk.

Read OMB Watch background on mad cow disease.

Posted by Genevieve Smith, 05:24:26 PM

Tuesday, October 04, 2005