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Take Action: Demand EPA Honesty on Environmental Aftermath from Hurricane Katrina
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Toxic Gumbo... Flowing from YOUR Tap, Too?
Grist Magazine is exploring whether New Orleans is alone in seeing a "toxic gumbo" in the drinking water:
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.
Check it out here.
Posted by Robert Shull
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