Sustainability on the Gulf Coast Reflections from an ENTS trip to New Orleans

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Sustainability on the Gulf Coast? Reflections
from an ENTS trip to New Orleans
By Lizzy Shephard ENTS Education
Associate 01/2/2007
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Disclaimer

• This power point is incompletethere are still
  many missing pieces to the story of Katrina. It
  is hoped that the information provided in this
  power point will better help you understand a
  national disaster which we can not ignore.
  Lessons learned in this situation can be applied
  to any city and although they are not new
  lessons, they are important reminders.

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Outline

• Why ENTS went to New Orleans
• The Story
• New Orleans before Katrina
• During Katrina
• After Katrina
• Lessons from the Trip what this means for you
• References

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Why ENTS went to New Orleans (N.O.)

• Who
• An Associate Dean, six professors, and two ENTS
  staff attended a week trip to the City
• Why
• Given the interdisciplinary nature of Katrinas
  human and environmental consequences, N.O. is an
  opportune educational site for curriculum and
  faculty development.
• Professor Kim Smith is beginning to organize a
  potential Freshman Seminar and Winter-break
  off-campus studies program about N.O. and Katrina
• How
• The trip was funded by an ENTS grant
• What
• While in N.O., we visited professors at
  Tulane/LSU, the NAACP Gulf Coast Advocacy Center,
  Common Ground, local Geologists, the Louisiana
  Environmental Action Network, the US Army Corps
  of Engineers, and the Bayou Sauvage Wildlife
  Refuge

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Before Katrina

• N.O. is famous for music festivals and its
  vibrant and open community. The convention
  center and two universities attract people from
  around the US.
• Here are some statistics we learned about, most
  of which represent historical environmental,
  economic, and social challenges
• N.O. suffers 45 years of increasing economic
  decline
• N.O. is 70 African American with a strong
  history of slavery (Racial polarization is a
  problem )
• 35 of the people in N.O. are living in high
  poverty, 80 of which are African American
• 70 of jobs are in small businesses
• Over 50 of people are renters (not home
  ownerscompensation for a renter vs. home owner
  after the disaster was very different)
• Individuals living in low, flood-prone areas are
  mostly poor, African Americans
• Growing up in New Orleans is like growing up in
  never never landyou dont have to grow up if you
  dont want toeverything stays the same N.O.
  resident and tour guide

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Before Katrina Continued...

• New Orleans Toilet Bowl of America?
• The Mississippi starts in Minnesota and ends in
  New Orleans...herbicide/pesticide run-off from
  Middle America farm land and industrial waste
  along the river all gets washed down south for
  other people to deal with...thus causing the
  so-called dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico
  where basically nothing can grow or live. While
  N. O. environmental policy is not strict, the
  city suffers indirectly from other states.
• Cancer Alley
• The infamous Cancer Alley is located along the
  river between New Orleans and Baton Rouge. It is
  the archetype of environmental racism, where
  poor/minority populations bare the greatest
  burden of Americas pollution causing health
  problems like asthma.

Dead Zone Map (from google)
Oil Refinery along the river (google)
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New Orleans Geography

Lake Pontchartrain is North of New Orleans, the
Mississippi runs through it, and the ocean is in
the South (left map). Normally, a river like the
Mississippi will move around, changing where it
flows out to the Gulf, distributing sediment
equally along the shoreline. In the picture to
the right (the Delta history of the Mississippi)
each color represents a different time period and
location of the river. Now and in the recent
past, humans have controlled the river with
levies and canals (where the red color is).
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New Orleans Geography continued...
When Katrina hit New Orleans it was like
filling up a bath-tub without a drain and taking
the water out with a straw --Post-Katrina tour
guide

Here is an elevation map of New Orleans (above).
Much of the city is filled in on top of marsh
that is below sea level. Notice that the Lake is
lower than the River. To the right is a picture
taken as we drove to Baton Rouge out of New
Orleansa highway on wetlands.
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How New Orleans Normally Dealt with Flooding

• New Orleans has a series of canals built above
  and beneath the streets. When it rains, the
  water goes into these canals and is pumped into
  Lake Pontchartrain because it is lower than the
  height of the river and utilizes gravity. 1000
  cubic feet of water is pumped per second into the
  Lake when it rains in New Orleans. The trash
  that goes down the drain from the streets
  ultimately ends up in the Lake (it is not
  filtered). Since its creation in the 1700s, New
  Orleans has had to engineer its survival because
  it rests below sea level.

Above is a picture taken on our trip where water
is pumped to the Lake (you can see an alligator
resting on the street trash that is not filtered).
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The Levee System
Since the 1917 Mississippi Flood, canals and
levees have been built with joint funding and
decision making of the local and federal
government to prevent future flooding. Levees are
basically walls that go about 25 feet deep in the
ground surrounding the River and Canals (left
picture). Earthen levies (surrounding the lake)
have a wider base and absorb water pressure which
make them more successful but also more expensive
to build (right). New Orleans has 300 miles of
levies protecting its existence. The Army Corp of
engineers originally designed levees and canals
with flood gates, but because these gates were
not aesthetically pleasing to neighborhoods
(design matters!) and were expensive to build,
the local and federal government denied the
proposal, building a less safe system. The
engineers themselves just do what they are told.
According to the consultant we met with it is a
military operation, but their war is a war
against nature. The consultant said that there
was no way Katrina could have been predicted.
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During Katrina
Photo taken from http//serc.carleton.edu/researc
h_education/katrina/index.html

• Hurricanes flow counter clockwise. As Katrina
  hit New Orleans at 4am Monday, August 29th, the
  wind moved the water that normally flows into the
  Lake from the Canals in the opposite direction.
  The colliding forces of water currents increased
  pressure against the canal walls, causing levee
  breaches and flooding in the New Orleans bowl.
  Furthermore, water surge of up to 20 feet hit the
  coastline and the river itself overflowed in some
  areas.
• For a step-by-step picture of what happened that
  morning, go to this sight https//webmail.carlet
  on.edu/horde/services/go.php?urlhttp3A2F2Fwww.
  nola.com2Fkatrina2Fgraphics2Fflashflood.swf

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Time Line

• Saturday, August 27th
• Residents encouraged to leave, 4000 troops form
  the National Guard arrive
• Sunday, August 28th
• Katrina is category 5 (160mph winds) headed
  straight for NO (615am)
• 930 am, a mandatory evacuation is called by
  Mayor Nagin (15 hours before the storm hits)cars
  leave at 18,000/hour and traffic only flows one
  directionout. (112,000 people in NO dont have
  access to a car) 80 of the city is evacuated
• the US President is on his ranch, the chief of
  staff is in Maine, the vice-president is
  fly-fishing in Wyoming POLITICAL DISENGAGEMENT?
• Superdome is opened up last minutecontaining
  10,000 people
• Monday, August 29th
• 2 amThe storm is 130 miles off the coast,
  category 4
• 3 amThe 17th Street Canal suffers a breach
• 610 amthe eye of the Hurricane makes landfall
  (level 3)
• 28 ft storm surge on the coast
• 7 amland lines and cell phone towers are all out
  in Southeastern Louisiana
• Levees overtopped along the Mississippi River and
  Industrial Canal (water is 10-15 feet in most
  areas)

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Time Line

• Tuesday, August 30th
• The Convention Center is broken into for
  shelterby the end of the day 20,000 are inside
• All hospitals but one are out of power
• 7pmKatrina destruction becomes an Incident of
  Natioinal Significance (Secretary Chertoff)
• Mayor Nagin orders a city evacuation We can not
  sustain life here...
• Wednesday, August 31st
• Superdome now houses 26,000
• President Bush sees the disaster from the
  airtoday is the first day he addresses Katrina
  in a public speech
• Noon Water levels have stopped rising
• Looting becomes rampantMartial law is declared
• 80 of the city is flooded
• Thursday, September 1
• Evacuees arrive in Houston (Texas will take in
  220,000 people)
• 10.5 billion emergency relief bill is given for
  the disaster zone

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Levee Breaches during Katrina

• Industrial Canal flooded the Lower 9th Ward.
  and other neighborhoods
• London Avenue Canal flooded parts of New
  Orleans and also Gentilly.
• 17th St. Canal flooded Lakeview, Mid City, Old
  Metairie, Jefferson, parts of Uptown
• No Lakefront or Mississippi River levees were
  overtopped, although some minor splash over
  occurred at some locations along the lakefront
  levees

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The Industrial Canal Breach (the 9th Ward
Neighborhood)
Many Houses here literally floated away
barge

• Possible explanation for the Industrial Canal
  Breach

The large breach in the Industrial canal that
flooded the Lower Ninth Ward could have been
caused by a barge crashing through the floodwall
during Katrina. Alternatively the barge could
have floated in after the levee and floodwall
were breached...Note also that at the time of
this photo water was running out of the Lower
Ninth Ward back into the Industrial Canal.
Steve Nelson, Geologist
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London Avenue Canal Breach
Before
After
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17th Street Canal Breach

• Before

After
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• The Depths of Flooding on September 11th, 2005
  (photo taken by the Army Corp of Engineers)

While flooding doesnt seem like a huge
problemthe damage, waste, and current health
risks are tremendous. The scale of devastation
was shocking for our group.
Everything inside most buildings have to be
thrown away (see refrigerators, etc. to right).
The amount of waste is huge.
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After Katrina

• Lack of Capital
• ¼ of the citys population remains (tax base
  gone)
• Thousands of homes are abandoned and molding
• There are few places to live (preventing people
  to move to N.O. and work)
• Social safety nets are failing because there
  arent enough workers living in N.O. (health
  care, education, etc.)
• Families struggle with receiving compensation
  from insurance companies (wind insurance blames
  flooding, flood insurance blames wind)

Flood line (below it on left house is a large X
that marks that the house was searched for
survivors after the storm)
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• Many families live in FEMA trailers (which cost
  FEMA 76,000 each and lasts for only 2 years)

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• Environmental Health Risks
• Soilthe Mississippi river sludge was dumped on
  top of soil in some places during the hurricane,
  containing high levels of arsenic and polynuclear
  carbons which are cancer-causing
• Few people have the resources to remove such soil
• Consequences of soil pollution is uncertain
• Wateran unlined landfill contaminates the ground
  water (although the EPA says the water is
  currently safe to drink)
• Dealing with the large-scale waste is hazardous
  (mold, aspestice, etc.) and requires proper gear
  that many volunteers and citizens do not have
• The EPA says it is safe to live in N.O.
• For those of you who live in Minnesotacongrats!
  You live in the healthiest state in the US! Based
  on information from this past year, Louisiana is
  rated the most unhealthy state
• Psychological/Sociological Challenges
• Post-traumatic Stress is widespread
• General sense of a lack of trust in the area
• Many problems are invisible (pollution, future
  planning use) and therefore difficult for humans
  to fully understand or pay close attention to
• Lack of LeadershipA Tangle of Multiple
  Stakeholders
• Four rebuilding plans for N.O. have failed to
  pass because of disagreement
• Land grabdevelopers from Texas and other areas
  are buying land around the up and coming, bigger
  and better levees

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Rebuilding Questions

• Should the City be rebuilt? If so, how?
• How do you help people think about the invisible
  (the future, the unseen environmental hazards,
  etc.)?
• How do you help people make decisions not based
  on what is familiar, easy, and cheap, but
  healthy?
• Who should make planning decisions and how can
  people be involved?
• Who should be held accountable for environmental
  waste and hazards which affect Louisiana but are
  out of its control (like waste in the Mississippi
  River and hurricanes?) How is this done?
• How do we address not just the physical
  rebuilding of a city but the psychological
  rebuilding? How does a city address emotional
  needs in addition to the physical?

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Lessons from the Trip

• The Human Trend Towards a Path of Least
  Resistance
• Government Planning and other decisions are too
  often based on what is easiest, most efficient,
  cheapest, and familiar (not what is healthiest
  for people and the environment in the short and
  long term).
• Doing what is right or healthy
  environmentally and socially in government is NOT
  easy in New Orleans and in other cities because
  such decisions are dependent upon money and
  subjective opinions
• How do we create a system that fosters more
  healthy long term decisions and allows us to
  engage in the complex questions of societal
  health?
• How do we remain engaged in the sustainable
  planning of our own communities?
• Environmental Control is a Privilege--and
  sometimes an illusion
• Humans should be empowered and able to be
  creative in their environments, but this is often
  not the case (many people do not have much
  control of where they livethis is controlled by
  the market, government, and other factors)
• Environmental hazards are not isolated (as seen
  in this case, they can flow down the Mississippi)
  and effect all of us
• How do we use our environmental privilege to be
  responsible for our waste and to take the
  opportunity to help others live in equally
  healthy environments?
• How do we understand and address problems that we
  cant see?

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References

• Thanks to ENTS for making it possible for me to
  go to New Orleans and learn from the experience!
  Thanks also to the people of N.O. who welcomed us
  into their community.

Nelson, Stephen. Department of Earth and
Environmental Studies at Tulane University.
http//www.tulane.edu/sanelson/Katrina/

photos taken by
Professor Nelson Traci Washington from the
NAACP Mary Lee Orr from the Louisiana
Environmental Action Network US Army Corp of
Engineers