Cleaning up Katrina's Mess

BATON ROUGE - Hurricane Katrina left behind a landscape of oil spills, leaking gas lines, damaged sewage plants and tainted water, Louisiana's top environment official said on Tuesday.

BATON ROUGE - The potentially toxic brew of chemicals and human waste in the New Orleans floodwaters will have to be pumped into the Mississippi River or Lake Pontchartrain, raising the specter of an environmental disaster on the heels of Hurricane Katrina, experts say.

WASHINGTON - Three people have died from bacterial infections in Gulf states after Hurricane Katrina, and tests confirm that the water flooding New Orleans is a stew of sewage-borne bacteria, federal officials said on Wednesday.

NEW ORLEANS - The mayor of New Orleans has ordered the forced evacuation of people refusing to leave the city, amid fears of serious threats to their health.


(CNN) -- Flooding from Hurricane Katrina's Monday landfall could wreak catastrophe on New Orleans, overwhelming the city's water and sewage systems and leaving survivors in a bowl of toxic soup, a top hurricane expert said.

EPA Response Activity - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are cautioning the public and all responders about the potential hazards associated with flood waters. Every effort should be made to limit contact with flood water due to potentially elevated levels of contamination associated with raw sewage and other hazardous substances. EPA has collected and sent New Orleans flood water samples to labs in Lafayette, LA and Houston, TX for analysis. Daily sampling is ongoing, and test results are expected later this week.