Should Republicans go ahead and add Supreme Court Justices to head off Democrats

Never very clean, New Orleans soaks in a toxic, stagnant stew of chemicals, sewage and lead

Houston Chronicle:

Raw sewage, traces of weed killers and toxic lead taint the floodwaters inundating New Orleans, according to data released Monday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The results of the tests, which analyzed water for more than 100 chemical and biological contaminants in six residential areas of the city, confirm warnings issued by federal authorities last week not to drink or wade in the stagnant water.

Fecal coliform — a bacteria that comes from human and animal waste, and can cause vomiting, nausea and diarrhea if ingested — was found in nearly all tests at levels thousands of times higher than what the EPA designates as safe. Lead at one location was nearly 700 times greater than the standard for drinking water.

And along with traces of pesticides below federal guidelines, the EPA analysis also unearthed more than a dozen other chemicals in the putrid water for which the agency does not have standards.

...

Martha Wells, a professor of environmental chemistry at Tennessee Technical University's Water Center, said the bacterial concentrations were on par with untreated sewage.

In one sample, the EPA found more than 9,678 colonies of E. coli , a bacteria found naturally in human intestines, in 100 milliliters of water. The safe level for fishing, wading and swimming is under 126 colonies.

"That is an excessive amount," Wells said.

No kidding!