Millions poisoned in New Orleans chemical attack

Millions poisoned in New Orleans chemical attack

Posted By: Susoni [Send E-Mail]
Date: Thursday, 4-Apr-2013 15:00:21

In Response To: Widespread Mystery Chemical Odor reported across New Orleans area — Oil, natural gas smell suspected — Coast Guard investigating (Susoni)

Millions of people in the greater New Orleans area have been poisoned since early Wednesday morning. Exxon Chalmette Refinery has released hazardous chemicals that have impacted human rights throughout the area, according to a watchdog group but the state Department of Environmental Quality officials say they have been unable to find the source. . A chemical release throughout Greater New Orleans has been so strong, it awakened residents in early hours Wednesday, many reporting burning eyes and throats, and prompting a Louisiana Bucket Brigade rapid response investigation team to mobilize. "I suddenly woke up at 4am and I got up from my bed and I got a very strong petroleum smell even in my living room. I live at 204 South Saratoga...," a resident wrote Wednesday on the iWitness Pollution Map page managed by Louisiana Bucket Brigade. That was only one of a host of similar reports by people awakened by the chemical attack. "Around 3:45 AM there was a strong odor in that area smelled chemical and rancid. My eyes began to immediately burn, and throat itched," a Lake Pontchartrain resident wrote on the iWitness Pollution Map page Wednesday at 2:09 P.M. Wednesday. At 2:00 P.M., another person reported seeing giant flare from a Chalmette refiner from the Mississippi River bridge. "Rain in the last 12 hours has brought a scent of natural gas that is overwhelming. Woke up in the night afraid I had left on the stove..." another reported. "There is a nasty burnt rubber smell on Lake Ponchartrain, near the UNO campus. Its making me feel very asthmatic," wrote another. The list of such reports is extensive. Toxicologists say that feeling the effects of chemicals means poisoning has already occurred. "It has smelled like gas all day in [A]lgiers," one person reported. ExxonMobil’s Chalmette Refinery reported releasing 10 pounds of benzene and 100 pounds of hydrogen sulfide early on Wednesday, but La. Bucket Brigade's founding director Anne Rolfes said it released "far more." The refinery has a bad habit of under-reporting and an "ongoing accident problem, especially during bad weather," Rolfes said. "There was a flash flood advisory and heavy rain during the night when the chemical smells began," she reported. "Rain is a fact of life in south Louisiana. There is no excuse for Exxon’s ongoing failure to prepare." Wednesday, DEQ began investigating the widespread complaints of a "chemical" odor throughout the New Orleans metro area. Jefferson Parish officials are working with DEQ and the Coast Guard to investigate and attempt to locate a source of the reported odor. The DEQ says it has not linked the chemicals to Exxon in Clamette. http://www.examiner.com/article/millions-poisoned-new-orleans-chemical-attack?CID=examiner_alerts_article