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Issues: Health

Katrina's Wake
Arsenic-Laced Schools and Playgrounds Put New Orleans Children at Risk

When Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans in August 2005, the levee failures inundated the city -- particularly its most vulnerable neighborhoods -- with a hazardous sea of fuel, sewage and chemicals. Two years after the storm, a team of researchers from NRDC, working in partnership with local community groups, has found that hazardous levels of arsenic are still present in the soil at several locations in New Orleans -- including schools, playgrounds and residential areas. This August 2007 issue paper reveals that people in New Orleans are still returning home to communities that have not been adequately cleaned up, and offers solutions on a federal and local level for charting a safer course for New Orleans.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary
Chapter 1: Hazards on the Playgrounds: NRDC Finds Elevated Levels of Arsenic in New Orleans Schoolyards
Chapter 2: Health Threats to New Orleans Residents: Pollution in the Air, Land, and Water
Chapter 3: A Mountain of Trash Left Behind
Chapter 4: Storms Shine a Spotlight on Environmental Injustice
Chapter 5: Charting a New Course for New Orleans
Endnotes