Newsroom
All News Releases By Date
EPA Posts Sampling Data from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita - Data from Five NPL Sites in Hurricane-Affected Area Posted
Release Date: 11/22/2005
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.
Contact: Eryn Witcher, 202-564-4355 / [email protected]
From Sept. 29 through Oct. 14, 2005, a team of EPA contractors collected samples at National Priority List (NPL) sites in Louisiana and Texas to assess if Hurricanes Katrina and Rita had any impact on remedies completed at those sites. Sampling results at additional NPL sites in the impacted area will be posted as they become available.
In Louisiana, ground water samples were collected at Bayou Sorrel in Iberville, Cleve Reber and Old Inger Refinery in Ascension, and PAB Oil in Abbeville. In Texas, ground water samples were collected at Palmer Barge in Port Arthur. Sample results indicate that the remedies at Bayou Sorrel, Cleve Reber, and Old Inger Refinery in Louisiana were not affected. However, shallow groundwater samples at PAB Oil detected arsenic and chromium above their respective drinking water standards. EPA will continue to monitor the shallow groundwater. Remedies at the Palmer Barge site in Texas were not yet in place when the hurricane hit. However, EPA's evaluation of the data from the Sept. 29 samples indicates that metals concentrations in the groundwater continue to be detected at or below the current federal drinking water standards.
Specific test results are available at: https://www.epa.gov/enviro/katrina/emkatrina.html. Information about assessment of all NPL sites affected by the hurricanes is available at:
https://www.epa.gov/katrina/superfund.html.
-###-
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.
