Hurricane Katrina's Impact on New Orleans Soils Treated with Low

Before Hurricane Katrina flooded 80% of New Orleans, 25 heavily Pb contaminated properties were treated with 15 cm of low Pb Mississippi River alluviu...
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Environ. Sci. Technol. 2006, 40, 7623-7628

Hurricane Katrina’s Impact on New Orleans Soils Treated with Low Lead Mississippi River Alluvium H O W A R D W . M I E L K E , * ,†, ‡ ERIC T. POWELL,† CHRISTOPHER R. GONZALES,† AND PAUL W. MIELKE, JR.§ College of Pharmacy, Xavier University, New Orleans, Louisiana, Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research, New Orleans, Louisiana, and Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado

Before Hurricane Katrina flooded 80% of New Orleans, 25 heavily Pb contaminated properties were treated with 15 cm of low Pb Mississippi River alluvium from the Bonnet Carre´ Spillway (BCS). Four phases of soil collection on the properties included pretreatment (phase 1) median surface soil Pb was 1051 mg/kg (range 5-19 627); after BCS cover (phase 2) the median soil Pb decreased to 6.3 mg/ kg (range 3-18); just before Katrina, a soil collection was partially completed (phase 3); and finally, a post-Katrina collection (phase 4) on all 25 properties. Twenty-three properties were flooded. The objective was to compare Pb changes of phases 2 and 3 pre-Katrina with the postKatrina (phase 4) soil collection. The post-Katrina soil Pb (phase 4) (median of 16.3, range 5.5-1,155) increased significantly (P-value ) 3.7 × 10-10) from the clean soil, phase 2 results. Matched soil samples collected in phase 3 before flooding and phase 4 after flooding showed that on initially vacant lots the amounts of Pb were not significantly different (P-value ) 0.97); but, on properties with homes, the changes were significant (P-value ) 0.03). After catastrophic flooding, the clean soil remained relatively undisturbed; the soil Pb changes were small with increases of median Pb of 12 and 6 mg/kg for vacant lots and properties with homes, respectively. Processes accounting for Pb increases include Pb-based paint abatement on one property, home construction on the vacant lots, and resuspension and deposition of Pb dust. As part of the post-Katrina recovery, the combined benefits of Pb-safe paint abatement or renovation and clean soil cover should outweigh the estimated annual cost of Pb poisoning of children returning to New Orleans.

Introduction In ES&T, we reported on a pilot study completed prior to Hurricane Katrina of the feasibility and costs for emplacing clean Bonnet Carre´ Spillway (BCS) alluvium on 25 lead (Pb) contaminated New Orleans properties (1, 2). Initially the soil Pb on properties measured a median of g1000 mg/kg and after treatment soil Pb decreased to a median of 6.3 mg/kg * Corresponding author phone: 504 482 5020; fax: 504 482 5020; e-mail: [email protected]. † Xavier University. ‡ Tulane/Xavier Center for Bioenvironmental Research. § Colorado State University. 10.1021/es061294c CCC: $33.50 Published on Web 11/08/2006

 2006 American Chemical Society

(range 3.0-17.9) (1). Treatment consisted of grading at least 15 cm (6 in.) of BCS alluvium on each property (1). The project was completed prior to August 29, 2005, when Hurricane Katrina bore east of New Orleans and drove a surge of water from the Gulf of Mexico into the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and “Lake” Pontchartrain, an estuary of the Gulf of Mexico. Within 6 h, due to human error in design and construction, the surge caused 30 breaches in levees and flood walls of New Orleans (3, 4). The floodwater flowed into the city for 3 days. When the inundation peaked on September 1, 2005, 80% of the city was flooded with 495 × 106 m3 of water (5, 6). Assuming the volume of Lake Pontchartrain is 6,520 × 106 m3, (1630 km2 and average depth of 4 m) the floodwater that inundated New Orleans was equivalent to about 7.6% of the volume of Lake Pontchartrain and flooded 23 of the 25 treated properties (6). In pre-Katrina New Orleans, Pb poisoning affected about 20-30% of inner city children (1). Assuming that New Orleans costs for Pb poisoning were proportional to national costs, then the pre-Katrina costs were ∼$76 million annually (1, 7). There are many Pb-related societal costs including IQ deficits and learning dysfunction, violent crime, diabetes, and unwed pregnancy, which all have implications to an array of social, medical, and psychological outcomes (8-12). The estimated cost of treating soil in about 40% of New Orleans where the median soil Pb of residential properties is equal to or above 400 mg/kg is about $225-290 million (1). This paper describes the impact of the inundation of New Orleans on the 25 properties treated with clean soils. This follow-up study was begun in January, 2006 after flood damaged Xavier University of Louisiana was renovated and reopened. For this study, we measured the height of the flood watermark and collected post-Katrina surface soil from each of the treated properties. We hypothesized that the surface soil Pb would increase as a result of erosion and deposition of Pb-contaminated soil from neighboring properties by the floodwaters, and that the median soil Pb measured postKatrina on the properties will return to the initial median Pb quantities measured prior to the clean soil emplacement (1, 13, 14, 15).

Materials and Methods The pre-Katrina study was conducted on 25 properties under two types of conditions: properties with homes (n ) 15) and vacant lots (n ) 10). Here we report on changes to the soil Pb on these same properties after the Hurricane Katrina flood of New Orleans. Changes in Property Sites. After covering contaminated soil with alluvium from the Bonnet Carre´ Spillway (BCS) the properties had a median Pb of 6.3 mg/kg (range 3-18) or approximately 1/67th of the amount of Pb allowed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) 400 mg/kg standard (1, 16). During the initial phase of the pilot project, 10 vacant properties were treated that were scheduled for new home construction. After emplacement with clean soil, but prior to the flood, new homes were constructed on six of the 10 vacant lots. The purpose of including vacant lots was to evaluate the impact of home construction on the soil Pb of the lots. Therefore, all of the properties initially assigned as vacant lots were included as part of the same group. Two of the new homes were occupied before the Katrina flood. Flood Height Measurements. On each of the 25 properties, flood lines were measured from the soil surface to their top mark on homes or other objects (sheds, tree trunks, fence posts, etc.). In addition to actual measurements of the flood VOL. 40, NO. 24, 2006 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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line, an interactive flood map was used to obtain the street depth of floodwaters for each property (17). Pre and Post-Katrina Soil Sample Collection. All collection was done using a stainless steel trowel to obtain a surface soil sample from a depth up to 2.5 cm (1 in.). Three or more soil samples were collected on each property at described locations revisited for each successive collection. The soil samples were placed into labeled polyethylene bags and taken to the laboratory for drying, extraction, and analysis according to protocols described previously (2, 14, 18, 19). There were four phases of soil collection: Phase 1 (n ) 75) was conducted on each of the properties with homes or, in the case of vacant lots, prior to construction activities. Phase 2 (n ) 77) collections were conducted after transporting clean BCS soil to each property and landscaping it to a depth of at least 15 cm (6 in) (1). Phase 3 (n ) 42) was a planned follow-up collection of soil samples to evaluate soil Pb changes after the soil emplacement was completed. This planned series of soil collections was completed on 13 of the 25 properties, or just over half of the properties, before Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. Phase 4 (n ) 78) was begun on January 6, 2006 when Xavier University reopened to faculty and staff. Phases 1 and 2 were described in our previous report and will only be included as part of the background information in this paper (1). Phases 3 and 4 provide new information about the 25 properties after the Hurricane Katrina inundation of New Orleans. Floor Wipe Samples. Our previous paper included floor wipe samples as one of the measurements of change at homes before and after clean soil emplacement (1). As of May 15, 2006, only three families had returned to 21 homes. Therefore, because of lack of access to the home interiors, floor wipe samples were not available for the Phase 4 sample collection. Three Permutation Tests. Three univariate permutation tests are used to analyze the data of this paper (20). The first test is the univariate version of multi-response permutation procedures (MRPP) to compare two unmatched data sets. The second test is the permutation test for matched pairs (PTMP) for comparing matched-pair data. Finally, the third test (AGREE) is to investigate the agreement measure between two ordered data sets of the same size. For all three tests, the P-value is the probability of having a test’s outcome as extreme as, or more extreme than, the observed test’s outcome. A major advantage of permutation tests is that they avoid artificial assumptions never satisfied in practice, such as data obeying a normal distribution. Each of these three permutation tests is based on ordinary Euclidean distance and, consequently, is exceedingly robust in being able to compensate for extreme data values. All three permutation tests are described in detail elsewhere (20). Additional information regarding these methods is available on the Internet (21).

Results and Discussion Flood Height Measurements. Information about each property (unique identification or UID), including status concerning presence of a home on the property, flood line measurements, and flood depth from light detection and ranging (LIDAR) are given in Table 1 (17). According to our measurements, two homes were not flooded, and the flood depths on the remaining properties ranged from 0.30-1.83 m (2.6-8.4 ft) on the homes or at other measurable objects (sheds, trees, fence posts, etc.). According to the New Orleans flood map, three properties did not flood and flooding ranged from 0.40-2.65 m (1.30-8.7 ft). The discrepancy between the measured data and LIDAR data is probably due to difficulties in perceiving the visible line on structures for the maximum flood level that occurred mid-afternoon on September, 1 2005 or to problems with establishing the ground elevation baseline. Nevertheless, PTMP results show 7624

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TABLE 1. List of Home UID’s, Presence of Home, Measured Water Line, LIDAR Water Depth UID

lots w/homes

water line height (m)

LIDAR water depth (m)

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

0.30 0.91 0.91 0.30 0.00 0.00 0.30 0.91 1.83 1.83 0.91 0.30 1.52 1.22 1.22 1.22 1.52 1.83 1.83 1.83 1.83 1.52 1.52 1.52 1.22

0.79 1.01 1.01 0.00 0.00 0.00 1.19 0.73 2.56 2.65 1.04 0.00 0.67 1.31 0.46 0.94 2.23 2.23 2.50 2.44 2.41 1.28 1.28 1.28 0.40

x x x x x

x

TABLE 2. Compilation of All Soil Pb Data from Phase 1 to Phase 4 (in mgPb/kg Soil) all soil Pb

phase 1

phase 2

phase 3

phase 4

min 5% 10% 25% median 75% 90% 95% max N

5 43 93 438 1051 1977 3136 6586 19627 75

3 3 4 5 6 9 13 14 18 77

4 4 5 7 10 25 198 273 525 42

6 6 7 10 16 31 75 256 1155 78

that the data sets were likely similar since the P-value was 0.37 and the AGREE results yielded an agreement measure of 0.52 and an associated P-value of 4.1 × 10-6 between the measured flood line and the data obtained by LIDAR. Soil Results Stratified By Pre- and Post-Katrina. Table 2 presents the overall description of soil Pb results for properties: the initial (phase 1), treated (phase 2), follow-up (phase 3), and the post-Hurricane Katrina (phase 4). As shown in Table 2, the details on soil Pb from the phase 2-4 collections provide evidence for small, statistically significant increases between each collection after treatment. Between phase 2 when the median BCS alluvial soil Pb was 6 mg/kg (range 3-18) and the phase 3 collection, several weeks before the flood, there was a significant increase (Pvalue ) 2.7 × 10-6) in the median soil Pb to 10 mg/kg (range 4-525 mg/kg). Also, phase 2-4 post-Katrina, the treated properties displayed an additional and significant Pb increase (P-value ) 3.7 × 10-10) to 16 mg/kg (range 6-1155 mg/kg). Despite these small increases, the overall decrease after the initial soil Pb collected from phase 1 (median 1,051 mg/kg, range 5-19,627 mg/kg) to the soil Pb in phase 4 (median 16 mg/kg, range 6-1155 mg/kg) post-Katrina remained substantial and significant (P-value ) 2.3 × 10-20). Finally, the overall dataset shows that from phase 3 before the flood to phase 4 after the flood, the change in soil Pb was not significant (P-value ) 0.36). Thus, we reject the hypotheses

TABLE 3. Matched Data for Homes (minus UID 7) and Vacant Lots (in mgPb/kg Soil) homes

initially vacant lots

phase 2 phase 3 phase 4 phase 2 phase 3 phase 4 min 25% median 75% max N UID no. 7

N)4

3 4 6 11 18 19

5 7 8 12 25 19

6 8 12 19 38 19

5 7 8 9 18 15

phase 2

phase 3

phase 4

6 7 4 3

525 196 30 370

34 1155 31 45

4 7 10 41 209 15

8 12 20 48 212 15

that the properties with new soils were severely eroded or reverted back to their initial state of contamination measured in phase 1. Matched Soil Pb Data Stratified by Homes and Vacant Lots for Phases 2, 3, and 4. The matched soil Pb data provides additional insight into the soil changes before and after the flood. Soil samples were matched for 16 of the 25 properties (n ) 38) for phases 2-4. The reduction in sample n was due to a lack of matches in all three phases for four of the 42 samples. Table 3 shows the Pb percentiles, stratified by properties with homes and initially vacant lots, for results after clean soil emplacement (phase 2) and post-Katrina (phase 4) matched with the limited collection of soils for the phase 3 follow-up. In the case of properties with homes, one property, unique identification 7 (UID 7), was excluded because the home underwent a paint removal project after the clean soil was placed on the contaminated soil (discussed in more detail in the next section). The data for UID 7 is given below the data for homes in Table 3. The matched sample dataset evaluated for properties with homes (minus UID 7) is given on the left in Table 3 (n ) 19). The soil Pb median increased from about 2 and 4 mg/kg from phase 2 to 3 and from phase 3 to 4, respectively. The comparison P-values for the changes are 0.04 and 0.03 respectively, for these collection phases. The increase of soil Pb that occurred from phase 2 and 3 predated Katrina, and the flood could not have played any role in this change. The second dataset on the right side of Table 3 is the stratification of the initially vacant lots. At the beginning of this project there were 10 vacant lots with immediate construction plans. Prior to Katrina, six homes were built on these lots (see Table 1). This change provided an opportunity to evaluate soil Pb changes resulting from construction activities. The changes from phase 2 to 3 were significant (P-value ) 0.02). The changes from phase 3 to 4 were not significant (P-value ) 0.97). Comparing the two stratifications in Table 3, during phases 3 and 4, the median soil Pb for homes increased from 8 to 12 mg/kg while median soil Pb for initially vacant lots increased from 10 to 20 mg/kg. With the exception of one home, the largest increases in soil Pb occurred on lots with active home construction; however, the overall changes in soil Pb were relatively minor. Processes that Increased Soil Pb. Removal of House Paint. Old paint is dealt with by common work practices that play a major role in the accumulation of Pb in the environment. As an old city with large sections of pre-1950’s wood structures, New Orleans houses are coated with Pb-based paint (22). The statutory definition reads “lead-based paint is any paint or other surface coating that contains lead equal

to or greater than 0.5% or 5000 parts per million by weight or 1.0 milligrams per square centimeter (mg/cm2) as measured by laboratory analysis or X-ray fluorescence (XRF)” (16, 23). The changes between phases 2 and 3 of the soil Pb for UID 7 (Table 3) demonstrate the issue regarding the definition of Pb-based paint. UID 7 was home to a child who had a blood Pb above 15 µg/dL. For that reason, the home was inspected and underwent paint abatement as part of a HUD-funded lead hazard control program in New Orleans (24). The paint abatement was done after clean soil Pb ranging 3-7 mg /kg was brought in to cover contaminated soil ranging from 317 to 10682 mg Pb/kg. The painting contractors were apparently informed that the paint was not lead-based paint (i.e., below 5000 mg/kg). As a result, the old paint on the siding of the home was removed by scraping and perhaps sanding; the paint chips and dust were not captured and they accumulated on the soil. Although the home was treated according to HUD and EPA guidelines, the soil became recontaminated up to 525 mgPb/kg (Table 3). The homeowners were informed and arrangements were made to add clean soil to the property. Even then, at 1155 mg/kg, one soil Pb sample remained excessively high. The U.S. lead-based paint standard of 5000 mg/kg is not health-based, and as demonstrated with UID 7 (Table 3), well intentioned paint abatement projects may undo efforts to reduce exposure to Pb dust from the soil. This pilot project indicates that in order to reduce Pb exposure, policies must be developed to ensure that paint is treated with extreme care, including a total ban on power sanding or other methods that releases pulverized paint, and requirements to collect and properly dispose of paint chips, to prevent Pb from contaminating the play environment provided for children. Construction Activities. Activities connected with construction also increased the amount of Pb on properties. The increase is also demonstrated in Table 3 for lots as well as new homes constructed initially on the vacant lots. On several lots, after home construction was completed, clean soil was added and this reduced the soil Pb during final landscaping stage of construction. About 25% of the samples in phase 3 and 4 were above 40 mg/kg soil Pb. One would expect that 40 mg/kg or a tenth to a thirtieth of the statutory U.S. EPA Pb standard (16) should not be an important issue. The problem is that the U.S. statutory Pb standards of 400 mg/kg for bare soil on children’s play areas, or 1200 mg/kg for the rest of the yard, are not health-based standards. A health-based standard would be developed from empirical information about the physiology and behavior of children. First, the total tolerable daily intake (TTDI) must be known. The provisional TTDI for children of 6 µg per day from all sources will probably be lowered because of recent evidence of effects in children at lower blood Pb than 10 µg/dL and the lack of clear understanding of the lowest known effect to health from exposure (25-27). Second, it is important to identify behavior that may result in the ingestion of soil by such ordinary behavior as playing in soil (28, 29). Third, the potential for soil ingestion needs to be known, and this issue has also been explored (30). Empirical information about the association between children and soil Pb has been studied in New Orleans and the blood Pb of children was found to be more closely associated with soil Pb than with age of housing (18, 31). The model of the association between blood Pb (BL) of New Orleans children and soil Pb (SL) was found to be BL ) 3.06 + 0.33 (SL)0.5 (31). Independent research on the empirical association between blood Pb and soil Pb in Syracuse, NY found a similar result (32). A reasonable health-based soil Pb standard was assumed to be the median soil Pb for the children living in the lowest soil Pb areas of the city, or 80 mg/kg (31). However, even this standard would not protect all children; if a child ate 0.2 g of soil a day that child would be ingesting 16 µg of Pb, or over 2.6 times the VOL. 40, NO. 24, 2006 / ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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provisional TTDI (28, 30). A margin of safety must also be included. With a median Pb content of ∼6 mg/kg, the BCS alluvium has a safety factor of ∼10. Many countries have health-based guidelines that provide a precautionary margin of safety to meet the hand-to-mouth behavioral reality of children at play. Officials in Denmark, Germany, Norway, and Sweden list various soil Pb guidelines for residential and public properties where children are likely to play. The numbers vary from 30 mg/kg in Sweden to a wider range of Pb guidelines-based soil texture of 40-100 mg/kg for sandy to clay soils, respectively, in Germany (33-35). In all cases, a margin of safety is one of the important considerations. Resuspension and Deposition of Pb Dust. The resuspension of Pb from the reservoir of Pb dust in the city provides a plausible explanation for the gradual but significant increase in soil Pb beginning before Katrina. For many months in late 2005 and into 2006, New Orleans experienced a deepening drought. Resuspension of Pb from soil has been described as a major contributor to the ongoing deposition and accumulation of Pb (8, 36, 37). The Pb from contaminated soils is resuspended and dispersed into neighboring properties in the same manner as described for a community surrounding a former Pb smelter (38, 39). Thus, in order to protect the children from the soil Pb problem in New Orleans there must be an extensive, community-wide clean soil program rather than merely a program for isolated properties. An Enlightened New Orleans Primary Pb Prevention Program. Benjamin Franklin spent many years gathering facts about the health effects of Pb and, in the 18th century, he became enlightened to the idea that every-day behavior and lifestyle are critical for understanding chronic diseases (40). He observed that common uses of Pb in his day resulted in symptoms of common health disorders such as dry grips (colic), gout, and “the dangles” or “the drop” (tremors and palsies of limbs) (40). Regarding his many years of observations about the mischievous effects of Pb, Franklin wrote in 1786 “...you will observe with concern how long a useful Truth may be known and exist, before it is generally receiv’d and practis’d on (40).” Hurricane Katrina has revealed many facts about New Orleans environment and technology. Scientists and engineers indicate that the levees and flood walls of New Orleans were inadequate and had no margin of safety, or worse, a negative margin of safety (i.e., the flood walls were so poorly designed and constructed that when a storm surge washed into the canals they were destined to catastrophic structural failure) (4). We are now enlightened to the empirical truth about levees and flood walls and are seeking remedies to overcome the errors of the past. Likewise, Franklin’s enlightened scientific views about Pb were ignored in the 20th Century. Because of public decisions at the highest levels of government during the last century, at least 12 million tons of Pb were mined and manufactured into common products such as paint and gasoline anti-knock additives (41, 42). The collective use of these products has resulted in the release and accumulation of millions of tons of Pb, especially in urban environments (43-45). In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the flood, public officials collected sediment and soil samples in response to concerns about the toxicity of the materials that washed into parts of New Orleans. The U.S. Geological Survey, USEPA, and Louisiana State Department of Environmental Quality (LADEQ) have all found large quantities of soil Pb in New Orleans. They conclude that the contamination is unrelated to the Hurricane and flood and are “historic” soil Pb that our research identified and published (1, 46-48). Now we seek a remedy for the past error that resulted in the accumulation of Pb in New Orleans and other cities (49-52). 7626

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This pilot project indicates that the clean soil layer, even after catastrophic inundation, remained in place. Small, but significant increases of Pb in the surface soils were evident, but if larger areas of the city where covered, then it may be possible to reduce the rate of resuspension and deposition of Pb dust from neighboring soil Pb contaminated properties. The issue of paint abatement and renovation must also be resolved. Research indicates that paint removal is fraught with problems; careful scraping, collection and proper disposal of paint chips, and repainting with modern paints succeed in providing intact control of the Pb (22). A well managed program of lead-based paint renovation combined with soil covering would be complimentary. Given the size of the soil Pb reservoir in New Orleans, a clean soil program would contribute toward reducing the amount of Pb from contaminating children’s toys and hands outside, and prevent Pb dust from being tracked or blown into homes. The cost of a project to treat the estimated 86 000 homes in communities with a median soil Pb of g400 mg/kg is $225-$290 million (1). Meeting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Healthy People 2010 goal of “no children with an elevated blood lead level (10 µg/dL or higher)” will require enlightened understanding of the Pb problem in New Orleans. The pre-Katrina prevalence of elevated blood Pb (g10µg/ dL) of children in the entire city was 14% and up to 30% for inner city New Orleans (53-55). A program is needed to prevent the recurrence of the pre-Katrina prevalence of childhood Pb poisoning which, in pre-Katrina New Orleans, annually cost an estimated $76 million (1). With large sections of the city currently uninhabited, post-Katrina New Orleans presents an ideal situation to undertake an unprecedented primary prevention program for creating a health-based, Pbsafe environment for children returning to the city.

Acknowledgments Soil lead research of New Orleans and the Bonnet Carre´ Spillway was funded by ATSDR/MHPF cooperative agreements to Xavier University of Louisiana. All soil collection and laboratory analysis reported in this paper was funded by U.S. HUD Lead Technical Study grant no. LAHBC 000203 to Xavier of Louisiana. This paper is dedicated to the memory of Patrick L. Reagan 1952-2005. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of the funding agencies.

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(54) Rabito, F. A.; Shorter, C.; White, L. E. Lead levels among children who live in public housing. Epidemiology 2003, 14 (3), 263-8. (55) Healthy People 2010 http://www.healthypeople.gov/document/ HTML/Volume1/08Environmental.htm [accessed 20 September 2006].

Received for review May 30, 2006. Revised manuscript received September 20, 2006. Accepted October 9, 2006. ES061294C