Floodwater Not as Toxic As Feared, Experts Say

The floodwater that covered New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina was not unusually toxic and was "typical of storm water runoff in the region," according to a study published yesterday.

Most of the gasoline-derived substances in the water evaporated quickly, and the bacteria from sewage also declined over time, the scientist leading the study said. The water's chief hazard was from metals that are potentially toxic to fish. However, no fish kills have been reported in Lake Pontchartrain, where the water that once covered 80 percent of the city was pumped.

"What it most looks like is the storm water that is present in New Orleans every time it rains," said John H. Pardue, an environmental engineer at Louisiana State University, who headed the team whose research was published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology. "We still don't think the floodwaters were safe, but it could have been a lot worse. It was not the chemical catastrophe some had expected."

The study was published as President Bush made his eighth visit to the region since the hurricane.

The president put on a hard hat and helped build a house being constructed in Covington, La., by Habitat for Humanity. He also stopped at Delisle Elementary School, which reopened yesterday in Pass Christian, Miss.

"Out of this rubble is going to come some good; out of the devastation is going to come new cities and new hope," Bush told troops at the U.S. Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base, in New Orleans.

Cleanup crews continued to arrive in the flood-ravaged city, but it remained largely vacant, and business owners said they were increasingly worried about attracting workers back. Several directed their ire at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which they faulted for not setting up more trailers in or near the city to house returning residents.

Residents of most of the lower Ninth Ward will be allowed back on a "look-and-leave" basis beginning today, but the vast majority of houses there remain uninhabitable. While upstate emergency shelters are emptying, many of the evacuees are heading out of state to apartments arranged by church groups, not by FEMA.

At an American Red Cross shelter in Gonzales, La., shelter manager Missy Stehr said the last buses leaving were taking people to Denver, where a church has paid for 18-month stays at local apartments.

"They let people sign up," said Jerry Putnam, assistant manager at the shelter. "We've yet to see an offer of a house or trailer. As I understand it, they don't have any space."

Although some experts and many news stories had warned of long-term contamination from the floodwater, yesterday's report was one of two suggesting that those fears were unfounded.

Tests results released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found no human or animal fecal bacteria in fish or shellfish sampled in the Gulf of Mexico a month ago.