This project is one of several coordinated marine environmental studies funded through a Small Grant for Exploratory Research (SGER) for rapid response to a natural disaster: the flooding of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. The effort is part of a larger collaborative study with scientists at the NSF-NIEHS Centers for Oceans and Human Health at the University of Hawaii, the University of Miami, and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.
Shortly after Hurricane Katrina made landfall in the Gulf Coast Region, widespread flooding in the New Orleans area resulted in sewage overflows and contamination of floodwaters. Shortly thereafter, these floodwaters were pumped continuously into Lake Pontchartrain without treatment, resulting in the spread of contaminants into the Lake, which ultimately discharges towards the Gulf of Mexico. Working collaboratively, the multi-institutional research team will investigate the extent to which the waters in Lake Pontchartrain and vicinity have been contaminated with chemical contaminants, pathogenic microbes, and harmful algal bloom (HAB) organisms. The study will document the levels and spread of biotic and abiotic contaminants along with HAB organisms, information which will be useful for subsequent modeling efforts.
With funds from this SGER award, researchers at the Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge will investigate the impact of the New Orleans dewatering operation on the Lake Pontchartrain ecosystem, with a particular focus on issues related to geochemistry, microbiology, and potential human health effects. LSU scientists will focus on several issues: (1) concentrations of E. coli and Enterococcus bacteria in Lake Pontchartrain, particularly in the vicinity of the 17th Street Canal discharge, (2) concentrations of heavy metals in sediments and fish tissue, with particular attention being given to methyl mercury, (3) the influence of the BOD and nutrients in the discharged floodwaters on the oxygen regime in the lake, (4) potential development of algal blooms, with particular attention being given to species that produce biotoxins, (5) circulation and mixing processes in the lake and their influence on the impact of the discharged floodwaters on the Lake Pontchartrain ecosystem
In addition, LSU will provide logistical support for scientists from collaborating institutions and will collect and initially process samples for them whenever necessary.
The primary broader impact of this rapid-response study is that it will provide much needed information in the aftermath of a natural disaster. The microbes released by the sewage can potentially impact a large area including Lake Pontchartrain, and subsequently the Gulf of Mexico. There are significant human populations and fisheries in both these areas that can experience acute and chronic disease from these chemical, microbial, and HAB organism exposures now and in the future. From a basic science and public health perspective, it is important to investigate the mechanisms by which and the extent to which these contaminants have migrated.
