New Enviromental Disaster Looms over New Orleans

Current proposals to dump 150,000 tons of bleach into the delicate coastal wet-lands and waters of New Orleans in an effort to ‘purify’ toxic floodwaters set off alarm bells with The Earth Organization (TEO), an international environmental group concerned about the ecological holocaust wrought by Hurricane Katrina. “This proposal would create an environmental catastrophe that would have devastating consequences for decades, if not longer,” said Lawrence Anthony, founder of TEO.

Launching a mission this week to avert further environmental disaster in the greater New Orleans area, TEO is backing up efforts by a number of companies specializing in agriculture, septic and decontamination technology utilizing microorganisms, to introduce an ecologically sound alternative. Arriving on Friday will be Winston Kao, an inventor and researcher in the fields of agriculture and human health representing TEO, and Eric Lancaster, Executive VP of EM America for introductory consultations with Federal and local agencies as well as emergency relief teams.

State and federal agencies have just begun water quality testing but environmental experts say the stagnant floodwaters contain traces of every imaginable toxic compound. Toxic waste from homes, cars, animal and human remains, a variety of chemical plants, refineries, and sewage plants in the immediate area, has created a poisonous soup which, if not fully neutralized soon, could be disastrous to all life forms in the area.

Microorganisms are living bacteria that digest and break down harmful substances into their nontoxic components. They can eliminate disease-causing pathogens and odor and were successfully used to decontaminate toxic waters and sewage from the 2004 tsunami in southern Asia. As a result, the 100,000 deaths from the spread of pathogen diseases that the World Health Organization predicted following the Tsunami never occurred.

Although Effective Microorganism (EM) technology was originally developed by Dr. Teruo Higa in Japan over 25 years ago as an ecologically sound alternative to synthetic fertilizers and pest controls, the use of EM technology has expanded to water treatment, human health, control of noxious odors, mold clean up, animal husbandry, and a wide variety of industrial treatments. It is currently being used in over 120 countries. In the US, there are currently several companies that market similar products under different names such as EM America and SCD (Sustainable Community Development).

TEO is working to get this product made available to the stricken areas and implemented. “We are opening up every channel we can find to get the necessary approvals, funding and personnel to get this done now,” said Anthony. “We can not allow red-tape and bureaucracy to stop this initiative.”

“It’s time that we worked with Mother Nature instead of against her with further toxic chemicals,” said Winston Kao. “ With this tech, we can actually clean New Orleans, create a pristine, clean Lake Ponchartrain with abundant fish and wild life, and start the beginning of a revitalization of the massive “dead zones” [huge areas so polluted that no life exists there] that are now popping up all along the Gulf Coast…a far cry from the massive destruction that bleach would wage against the entire ecosystem.”

For additional information about The Earth Organization, or if you wish to donate to TEO’s water clean-up project in New Orleans, go to www.earthorganization.org. All internet-based donations over the next several weeks will go towards Earth Org relief efforts in the New Orleans area.