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Is this Katrina soil safe?
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Posted by bigoledude z9b Chalmette, (ragremil@bellsouth.net) on Sat, May 13, 06 at 1:10
| We lived right up against the marsh. The flood waters dug up and deposited this same marsh in our houses and our yards. I now live in the driveway of that destroyed house, and would like to grow some vegetables.
This soil Katrina left behind is incredibly fertile! Just drive through St. Bernard and check out the size of every plant growing in the stuff.
We've been told by local officials that it is fine to eat vegetables grown in the new layer of soil we now find in our midst.
Has anyone out there had their's tested and been told not to eat the vegetables grown in this soil? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Is this Katrina soil safe?
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| Hate to see you sitting there unanswered! I don't really know, but I've heard bad things, including some on this forum. Best idea might be to check with your county agent; they would really know for sure I would think. Good luck! |
RE: Is this Katrina soil safe?
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| I would be scared to eat anything from it. I don't know if it's safe either. Sorry! |
RE: Is this Katrina soil safe?
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| Let me break with the direction this forum is going. The perfect looking fruits and vegetables you buy in the store are that way because every chemical known to man is used to kill everything that might cause a blemish above and below the soil. The meats you buy are from animals treated with hormones and god knows what. Odds are if the plants are growing great your produce is at least as safe as what you are buying in the store and no doubt taste a lot better. It is not a bad bet to get your soil tested, but for the most part Katrina represented nature doing what nature does best, renewing the environment. |
RE: Is this Katrina soil safe?
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| That's a really good point, Keith. |
RE: Is this Katrina soil safe?
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| It probably depends where you live. Inside the City limits of New Orleans, I know for a fact that the soil is very contaminated: heavy metals, bacteria, arsenic, lead, fossil fuels. Inside the City, there were 400+ gas stations that had their fittings broken, cemetaries, all the household products...all dumped in the flood waters. If I stand in Lakeview in an untreated yard, my eyes water and burn and I feel a heavy sensation in my chest. Not good. And those yards have all kinds of green things growing in them since the storm. Mostly huge weeds that are thriving. I think of those weeds like cockroaches. Cockroaches thrive in dirty environments, too. Now, whether or not where you are is contaminated or whether you should grow something to eat there, I certainly cannot answer, but certainly something to consider. |
RE: Is this Katrina soil safe?
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| I totally agree with Julianne. Chalmette also has lots of gas stations as well as hazzardious stuff. sp? |
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