Sewage Cleanup in New Orleans, LA

Sewage cleanup in New Orleans carries a dimension of risk unmatched by any other major American city: virtually every major flooding event in New Orleans history has involved Category 3 (sewage-contaminated) water, because the city's below-sea-level position means that flooding overwhelms both the Sewerage and Water Board's collection system and its treatment plant capacity simultaneously. Hurricane Katrina's floodwater was classified as a toxic soup of raw sewage, petrochemicals, industrial waste, and biological contaminants that required hazmat-level protective equipment for all cleanup workers. The Sewerage and Water Board operates aging combined and separate sewer infrastructure that, in older New Orleans neighborhoods like the Irish Channel, Seventh Ward, and St. Roch, has not been fully replaced since its original early 20th-century installation. Louisiana's subtropical heat means that sewage-contaminated areas develop dangerous pathogen levels within hours of contamination, and the high ambient mold spore counts in New Orleans's air accelerate secondary biological contamination in sewage-affected structures.