>>Our Region (6) where I work is the Region that includes Louisiana. Our response teams will be leading most of the efforts there. All of the other EPA Regions as well as staff from DC are on site as well. The Region 4 office in Atlanta, is leading coordinated efforts for Mississippi and Alabama. For better information on what we are doing:
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>>http://www.epa.gov/region6/index.htm
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>What's the insiders' estimate on how many years to make NOLA healthy (livable)?
>I am sure there are going to be all kinds of pressures from businesses to individuals to contractors, etc. to start rebuilding as soon as possible.
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>I am sure if it is done correctly it would take several years (5+) to properly detox the place and at a prohibitive cost. Tradeoffs are going to be made so people are going to be allowed to rebuild and repopulate before it's safe.
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>You are going to start seeing incidences of diseases a few years from now. Especially with kids and also in cancer incidents. Just watch.

No estimates that I have heard. What we do have going for us is our Administrator in DC. While, yes, he is a political appointee, he is a career EPA employee who started out as an intern. So he "knows the walk." I know many of our on-scene coordinators as well as our quality assurance staff, so my confidence in our sampling capabilities and data analyses is very high.

Stay positive, my friend. Environmentally, when all is said and done, New Orleans will be cleaner than it ever was. Having spent some time down there, that will definitely be a positive result from this disaster. I also think the recovery will be faster than we can imagine. There will be so much funding "flooding" to those areas, that cleanup and rebuilding will flourish. Beyond the disaster, this is a great opportunity from this point forward.