Granulometric and metal distributions for post-Katrina surficial particulate matter recovered from New Orleans.

Bhadha, Jehangir H., Casey Schmidt, Robert Rooney, Paul Indeglia, Ruben Kertesz, Elizabeth Bevc, and John Sansalone, 2009. Granulometric and Metal Distributions for Post-Katrina Surficial Particulate Matter Recovered From New Orleans. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 45(6):1434-1447. Abstract:  Hurricane Katrina and the resulting failure of the levees that surrounded and protected New Orleans generated a significant detained volume of stormwater within the urban area of New Orleans. Between the inundation resulting from levee failure and eventual pumped evacuation of stormwater from the urban area of New Orleans, a large mass of storm-entrained particulate matter (PM) was deposited in the inundated areas. This study examined the granulometry and granulometric distribution of metals for post-Katrina surficial PM deposits recovered from 15 sites (10 inundated and 5 non-inundated) in New Orleans. Results of this examination were compared to pre-Katrina data from New Orleans. While post-Katrina analysis of PM indicates that Pb, Zn, and Cu concentrations for PM are reduced for all sites, inundated sites had higher Cu, Pb, and Zn concentrations for the settleable (∼25-75 μm) and sediment (>75 μm) size fractions. A comparison between total metal concentration and the bioavailable (leachable) fraction for PM reveals that inundated sites had up to 19% higher leachable metal concentration compared to non-inundated sites. The reduction in PM-bound total metal concentrations for recovered PM can be explained through a combination of scouring (and therefore change in granulometry from pre-Katrina) that resulted from transport of suspended PM by storm flows and pumped evacuation; as well as leaching and PM-based redistribution from extended contact with rainfall and during stormwater detention. New Orleans has been exposed to elevated levels of metals through decades of activities that include vehicular transportation, chemical, industrial, and oil production facilities resulting in higher metal concentrations for urban soil-residual complexes. As a result, the influent storm flows associated with Katrina as an episodic event cannot solely explain the distribution and fate of PM-associated metal concentrations.