No old lace, but...

Why am I so down on Una Anderson for state representative?  Well, she doesn't return phone calls or emails unless it's during a campaign, she seems to have a superiority complex, and she used to be on the school board.

She had such a successful tenure on the school board while she was there, that 107 schools were taken over by the state.  Great job, and a harbinger of her effectiveness as a state representative. Now she's a big charter school proponent -- kind of diametrically opposed to the advocacy required by her previous position.

The charter schools have done well, for the most part, but the RSD and OPS schools have been neglected and woefully underfunded.

And that's not the worst part:

NRDC soil testing in 116 locations around New Orleans in March 2007 revealed that six schools, two playgrounds, and four residential areas had more than 12 milligrams per kilogram of arsenic in the soil, a level that exceeds the cleanup guidelines recommended by the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality.

More widespread sampling is needed to determine the full extent of the problem, and individual assessments of each site are necessary to determine the level of health risk.

The following schools and playgrounds exceed the 12 mg/kg cleanup guideline.

McDonogh Elementary School (#42)	Mid-City	34.4 mg/kg
Dibert Elementary School	Mid-City	22.8 mg/kg
Drew Elementary School	St. Claude	20.3 mg/kg
Schabel Playspot	Gentilly	19.3 mg/kg
Alexander Milne Playground	Gentilly	18 mg/kg
Craig Elementary School	Mid-City	16.1 mg/kg
McMain Magnet Secondary School	Uptown/Carrollton	12.6 mg/kg
Medard H. Nelson Elementary School	Uptown/Carrollton	12.4 mg/kg

In the meantime, residents can take the following immediate precautions:

• Do not let small children play in areas where there are patches of bare soil.
• Make sure children wash their hands immediately after playing outside and before eating.
• Take off shoes before entering homes or FEMA trailers to avoid tracking soil inside.
• Avoid planting fruit or vegetable gardens until soil is tested or replaced.
• Wear heavy-duty work gloves if you're working in a contaminated area and will come into contact with soil or dust -- and wash afterwards.
• Avoid sweeping up dust outside your house - it can fly into the air and be inhaled more easily. Wet down the dust first, and then either wash it away or sweep it when it's wet.

Ho-lee cow.

Comments

[michael Homan]

Wow, I had no idea about the arsenic. Karen Gadbois and I tried several times to get Una Anderson to talk to us about schools in Carrollton and Mid-City. Even Phyllis Landrieu asked Una to please respond to us, but Una never did.

[aaron]

I put up a post about this a month or so ago I think. The testing agency confirmed it was purely post-storm arsenic and the national agencies refuse to help with clean-up.

[Mr. Clio]

You're down on her because despite all the nice poses, NOLA has nothing to show for her work.

[Aaron]

If you've been in power and you couldn't get the job done, you'll continue to not get the job done if you get elected back into power. It's not always about what you say.

[Southern Leftist]

She is also a protege of Oliver Thomas and used to be his staffer.