An analysis of the dissolved organic matter in Hurricane Katrina flood water from New Orleans

GEOC 46

Justin Birdwell, jbirdw1@lsu.edu1, Charisma Lattao2, Hadi M. Marwani2, Robert L. Cook, rlcook@lsu.edu3, George R. Aiken, graiken@usgs.gov4, Kevin Thorn, kathorn@usgs.gov5, E. Michael Perdue, mperdue@eas.gatech.edu6, and Jean-Francois Koprivnjak7. (1) Cain Department of Chemical Engineering, Louisiana State University, 276 Jesse Coates Hall, South Stadium Drive, LSU Campus, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, (2) Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University, 635 Choppin Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, (3) Department of Chemistry, Louisiana State University and Southern University at Baton Rouge, 636 Choppin Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, (4) Water Resources Division, U.S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine Street, Suite E-127, Boulder, CO 80303, (5) National Water Quality Laboratory, United States Geological Survey, Center Avenue and 10th Street, Bldg. 95, M.S. 408, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225-0046, (6) School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Dr, Atlanta, GA 30332-0340, (7) School of Earth & Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 311 Ferst Dr, Atlanta, GA 30332-0340
Hurricane Katrina along with levee failures resulted in the flooding of New Orleans. These floodwaters were initially presented as a “witches brew” of biological and chemical hazards; however, water sampling of a series of sites showed that the water was not as polluted as initially believed. The DOM component of flood waters received very little to no attention despite its importance in: 1) allowing insight into possible sewage contamination, 2) acting as nutrient source for biologicals, and 3) playing a major role in the fate and transport of a range of pollutants. In this study we will present the characterization of five (operationally defined) DOM fractions from the New Orleans Katrina flood waters. The characterization data will include elemental analysis, nuclear magnetic resonance, infra-red, UV-VIS, and luminescence data. These data will be combined to discuss the DOM within the floodwaters and include comparison with other DOM isolates from Louisiana.
 

The Impact of Hurricane Katrina from an Environmental and Petrochemical Perspective
8:20 AM-11:40 AM, Monday, April 7, 2008 Morial Convention Center -- Rm. 213, Oral

Division of Geochemistry

The 235th ACS National Meeting, New Orleans, LA, April 6-10, 2008