While some effort has been made to re-direct hurricane debris from the landfill, environmentalists charge that there are no plans to recycle New Orleans' building materials, leaving a "massive environmental liability for the future."
"In the rush to rebuild, this hurricane-smashed city is dumping its debris into the swamps by the truckload -- and throwing away an opportunity to turn America's costliest natural disaster into the nation's greatest recycling effort, environmentalists say.
Every day, trucks rumble down the streets on their way to the Old Gentilly Landfill, a municipal dump in the swampiest part of the city, to unload the debris that homeowners and contractors have piled up on the curbs throughout New Orleans. With large-scale home demolitions now beginning, there are no comprehensive, citywide plans to salvage and recycle building materials â€" things such as cypress and cedar boards, bricks, cinderblocks and roof tiles.
'We don't have the time,' said John Rogers, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality's recycling specialist. He cited the sheer volume of debris created by Katrina -- 30 years' worth of the stuff, officials say."
FULL STORY: In New Orleans, a Big Green Opportunity is Wasted, Environmentalists Say
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