NEWS ON NEW ORLEANS

(YAHOO! NEWS)

A local watchdog group claims its own analysis of air quality
readings reveals disturbing information.

The Louisiana Bucket Bridgade said high levels of a cancer-causing
chemical continues to plague the New Orleans area and that nothing
is being done to address it.

The Murphy Oil spill in Chalmette during Hurricane Katrina also
allowed another cancer causing chemical to escape into the
atmosphere. It is called benzene.

But the Louisiana Bucket Bridgade said Wednesday, benzene
contamination actually stretches all over the metro area, well
beyond St. Bernard Parish.

The group charges that air samples taken by the Environmental
Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Quality show
the problem is not being shared with the public.

?We?re striking at the heart of the essential question that has gone
unanswered; Is it safe to come back? The EPA and the DEQ are just
not answering, they?re actually hiding it,? said Anne Rolfes of the
Louisiana Bucket Brigade.

Documents of air quality samples through Oct. 15 show elevated
benzene levels in many parishes from St. Bernard to St. John.

Many St. Bernard Parish residents, like Joy Lewis, don?t know what
to make of it.

"Why should I have to worry about the clean air? That?s not my
responsibility. I don?t have time to be worried about whether it?s
safe for me to be here. They should have told me, ?Joy, you?ve had
cancer, don?t go in there,?? Lewis said.

But the DEQ said there is not cause for alarm. It claims the Bucket
Brigade is using outdated readings.

"The Bucket Brigade is grossly misrepresenting the facts ... there
are no federal or state standards that have been exceeded since the
hurricane and any assertion that someone is at risk in that area is
totally false," said Jim Hazlett of the Louisiana Department of
Environmental Quality.

Hazlett said if there was cause for alarm the DEQ would sound it. He
said no one coming home should fear the air.

?Absolutely not. Our numbers show that the levels of benzene have
come down and don't represent a risk to anyone traveling in that
area," said Hazlett.

The Bucket Brigade claims it has tried to meet with the DEQ to
discuss their concerns but have been unsuccessful.

The DEQ said it has not been contacted by the Bucket Brigade over
any concerns about benzene contamination.