ACTIVISTS WEIGH LITIGATION AS EPA DOWNPLAYS RISKS FROM HURRICANE

EPA and the Louisiana environment department's recent conclusion that Hurricane Katrina did not create long-term environmental health threats may play a key role in litigation that environmentalists are considering against the federal government to force additional health warnings and cleanup of affected areas. At the same time, a community task force that reports to New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin (D) is drafting a report that may go to Congress early next year that will call for a full-scale cleanup of...