A new website with a Geographic Information System will provide valuable information for assessing environmental hazards caused by Hurricane Katrina. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), one of the National Institutes of Health, created the website to provide the most up-to-date data to public health and safety workers on contaminants in flood waters, infrastructure and industry maps, as well as demographic information for local populations.

The NIEHS Hurricane Katrina Information Website accessible at http://www-apps.niehs.nih.gov/katrina/ provides information on assessing and evaluating hundreds of potentially hazardous environmental pollutants that may pose a risk to human health. The website draws from information that NIEHS has acquired from a variety of sources including its research programs, as well as through its Superfund Basic Research Program, Worker Education and Training Program, and Environmental Health Science Centers.

This GIS assembles maps based on geographic, demographic, hydrographic, infrastructural and industrial/agricultural data from publicly accessible sources.

The website also includes a link to a new Geographic Information System (GIS) that NIEHS is developing with several academic partners. The GIS will contain layers of data, including the locations of refineries, oil pipelines, industrial facilities, Superfund sites, Toxic Release Inventory Data, agricultural operations, as well as maps and satellite images of schools, neighborhoods, and medical facilities, that will help assess the short and long-term effects of Katrina on the Gulf region.

Currently, one of the largest disaster response mobilizations in the United States is underway in the Gulf Coast region. We have compiled up-to-date and accurate information about safety and training for the thousands of workers involved in cleanup and recovery activities. This information can be found in Cleanup and Emergency Response Activities.

To visualize relationships, model the movement of contaminants, and identify sources of human exposure, the NIEHS is developing an interactive Geographic Information System (GIS). This GIS assembles maps based on geographic, demographic, hydrographic, infrastructural and industrial/agricultural data from publicly accessible sources. The first phase of this project is now available through this site. Additional functionality will be added in the days ahead.

Other partners working with NIEHS in the development of the various phases of the GIS include Duke University, University of California at San Diego, University of Kentucky, Johns Hopkins University, University of Arizona, Boston University, Columbia University, Research Triangle Institute and Harvard University.

The NIEHS GIS portal assembles data about contaminents, oil & gas refineries, and other relevant data themes

Suggested Weblinks:

• http://niehs.telascience.org/
• http://www-apps.niehs.nih.gov/katrina/
• http://ngs.woc.noaa.gov/katrina/