A New Landfill in New Orleans Sets Off a Battle

Louisiana and the Army Corps of Engineers are siting a primary landfill next to both a Vietnamese-American community and the country's largest urban wildlife refuge.

"Nonetheless, the landfill lacks some of the safeguards that existing dumps do, like special clay liners. The government says they are not needed because demolition debris is cleaner than other rubbish.

Residents and environmentalists think otherwise, because after Hurricane Katrina the state expanded the definition of construction and demolition debris to include most of a house's contents, down to the moldy mattresses and soggy sofas."