[StBernard] Mysterious brown substance stains houses in Arabi, 9th Ward

[Westley Annis]

Mysterious brown substance stains houses in Arabi, 9th Ward
by Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune Monday March 16, 2009, 6:46 PM

A brown substance at 1026 Center Street on Monday, March 16, 2009 has
appeared on houses in the Arabi area making area residents concerned as to
what it might be.
Laura Bostic has tried washing, scrubbing and bleaching, but the mysterious
brown substance clinging to the siding of her Arabi house just won't go
away.

The same goes for her next-door neighbors and dozens of other nearby homes
in parts of Arabi and the Lower Ninth Ward. At first glance it looks to be
dirt or mildew, but many of the owners said the brown hue appeared on many
houses over a short time span last week. 

"It sure seems like it happened overnight," said Phyllis Bauer, whose white
house next door to Bostic's on Center Street now appears beige. "We've tried
bleach, detergent. The stuff is actually sunk into the vinyl siding. It's
just embedded in there." 

The mystery substance is most apparent on white houses, and could be seen on
numerous blocks from Center Street in Arabi upriver into parts of the Lower
Ninth Ward. 

"We need to find out exactly how many people have got this on their house,"
Bostic said. "A lot of people probably don't even know." 

The state Department of Environmental Quality inspected the Arabi phenomenon
Monday after getting calls from Bostic. Jeff Dauzat, an environmental
scientist with the department, said investigators were unable to determine
what the brown substance was with just a visual inspection. 

It appeared to stick mostly to vinyl siding, not bricks or painted surfaces,
Dauzat said. Many of the houses appeared brown on all four sides. 

"It's kind of an indication to us that it wasn't really windblown drift,
meaning it was either emitted in the area and settled on everything or it's
something growing on those houses," Dauzat said. 

Bostic said someone from the Domino Sugar Corp., which has a plant on the
river in Arabi, came to the neighborhood to take samples Monday morning.
Officials with Domino did not return calls Monday. 

Dauzat said the agency will find out if Domino took the sample and try to
analyze the substance this week. 

DEQ also plans to talk to other refining companies in the area, which
includes Chalmette Refining, to see what was being emitted in recent weeks.
The agency also has an air monitoring station nearby, and officials will
check to see if there were any unusual readings recently. 

Chris Kirkham can be reached at ckirkham at timespicayune.com or 504.826.3321.