Lake Pontchartrain has seen much worse than Katrina

For many years, everything imaginable ended up in Lake Pontchartrain--chemicals, sewerage, dairy farm run-off, and the consequences of shell dredging. The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, a determined and able citizens' group, turned that nightmare around and made the Lake clean and safe.

Twenty square miles of the lake's wetlands may have been lost in one 24-hour period because of Hurricane Katrina. This is, of course, a significant environmental crisis. But because of Lake Pontchartrain's pre-Katrina health, the lake is not expected to sustain any serious toxic damage.