Kim Dung Nguyen
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ROWELL: What has been the impact of the absence of gardening and other agricultural work on this community? Some of the people in this community have not, for example, had the chance to grow their own vegetables, as they did before Katrina.
NGUYEN: It is now August, and the people haven't planted yet. Before Katrina, on Saturday we normally had a fresh produce market where the gardeners would bring out all the vegetables they had planted. Since Katrina, the land has been damaged, and all of the people have not come back to the community. So right now, all of the vegetables we consume are shipped in from other countries and states, but before Katrina we grew the produce ourselves.
ROWELL: Isn't that a major economic strain on the community?
NGUYEN: Yes it is. Planting was all the elderly used to do. That was how they made their living and socialized with others. Now that the land has been ruined by Katrina, the elderly have no way of earning a living. Agricultural work was all they did. Katrina brought saltwater into our community and ruined the soil. Our pastor, Father Vien Nguyen, is looking for some seeding to replace the plants we had. We don't have seeds in the United States; the seeds we had came from Vietnam. Now we have to try to find those seeds again.
ROWELL: What about the soil for crops? How are you going to remove the salt from the land? Will the Louisiana Agriculture Department assist the community in recovering the soil?
NGUYEN: Right now, we have a project that we, as a community, are coordinating with our pastor. We are going to start digging in the soil to find out whether it is good enough to plant in. If it is not, we're going to seek further assistance in recovering the soil as much as we can. We haven't sought any further information or any assistance because right now our focus is mainly on the landfill. To say that our community can't come back because of the landfill sounds a little harsh. So, we want to address the landfill and deal with that issue before we start any development. If we started some kind of development now and [End Page 1083] we are later told that we will not be allowed to stay here, then our time on the development will have been wasted.
ROWELL: What do you mean by "the landfill"?
NGUYEN: The City of New Orleans has created a landfill less than one mile from this community. The landfill is right near our produce area. Mayor Nagin issued an executive order in February to start hauling debris to the landfill. In that landfill, there are hazardous chemicals and contaminants of various kinds. They did not sort the out dangerous chemicals; they just indiscriminately dumped all kinds from the hurricane's destruction into the landfill. Everything is in that area. So when rain comes, all of those chemicals sink into the soil and, possibly, into our water supply. If that water is contaminated, then we can't use it to water our produce.
That's why we have to fight one step at a time. If we can clear up the landfill problem, then the canal can be cleared. We can use the water from the canal for our vegetables and bring them to the market to sell. That's why we're not focusing on any other project right now. August 14 is the expiration date for the executive order by our mayor to dump in the landfill.
ROWELL: Why so long?
NGUYEN: It's still considered a six-month temporary dumping—the city has no other site. They said it would cost them a lot of money just to pick up debris from here and take it to another dumpsite. It...
