This is what I was wondering about when they starting pumping all that garbage out of NO. Didn't seem like a terribly good idea to put it back in nearby lakes, but I can't say I have a better idea. Draining the flooded city seemed to be a top priority, but I don't understand why. Reports were that everything was totally destroyed anyway. But trying to treat all that polluted water would have been nearly impossible, so what else could have been done?