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Salt water showing up in South Louisiana taps is drawing a flood of complaints from residents who blame officials for not taking action until the water began posing a threat to more populated areas.
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The heating element removed from Monique Plaisance's water heater in September was disintegrating, streaked with rust and covered in a dry crust. “We're draining the hot water heater every few days to get most, or a good bit, of the salt out of that,” owner Byron Marinovich said. Plaisance's home and Marinovich's restaurant are in the Buras community of rural Plaquemines Parish, roughly 60 miles (about 96 kilometers) southeast of New Orleans and 20 to 30 miles (32 to 48 kilometers) upriver from where the Mississippi flows into the Gulf of Mexico.
Authorities cite multiple factors for the salt water intrusion. Most prominent this year has been a drought across the Midwest that has meant less water flowing into the Mississippi River.
The heating element removed from Monique Plaisance's water heater in September was disintegrating, streaked with rust and covered in a dry crust. She blamed the corrosion on the water piped in from the area's longtime drinking water source: the Mississippi River.