Katrina photos - the enormous garbage problem

This garbage pile in West End, which stretches for blocks on this neutral ground, is just one of the many mountains of garbage around the city.

In today's Times-Picayune:

According to state estimates, the hurricane created 22 million tons of debris in southeast Louisiana, more than half of that in the New Orleans area. That includes debris from more than 160,000 homes, but it does not include about 350,000 vehicles and 35,000 recreational fishing boats that were damaged by floodwaters.

The unprecedented volume of waste, generated in the space of several hours, is equivalent to decades worth of the city's normal output, and it will take years to clear away. The monumental task raises a daunting question: Where will it all go?

One of the appliance dumps (Times-Picayune photo).

The Old Gentilly Landfill alone has processed more than 100,000 appliances, including 49,357 refrigerators, 8,144 freezers, 2,949 air conditioners, 9,766 stoves, 27,326 washers and dryers, and 6,469 dishwashers as of Nov. 11, according to the corps.