NEWPORT — Imagine a sea of refrigerators baking in the hot Louisiana sun. Each refrigerator is filled with weeks’ worth of mold and rotting food. The stench is so strong it lures alligators from nearby marshes.

Now imagine being assigned to handle the cleanup.

That was the daunting task faced by Kymberlee Keckler, an Environmental Protection Agency chemical engineer and remedial project manager for Superfund sites.

Keckler, a Middletown native and University of Rhode Island alumna, spent 45 days helping the EPA clear out the debris leftover from Hurricane Katrina. She was in New Orleans in October 2005 and January 2006, supervising 140 workers removing cooling appliances and hazardous household chemicals in Jefferson Parish.

Keckler shared her experience with the League of Women Voters of Newport County on Tuesday night at the Newport Public Library. She showed a slideshow of photos and statistics depicting the wreckage and the cleanup.

The New Orleans pictures drew gasps from the audience of 10. One photograph, taken from a helicopter, showed a levee breach in Ward 9 with large patches of land nearby that once had houses. The only signs left of the homes were different shades of earth and piles of debris.

Other pictures showed huge oil tanks leaking, boats grounded, a train derailment, overturned cars and homes destroyed by strong winds, floods and trees.

“Utter destruction. I don’t know how to describe it,” Keckler said about her first day. “I went down expecting houses blown … knocked down in the streets. I was pretty speechless during the helicopter ride.”

Keckler estimated Hurricane Katrina created more than 22 million tons of garbage in New Orleans, more than what New York City produces in one year.

One slide summed the situation up the best. “Recovery is a marathon, not a sprint.”

The work was grueling, gathering and sorting the debris. The hours were long, often from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the temperatures soared to 100 degrees.

Thousands of refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners were cleaned and removed of compressor oil, mercury switches and Freon, a cooling chemical that is dangerous to the ozone layer. The appliances were then crushed, shredded and recycled.

The smell from decomposing garbage was extremely strong, especially the food inside the refrigerators. “It was liquefied and covered in maggots,” she said.

Keckler helped with the collection of dangerous household chemicals such as bleach, chlorine and paint, chemical drums and laboratory chemicals from high schools. The chemicals were sorted and disposed of safely. Keckler also did some air testing.

From September 2005 to January 2006, about containers of 145,000 hazardous waste were collected from Jefferson Parish. The cleanup reduced 1.6 million pounds of waste from going to landfills, according to the EPA.

David Brown, a retired economics professor who attended the talk, was surprised by the magnitude of the damage, especially the large amount of refrigerators and household debris.

Brown, who serves on the city’s tree committee, said a big storm in Newport could knock down many large trees. He said another tree inventory should be done and there should be more hurricane preparedness. .

“We probably won’t have anything pervading like that, but we get hurricanes and we got to get our act together,” Brown said.

Jane Marchi, a retired journal editor for the University of Miami now living in Newport, said the discussion made her think about her home in a different light, especially toxic chemicals such as Freon and bleach.

The discussion held a special significance for Marchi, who lived in Miami when Hurricane Andrew struck in 1993. Although Marchi was visiting Newport at the time and her house had little damage, Marchi knew people whose homes were damaged.

Marchi said the talk was informative and concern should be raised about household appliances and chemicals that can be dangerous to the public and environment.

Keckler said the EPA workers were well-received by New Orleans residents and she made some friends during her stay.

The visits were stressful at time. “It was this constant barrage of sad stories and information and you were consistently on the go. It was two weeks before you can sit back and contemplate it,” Keckler said.

The high point was helping a man re-entering his house. Keckler gave him her carbon filter mask and gloves for protection. “That was worth it for me,” she said. “It was like I was giving him a bag of cash.”

Still, Keckler wonders if the environmental work she did was as meaningful as rebuilding or relief efforts.

Overall, Keckler believes it was a worthwhile experience and she learned how to be resourceful and keep the bigger picture — the cleanup — in mind.

“You can’t let small stuff get you, why you are here and your mission,” Keckler said. “Keep your focus.”

Keckler said Rhode Island and other states should learn from Hurricane Katrina when they are reviewing their plans for hurricane disasters.

“You need to reach out to the people who have been through it and incorporate what did and didn’t work,” she said. “You should have one plan and refine it, not 50 different plans.”

For information about the EPA response to Hurricane Katrina, visit www.epa.gov/Katrina.

Michelle J. Lee is a fellow with the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting.

mlee@projo.com