Response to Gulf Coast Hurricanes

Transcription

1 Response to Gulf Coast Hurricanes JUNE 27, Hurricane Katrina Wind Track 2 Page 1

2 Hurricane Damage Houses near Murphy Oil Flooded Gas Station Household Debris & White Goods Superdome Assigned FEMA Missions Search & Rescue Environmental Sampling Drinking Water Assessment Wastewater Assessment Reconnaissance and Assessment of Industry/Spills Collection of Household Hazardous Waste Removal of Orphan Drums/Hazardous Debris Emergency Response for Spills & Special Sampling 5 Environmental Sampling Surface Water & Floodwater (650 samples) Drinking Water (3,600 trucks) Sediment (>1600 samples) Air (5,500 samples) Results posted on 6 Page 2

3 Surface Water and Floodwater Tasked by FEMA on September 1 to sample Sampling Plan developed on September 2 Floodwater sampling initiated on September 3 Science Advisory Board reviewed sampling plan Sampling continued until floodwater receded: early October Water Analyte List Water Water Quality: ph, DO, Salinity, Conductivity, Temp TOC / TSS Nitrites, Nitrates, Total Phosphorous, Ammonia Biological & Chemical Oxygen Demand Mercury, Cyanide Total & Dissolved Metals: As, Cd, Cu, Pb, Ni, Zn PCBs and Pesticides VOCs & SVOCs Oil and Grease Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons Bacteriologicals: Total Coliform, E.coli, Enterococci Toxicity Testing: salt water shrimp and fish mortality Page 3

4 Floodwater Lake Ponchartrain, an estuarine lake, was the source of floodwater in New Orleans area Numerous samples revealed elevated bacteria levels Unsanitary conditions resulted from the commingling of floodwaters with sewage collection system waters Average chemical concentrations were below shortterm (90 days) incidental ingestion and dermal levels Low levels of metals (i.e., arsenic, lead) and of pesticides (i.e., Atrazine, Dieldrin) were detected Page 4

5 Sediment Sampled as Floodwater Receded Analytes VOCs SVOCs Total Metals Pesticides Herbicides PCBs Fecal Coliform Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons Sediment Large portions of the flooded area had little or no sediment deposited Data indicates that sediments would not cause adverse health impacts Isolated areas with elevated petroleum chemicals Lead concentrations not from hurricane Page 5

6 Air Quality Sampling LDEQ and EPA have conducted extensive air sampling in hurricane impacted area Continuous criteria monitoring for ozone, nitrogen oxides (NO x ), sulfur oxide (SO 2 ), hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter (PM) VOC samples collected and analyzed for nearly 100 pollutants Portable VOC and particulate samplers Page 6

7 ASPECT Airborne Spectralimagery of Environmental Contaminants Technology TAGA Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer Air Quality Ambient air appears to be typical for this region of the state and are below any health levels VOC samples and TAGA data indicated some elevated readings of pollutants immediately following Hurricane Katrina and have returned to pre-katrina levels All levels of air pollutants are below Louisiana ambient air standards and EPA screening levels Page 7

8 Infrastructure Assessments LA Drinking Water Systems: Only 1% of the population in the most impacted Parishes are operating with a boil advisory. LA DWS Follow-Up: 190 Comprehensive Surveys TX DWS:100% operational Waste Water: 311 LA and all 70 TX plants are operational. In LA five non-operational will be connected with Regional systems as population returns. Superfund NPL Sites 17 LA & 28 TX NPL sites were evaluated Sites within the wind swath of hurricanes were sampled Used existing O&M & Five Year Review Plans All sites were secure Household Hazardous Waste Collecting curbside and on request Working with debris removal contractors Transporting to separation facilities Recycling and disposing Over 10.7 M pounds collected to date 24 Page 8

9 Spill Response SE LA Oil Spills 6 major 3 medium 133 minor 191,000 barrels SW LA Oil Spills 2 major 2 medium 174 minor 4,200 barrels USCG lead in most cases 25 Marsh Recovery 26 Summary of Marsh Operations Plaquemines Parish >2000 Orphaned Drums and Containers Cameron Parish >5900 Orphaned Drums and Containers Page 9

10 Marsh Operational Limitations Remote Locations Daylight Hour Operations Heavy Equipment Natural Resource Issues Permitting Requirements Current Issues Grinding of Debris Burning of Debris Asbestos Access to Private Property Air monitoring of grinding operation at Paris Road Landfill in St. Bernard Parish. EPA Response to Gulf Coast Hurricanes What questions do you have? 30 Page 10

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