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LDEQ UPDATE

LDEQ UPDATE. Presentation to. Baton Rouge Press Club. De La Ronde Hall 320 Third Street Baton Rouge, LA May 22, 2006. LDEQ UPDATE. Presentation Topics: Hurricane response status update C&D waste disposal issues Planning for 2006 hurricane season

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LDEQ UPDATE

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  1. LDEQ UPDATE Presentation to Baton Rouge Press Club De La Ronde Hall 320 Third Street Baton Rouge, LA May 22, 2006

  2. LDEQ UPDATE • Presentation Topics: • Hurricane response status update • C&D waste disposal issues • Planning for 2006 hurricane season • Preparations for ’06 ozone season • Legislation • Q&A

  3. 2005 GULF COAST HURRICANES

  4. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Wind Tracks

  5. Louisiana Coastal Surface Elevation Above 30 feet 25-30 feet 21-25 feet 15-20 feet 11-15 feet 6-10 fee 1-5 feet 0 or Lower

  6. National Hurricane Center Katrina Advisories 11 AM Advisory Friday, Aug. 26 5 PM Advisory Friday, Aug. 26 10 AM Advisory Saturday, Aug. 27

  7. Flooded Areas of New Orleans 31 August 2005

  8. Katrina Flooding in New Orleans

  9. SEARCH AND RESCUE • Teaming with the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association, LDEQ employees aided in the rescue of approximately 480 people from the hurricane affected area. 2

  10. DEQ EMERGENCY RESPONSE OPERATIONS: DEQ ER staff manned workspace at the LOHSEP EOC around the clock even before Katrina came ashore and for several months afterward. Immediately following Katrina’s landfall, an Incident Management Team (IMT) began assembling at DEQ HQ Galvez building. A Unified Command Center (UCC) was established to house and support the IMT. UCC later moved to New Orleans. Working from the UCC were DEQ, and representatives from EPA, TCEQ, COE, USCG, NOAA, USGS, LOSCO, LDHH, and local government. A similar IMT and UCC was established at DEQ’s southwest regional office in Lake Charles following Hurricane Rita.

  11. EARLY RECONNAISSANCE, DAMAGE &ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS ASSESSMENT:Air and Ground Reconnaissance • Industrial Sites • Oil Spills • Wastewater Treatment Plants • Rail Cars • Barges • Radioactive Materials Locations • NPL (Superfund)/Hazardous Materials Sites • Ruptured Pipelines • Access Routes • Photo-documentation

  12. EARLY RECONNAISSANCE, DAMAGE &ENVIRONMENTAL THREATS ASSESSMENT: Employment of New Remote Sensing Technologies • EPA ASPECT Aircraft • Helicopter Mounted HAWK Camera • DOE Airborne Radiation Detectors • High Resolution Aerial Photography • Satellite Imagery

  13. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING AND ASSESSMENT: Floodwater Pumped floodwater Sediment/soils Air Drinking water Biological tissues

  14. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING AND ASSESSMENT: New Orleans Floodwaters -Toxic Soup?

  15. FLOODWATER SAMPLING:New Orleans Area Sampling • Nearly 700 floodwater samples taken • 192 compounds analyzed per sample (volatile and semi-volatile organics,metals, pesticides, herbicides, PCBs, total coliform, & petroleum hydrocarbons • Fecal coliform densities were initially high as expected, but declined over time • Some elevated levels of metals observed (arsenic, cadmium, lead, selenium, zinc), but none that represent an immediate health threat • As of October 11th, floodwaters had been pumped out • Floodwaters were unsanitary (as expected), but there was no “toxic soup”.

  16. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING AND ASSESSMENT:Surface Waters-Lake Pontchartrain Total estimated volume pumped from New Orleans to Lake Pontchartrain was 8.86 billion cubic feet or 4.5% of the volume of Lake Pontchartrain.

  17. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING AND ASSESSMENT:Surface Waters-Lake Pontchartrain and surrounding waters • Used 49 historic water quality sites plus 9 new sites to assess impacts to area water bodies • Conducted more than 55,000 analyses for water quality as of 12/31/2005 • Conducted biotoxicity testing on floodwaters pumped into the lake 16

  18. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING AND ASSESSMENT:Surface Waters-Lake Pontchartrain • Lake Pontchartrain remains normal and, evidently, has been unaffected by the pumping of floodwaters from New Orleans • Live shrimp & crabs were found in traps on the Southshore immediately following Katrina • Field observations have reported large schools of fish striking at bait • Large shrimp catches were reported in December • Recreational fishing has been good as reported in local newspapers 20

  19. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING AND ASSESSMENT:Surface Waters-Coastal Louisiana (Including Seafood) • Environmental sampling and assessment was done across coastal Louisiana. 24

  20. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING AND ASSESSMENT:Surface Waters-Coastal Louisiana (Including Seafood) Fish Tissue Sampling • Multi-agency effort among Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama environmental and public health agencies, FDA, NOAA, and EPA • Lake Pontchartrain to Mobile Bay • Shrimp, crabs, oysters and finfish • LDEQ and FDA sampled Lake Pontchartrain • No fish advisories were needed 25

  21. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING AND ASSESSMENT:Sediments • Considerable sampling and analysis of sediments deposited throughout the flooded areas was done to address public health concerns

  22. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING AND ASSESSMENT:Sediments • More than 1,000 New Orleans area soil and sediment samples have been collected and analyzed for a wide array of pollutants such as volatile organic compounds, semi-volatile organic compounds, total metals, pesticides, and petroleum hydrocarbons • As expected, there was some contamination by petroleum hydrocarbons, particularly in the Murphy Oil spill area • Some sample locations showed slightly elevated levels of arsenic and lead • Overall, the chemistry of soils and sediments post-Katrina is little changed from pre-Katrina conditions, and levels of contaminants are similar to other older urban centers around the country

  23. 22 ZIP CODES WERE TESTED IN THE IMPACTED AREA

  24. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING AND ASSESSMENT:Sediments – What’s left? • Although elevated concentrations of arsenic were found in a number of samples, they were determined to be below levels of concern for long-term health risk • The locations where we found elevated lead levels generally followed the same historical distribution pattern that was documented in the 1999 Howard Mielke Study • Analytical data indicate the elevated levels come primarily from lead based paint on the older homes in New Orleans and not from mobile or industrial sources • EPA and DEQ are continuing to sample14 locations with higher lead levels for further evaluation • Sampling and evaluation are expected to wrap up in July • This level of sampling has been unprecedented • There were no toxic sediments resulting from the hurricanes

  25. EPA Map Mielke Map

  26. ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLING AND ASSESSMENT:Air Quality-New Orleans Area - +7,700 samples taken • The vast majority of the sample results, so far, have been • unremarkable, showing either no detectable concentrations of • pollutants or detectable concentrations around normal ambient • background levels. • The metals detected in some of the particulate samples included • aluminum, antimony, barium, iron, and calcium. None of these metals • were present at concentrations exceeding the EPA 1-year screening • levels and appear to be consistent with normal clay-based dust. • The VOC samples & TAGA data showed a few elevated levels of • petroleum-related pollutants immediately after the storm with subsequent • sampling indicating that pollutant levels have returned to pre-Katrina levels. • All concentrations of the toxic air pollutants were below the EPA 1-year • screening levels and below the Louisiana toxic air pollutant standards. • Air quality in the New Orleans area has been good.

  27. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT:

  28. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT:Katrina & Rita Debris Estimates • Debris Estimates • 22 million tons (55 million cy) - Katrina • 2.6 million tons (6 million cy) - Rita • 24.6 million tons (61 million cy) – Total • Debris Processed and Remaining as of May 17 • 15.9 million tons (39.9 million cy) – Processed • 8.7 million tons (21.1 million cy) - Remaining

  29. Debris Management: Perspective 22M tons of Katrina Debris • Enough to fill the Louisiana Superdome more than 13 times. • 25 times as much as the ruins of the World Trade Center • Enough to fill the Empire State Building 40 times

  30. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT:Construction & Demolition Wastes Management • An estimated 140,000-160,000 homes in Southeast Louisiana received substantial flood damage and may have to be demolished and disposed of. • All White Goods (refrigerators, stoves, washer-dryers, etc) will be removed from each home for recycling. • Household Hazardous Waste (pesticides, bleach, solvents, etc.) will be removed from each home for disposal where possible. • Asbestos-containing materials will have to be handled carefully.

  31. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: White Goods(refrigerators, freezers, ACs, washers/dryers, stoves, etc.) – May 17, 06 White Goods 1,500,000 estimated destroyed White Goods – Katrina 749,944 recycled White Goods – Rita 33,721 recycled Freon Extraction - 314,186 units >50,000 lbs. Freon

  32. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: Electronic goods – May 17, 06 eGoods at curbside eGoods prepared for recycling Electronic Goods Disposal – 511,590 units

  33. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: Hazardous Waste Disposal • 14.3 million poundshave been collected - May 17, 06

  34. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: Orphan Containers (tanks, drums, canisters, etc.) • 3,311,922orphan containers have been collected as of May 17, 06

  35. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: MARSH RECOVERY

  36. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: Vehicles: 100,000 earmarked for disposal as of May 14, 2006 • An estimated 350,000 vehicles will be recycled • Vehicles brought to the storage areas will be site tagged, inventoried in by license plate, make, model, color and VIN. • Vehicles will be staged and site tagged for easy retrieval. • Site operators will forward vehicle data to the Department of Insurance for dissemination to insurers. • Local governments will be responsible for the proper notification of vehicle owners. • Louisiana State Police will be sending Inspectors. Vehicles will remain at the staging areas until inspected by the State Police and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

  37. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: Vehicle Recycling Protocol – Phase 2 Scrap vehicles will be dismantled and properly recycled. The following materials will be recovered upon disposal: • Gasoline and diesel fuel, • Refrigerants, lubricating oils, • Mercury ABS switches, mercury convenience switches, • Lead acid batteries, brake & transmission fluid, antifreeze, & tires. • Propane tanks and large appliances in recreational vehicles will be removed.

  38. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: Boat Management • Boats brought to the storage areas will be site tagged, inventoried in by Department of Wildlife and Fisheries registration, make, model, color, and serial number. • Boats will be staged and site tagged for easy retrieval. • Site operators will compare boat data with FEMA database registry. • Site operators will forward boat data to the Department of Insurance for dissemination to insurers. • Local governments will be responsible for the notification of owners. • Louisiana State Police will be sending Inspectors. Boats will remain at the staging areas until inspected by the State Police and the National Insurance Crime Bureau.

  39. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: Boat Recycling Protocol Boats destined for scrap will be crushed to reduce volume for easier handling and management, shredded and properly recycled when possible. The following materials will be recovered: • Gasoline and diesel fuel • Refrigerants, lubricating oils • Mercury bilge switches, propane tanks • Large appliances, lead acid batteries • Transmission fluid and electronics, such as, radar sets, radios, GPS units, and depth finders

  40. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT:Vehicle & Vessel Remediation & Removal • Approximately 100,000 vehicles and 20,000 vessels are left to be removed • Vehicle contract – Has been awarded and work should start in a couple of weeks • Vessel contract has been bid and waiting for inspection and review

  41. DEMOLITION/DISPOSAL ISSUES • Katrina Impacted Parishes as of May 17 (Corps Sites Only) • Estimated Volume – 2,492,000 tons or 6,230,000 cy • Volume Hauled – 90,312 tons or 225,781 cy • Volume Remaining – 2,401,687 tons or 6,004,219 cy • Estimated Structure Demolition Total – 17,310 • Structures Demolished – 828 • Rita Impacted Parishes as of May 17 (Corps Sites Only) • Estimated Volume – 106,000 tons or 265,000 cy • Volume Hauled – 31,855 tons or 79,638 cy • Volume Remaining – 77,644 tons or 194,112 cy • Estimated Structure Demolition Total – 1,150 • Structures Demolished – 371 • The Emergency Declaration is still in effect

  42. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: Progression of Debris Removal and Disposal • The timeframe for completing debris removal is dependant upon the following factors • Number of landfills utilized to manage debris • Daily volume of debris hauled to landfill • Proximity of landfills to debris to be managed • Availability of debris reduction methodologies • Initiation and progression of demolition activities • Taking Completion Factors into Consideration • Remaining Vegetative–2,139,542 tons or 5,348,855 cubic yards • Remaining Demolition – 4,800,000 tons or 12,500,000 cubic yards

  43. DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: Waste Segregation 1. Waste is segregated at curbside 2. Spotters in towers review the contents of each truck before it enters the landfill 3. After a truck dumps its load, pickers will sift through the debris to make sure only authorized waste is processed. Any unauthorized waste will be removed from the landfill

  44. STORM DEBRIS MANAGEMENT: The need for 3 C&D landfills in the New Orleans area: • 1 landfill @ 19,000 cubic yards a day = 2.5 years • 2 landfills @ 19,000 cubic yards a day = 1.5 years • 3 landfills @ 19,000 cubic yards a day = 10.5 months

  45. LDEQ 2006 HURRICANE SEASON PLANNING AND PREPARATIONS

  46. 2006 Hurricane Season Planning and Preparations • Homeland Security planning and exercises • GOSHEP planning and exercises • LDEQ (from Lessons Learned) • Employee training (NIMS,Hazmat, search/rescue) • Communications Systems • Improved speed and accuracy of environmental data chain from field sample to public release • Evacuation plans for LDEQ coastal offices • Pre-strike information gathering plan • Pre-strike logistics plan • Specialized accounting system • Reconcile Emergency Declarations, etc.

  47. OZONE SEASON 2006Ozone - Where We Are • The nonattainment area, East and West Baton Rouge, Livingston, Ascension and Iberville parishes are marginal for the EPA 8-hour standard • The deadline for attainment is June 16, 2007 and we will not meet that deadline • We will be “bumped up” to moderate with a new attainment date of June 15, 2010 • This means we have to be in attainment for 2009 • That is why it is so important for industry, individuals and communities to work to reduce emission of ozone precursors, VOCs and NOx • With the exception ozone within the five-parishes, Louisiana is in compliance with all other air standards

  48. OZONE SEASON 2006May to October • The five parish non-attainment area is one of the most heavily monitored areas in the country • In 2004, DEQ issued Administrative Orders to 15 industries • These orders required 22 extra monitors, internal audits and fence line monitoring by May 05 • The releases of highly reactive volatile organic compounds (potent ozone precursor) appear to be decreasing

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