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Hurricane Katrina: EPA Response

Release Date: 8/29/2005
Contact Information: For more information contact the Office of External Affairs at (214) 665-2200.

     In response to FEMA's call for help, EPA Emergency Response members are assisting officials prepare for the impacts of the hurricane when it makes landfall.  EPA is responsible for coordinating work to address oil and chemical spills in the area.  EPA has activated its response network and has personnel in at the FEMA center in Denton, Texas, as well as near the scene at the State of Louisiana command center in Baton Rouge.  

     "As hurricane Katrina moves towards the Louisiana coast, we have activated our response personnel to prepare for the aftermath of this record storm," EPA Regional Administrator Richard Greene said.  "Our preparedness experts are on-hand in both Texas and Louisiana to monitor developments.  Emergency response teams are being staged to move into the area quickly to help both local officials and disaster victims."

     Once safe travel into the impacted area is possible, EPA will deploy additional response members to help ensure measures to protect public health and the environment are quickly taken.  In the wake of a natural disaster, EPA assists state and local authorities in conducting aerial and ground surveillance to evaluate potential problems involving oil and hazardous chemicals.  

     Last year, EPA deployed about 150 Response Support Corps members from across the country to Florida to help the disaster victims.  EPA went door-to-door in the disaster-affected communities to disseminate information about available disaster assistance.  Created in 2003 to enhance EPA's emergency preparedness, the Response Support Corps is a pool of several hundred employees from across the country to provide assistance during emergency response.

     More information is available at https://www.epa.gov/.