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Response to Hurricane Katrina
ALERT
Boil Drinking Water
If your water may not be safe, bring drinking water to a rolling boil for 1 minute to kill water-borne diseases.
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9/3/05
EPA continues to send personnel and resources to the affected areas in anticipation of upcoming needs when hurricane damage may begin to be addressed. Current activities are listed below.
MS Assessment Teams
Assessment Teams will continue to conduct assessments, removal
actions and cleanup oversight throughout MS, including
Biloxi, Gulfport, Pascagoula, Moss Point, Ocean Springs,
and Gautier. These teams will be comprised of US Coast
Guard, EPA, environmental contractors, and the state. An
EPA team conducted assessment of multiple facilities in
the Port Bienville Industrial Park in Hancock County, south
of Stennis Space Center. Another team conducted assessments
of facilities along the coast line west of Highway 49 to
Long Beach. The team assessed the Gulf Port Authority,
the railroad tracks and neighborhoods that sustained significant
damage. Aerial assessment of a facility near Waveland showed
overturned tanks and railcars, and an oil slick was viewed
adjacent to the facility, which may be emanating from the
facility. Further assessment on the ground will be conducted.
AL Assessment Teams
Assessment Teams will continue to conduct assessments and
removal actions and oversee clean up efforts in Bayou Labatre,
City of Mobile, Mobile County and Baldwin County. In the
Mobile area, assessments are ongoing in Mobile Bay, Dog
River and the Fowl River. The US Coast Guard is conducting
some removal actions of drums and fuel tanks in Bayou Labatre.
Water Division Assistance Team
An EPA Water Division Assistance Team is continuing its assessment
of damage to local drinking water systems in MS and providing
technical assistance to help restore safe drinking water
to those systems. EPA Region 4 will deploy a mobile lab
to assist the MS Department of Public Health with analytical
support of drinking water systems. Due to the possibility
of extensive damage to their distribution systems, many
drinking water facilities will be conducting long-term
repairs. Community water systems across AL have been disabled
or impaired by loss of electrical power, with many operating
on generators or with partial power. 13 AL systems currently
have boil water advisories. Due to impaired or disabled
systems, EPA reminds citizens in affected areas to follow “boil
water” advisories in place. For more information,
please read the “Boil Drinking Water” Alert
on the Region 4 hurricane web page at https://epa.gov/region4/Katrina/index.htm.
Many wastewater facilities are also without power or operating on partial power. 94 MS wastewater facilities were contacted to assess their status, but more than half of the facilities could not be reached or have no status. Efforts are ongoing to get these facilities on emergency power or fully operational, but like the drinking water facilities, some have sustained extensive damage and will be conducting long-term repairs before they can operate at regular capacity.
EPA will release information from the environmental assessments as it becomes available. Reporters should contact the EPA Press Office at (404) 562-8327 for interviews and additional information.
• Emergency Fuel Waiver for AL, FL, LA, MS