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Response to Hurricane Katrina
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March 2006
EPA has conducted more than 5,200 incident responses since deploying emergency response personnel following the destruction left by Hurricane Katrina along the Mississippi and Alabama coastline. An incident response is defined as an investigation of a National Response Center Report, contacting facilities, and reporting hazmat debris while conducting land or water assessment in the affected areas.
Assessment and Removal Team Activity
EPA is operating under three divisions that were formed to address Hancock (Division A), Harrison (Division B), and Jackson, Mississippi Mobile and Baldwin, Alabama (Division C) counties, which are the most affected areas along the coast. The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) is serving as liaison between EPA and the three divisions. Coastal Mississippi experienced storm surge flooding of 18 to 22 feet above normal tide levels and significant rainfall amounts during Hurricane Katrina.
The Incident Management Team has defined “areas of concern” in each Division based on storm surge and the level of damage. There are a total of 171,548 parcels within EPA’s Area of Responsibility.
Division A – Hancock County, Miss.
Feb. 29 – March 2
Teams 1 and 2 conducted assessment and removal activities in the Bay St. Louis area collecting more than 400 items. Team 3, operating in Pass Christian collected more than 290 items.
Total Parcels - 51,680
Assessed Parcels - 51,680
Parcels Complete - 49,680
March 2 – 7
Teams 1 and 2 demobilized March 3. Team 3 conducted assessment and removal activities in the Bay St. Louis neighborhood collecting more than 3,200 items.
March 8 – 10
Team 1 conducted assessment and removal activities in Bay St. Louis and Pass Christian neighborhoods collecting more than 3,000 items.
March 11 – 14
Team 1 conducted assessment and removal activities in Pass Christian, Waveland and Pearlington collecting more than 1,150 items.
March 15 – 17
Team 1 conducted assessment and removal activities in Shore Line Park in the Waveland area. During this operational period, the team removed a total of 559 items including a 2,500-gallon Above Ground Storage Tank.
March 18 – 20
Assessment and removal activities continued throughout the Division and a total of 458 items were collected and transported to the Division Collection Point.
March 21 – 24
Assessment and removal activities continued throughout the Division and a total of 1,357 items were collected and transported to the Division Collection Point.
Division B – Harrison County, Miss.
Total Parcels - 65,196
Assessed Parcels - 65,196
Parcels Complete - 65,195
Feb. 29 – March 2
Team 1 conducted assessed and collected hazardous waste items along the Mardi Gras parade routes in Gulfport. They also removed several items in D’Iberville, including and operation utilizing a vacuum truck. During this reporting period, Team 1 transported more than 980 items to the Division Collection Point.
Teams 2 and 3 began assessing commercial properties in Western D’Iberville, while Team 3 began assessing residential properties in Woolmarket.
Teams 1 and 2 combined later in this operational period to collect existing items throughout the Division. A total of 1,195 items were collected and transported to the Division Collection Point.
March 2 – 7
Team 1 deployed to D’Iberville to collect items identified by an assessment group as well as any Household Hazardous Waste identified during the operation. The team also completed backfilling operations in Biloxi.
Team 2 deployed to Gulfport, Long Beach and Pass Christian to collect items identified by an assessment group as well as any Household Hazardous Waste. A total of 94 items were transported to the Division Collection Point.
All teams continued assessment and removal activities during the operational period. Several commercial and residential properties were assessed and Hazardous Household Waste was identified and removed to the Division Collection Point.
March 8 – 10
Team 1 conducted water and land operations at and around the Wolf River Marsh Coastal Reserve in Pass Christian assessing items. They also removed 172 items and transported them to the Division Collection Point. Team 1 also conducted water and land operations around the South Gulfport area. They collected more than 245 items and transported them to the Division Collection Point.
Team 2 collected existing items throughout Gulfport, and was deployed to Biloxi to conduct neighborhood sweeps to collected items staged curbside. More than 330 items were collected and transported to the Division Collection Point. The team also operated in Pass Christian collecting more than 620 items.
March 11 – 14
Team 1 conducted water and land operations at and around Long Beach and St. Louis Bay areas. A total of 222 items were collected and transported to the Division Collection Point. The team also conducted operations in Biloxi and Gulfport, transporting more than 990 items to the Division Collection Point.
Team 2 was deployed to Biloxi and South Gulfport to conduct neighborhood sweeps and collect items staged on the curbside. A total of 705 items were collected and transported to the Division Collection Point.
March 15 – 17
Division B currently consists of two removal teams, vice Assessment Groups. Teams 1 and 2 conducted land operations at the Wolf River Marsh Coastal Preserve in the Bay St. Louis area. They conducted sweeps in the wildlife refuge to remove hazardous waste debris. A total of 244 items were collected and transported to the Division Collection Point.
Both teams conducted land operations and neighborhood curbside sweeps in Biloxi and Gulfport to remove Household Hazardous Waste. A total of 500 items were collected.
Teams 1 and 2 also conducted land operations in Lizana collecting and transported more than 450 items to the Division Collection Point.
March 18-20
Teams 1 and 2 conducted land operations and curbside sweeps in the Biloxi and Gulfport area to collect Hazardous Household Waste. More than 670 items were collected and transported to the Division Collection Point.
Team 2 coordinated activities to demobilize from the USDA compound. They reseeded impacted landscape west of the mobile command post.
March 21 – 24
Teams 1 and 2 continued activities in preparation for demobilization. They also continued hazmat removal activities at a local middle school. They collected and transported two 3,000-gallon fuel tanks, along with 815 items, to the Division Collection Point.
Division C – Jackson County, Miss., and Baldwin and Mobile Counties, Ala.
Feb. 29 – March 2
Total Parcels - 54,672
Assessed Parcels - 52,806
Parcels Complete - 52,538
Five teams operated in the field during this operational period conducting hazardous material pickup. All teams transferred more than 160 recovered items to the Division C collection point.
March 2 – 7
All teams operated in the field during this period assessing several sites in the Area of Operation.
March 8 – 10
All six teams continued to work with contractors to pickup items throughout the Area of Responsibility.
March 10 – 11
All teams operated in the field during this operational period assessing several locations with the Area of Responsibility.
March 15 – 17
All six teams operated in the field during this operational period. Activities included hazardous material pickups, wetland and waterway assessments, and the assessment of commercial properties.
March 18 – 20
All six teams operated in the field during this operational period. Activities included hazardous material pickups, wetland and waterway assessments, and the assessment of commercial properties.
March 21 – 24
All six teams operated in the field during this operational period. Activities included hazardous material pickups, wetland and waterway assessments, and the assessment of commercial properties. The teams removed more than 760 items and transported them to the Division Collection Point.
Air Monitoring
EPA Air Division PM 2.5 monitoring data can be seen at https://www.epa.gov/air/katrina/pm25.html
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