FEMA Helps With Oil Hazards Cleanup 

Release Date: October 1, 2003
Release Number: 1492-27

» More Information on Maryland Hurricane Isabel

Baltimore, MD - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), using a mission assignment to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), funded the clean up of home heating-oil spills. In low-lying areas, Hurricane Isabel's surges of tidal water resulted in many heating-oil storage tanks tipping over and disconnecting.

As the damage assessments from Hurricane Isabel mounted, the state of Maryland requested that FEMA fund and assign pumper trucks to pump out damaged heating-oil tanks that contained residual heating oil. With FEMA as the lead agency in the federal recovery effort for Isabel, 12 other federal agencies provide Emergency Support Functions in their areas of expertise. For this particular request, FEMA asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to support the state. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), in turn, directed the activities of the EPA.

Mike Sharon, MDE's chief of emergency response, reported that many homes in low-lying areas had 275- to 550-gallon heating-oil tanks knocked over or disconnected by the hurricane's storm surge. Funded by FEMA's mission assignment, 15 trucks worked throughout Maryland's low-lying areas at the peak of this project.

The oil-spill recovery project began on September 19, the day after the hurricane. By the end of the day on Saturday, September 27, in excess of 40,000 gallons of liquid oil were recovered. The majority of the homes needing help with heating-oil removal were in eastern Baltimore County and Anne Arundel County. The bulk of the work was completed by Saturday, September 27.

On March 1, 2003, FEMA became part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. FEMA's continuing mission within the new department is to lead the effort to prepare the nation for all hazards and effectively manage federal response and recovery efforts following any national incident. FEMA also initiates proactive mitigation activities, trains first responders, and manages Citizen Corps, the National Flood Insurance Program and the U.S. Fire Administration.

Last Modified: Friday, 03-Oct-2003 09:09:20