Louisiana Recovery Field Office to Deactivate September 30 

Orleans debris mission ends August 31; Demos stop September 30

Release Date: August 29, 2007
Release Number: 1603-699

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NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The Federal Emergency Management Agency has set September 30 as the last day of operations for the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers' Louisiana Recovery Field Office (LA-RF0).

Right-of-way debris pick up will transfer to the city of New Orleans on August 31 with the expiration of Corps/FEMA interagency agreements for Orleans Parish on the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina.

FEMA has indicated that the Corps will receive no additional demolition assignments after September 1 to allow Corps contractors time to complete the work within their 30-day clause.

Demolitions remaining after September will return to the city of New Orleans for local action under the FEMA Project Worksheet Program, which reimburses local governments for eligible work and administrative costs.

The citizen drop-off site at Crowder Avenue will close the week of August 29. The Elysian Fields (Florida) drop off site will remain open until September 29.

In Jefferson and St. Bernard parishes, where work is focusing on clean up of private property debris and canals, respectively, the Corps expects operations to be complete by September 30.

In times of disaster, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assumes a predetermined set of FEMA emergency responsibilities to restore essential public services and facilities. For two years, over 3,500 Corps of Engineers volunteers from around the world have answered FEMA's call for response and recovery operations in 40 parishes across south Louisiana following hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

"The Corps/FEMA role is clear and terminal," said Mike Smith, LA-RFO Director. "To set the stage for communities to get back on their feet." The National Response Plan dictates that, once FEMA has determined that state and local governments are able to manage the remaining work with FEMA funding and assistance, the Corps recovery volunteers go home.

For two years, the "white shirt" Corps of Engineers volunteers have answered numerous historic, unparalleled missions, engaging about 10 percent of the Corps' worldwide team as volunteers in Louisiana alone.

The following missions were completed in early 2006 using a Corps workforce that peaked at 1,700: emergency ice and water, 310 temporary critical facilities, power generation, mortuary center construction, disposal of 50 million pounds of rotting meat, housing site evaluations and 81,000 roof repairs under Operation Blue Roof.

By September 30, the Corps is expected to have removed, recycled or processed almost 29 million cubic yards of debris, enough to fill the Superdome 7-8 times, demolished about 7,100 structures and cleaned up almost 70,000 private properties in south Louisiana.

The debris mission involving right of way pick up is but a sliver of the peak of almost 200,000 cubic yards per day. Corps debris pick up requirements have fallen to about 3 percent of that total, or about 6,000 cubic yards per day. One truck can carry about 40 cubic yards.

"The Corps of Engineers proved to be a great asset and partner with FEMA and State and Local Officials for Louisiana recovery efforts," FEMA's Louisiana Transitional Recovery Office Director Jim Stark said. "We greatly appreciate their cooperation and dedication during the past two years. Without their help, we never would have gotten this far in removing debris and demolishing structures throughout the state."

Corps experts have been assisting FEMA and the city of New Orleans for several months with technical coaching and assistance to help maintain recovery momentum using city contracts and in-house services.

Corps contracts will also end with contract companies familiar on area streets such as Phillips and Jordan, ECC, Ceres and others who brought an estimated team of 100,000 to the area disaster response.

The LA-RFO is a temporary entity separate from long-term Corps operations such as the New Orleans District and Hurricane Protection Office. The work of those Corps elements will continue unchanged.

For more information on the Louisiana Recovery Field Office, visit the LA-RFO web site at www.faceofthecorps.com.

FEMA coordinates the federal government's role in preparing for, preventing, mitigating the effects of, responding to and recovering from all domestic disasters, whether natural or man-made, including acts of terror.

Last Modified: Wednesday, 29-Aug-2007 10:37:06