FEMA Ice Disposition 

Release Date: July 16, 2007
Release Number: FNF-07-043

FEMA initiated a contract clause for its ice storage vendor to dispose of ice that it purchased to support the 2005 hurricane season. The vendor, Americold Logistics, Inc. is executing this contract across 22 locations nationwide.

Between June and December 2005 FEMA purchased approximately 224.3 million pounds ice to support the Hurricane Katrina relief effort and stored the remaining unused 84.9 million pounds of ice for responses to hurricanes during the 2006 hurricane season.  However, the predicted hurricane activity for 2006 did not materialize, so the ice was not used and remained in storage.

While there is no official published shelf-life for ice, the industry standard assumes a shelf life of up to one year.  After two years, the agency had to consider the health risks that might evolve from use of the stored ice. 

The agency was unable to confirm that the ice was safe for human consumption and didn't want to risk distribution that could potentially cause health issues.

FEMA first attempted to locate other federal, non-profit and private sector agencies who may have had uses for the ice.  After the donation efforts fell through, the agency determined that Americold Logistics, Inc. offered the most cost effective method of disposition. 

It cost $12.5 million dollars to store at all the facilities. 

Since 2005, FEMA has not and will not purchase and store ice in preparation for disaster support.  FEMA will instead, rely on local purchase or vendor managed arrangements through the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) who has the mission lead for ice support under the National Response Plan.  Their advanced contract initiatives and predictive model forecasts for commodities is a robust and reliable capability that makes them the source of choice for ice support.

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: Monday, 16-Jul-2007 13:11:26