Greenversations

About the author: Jeffrey Robichaud is a second generation scientist with EPA who started in 1998.  He serves as Chief of the Environmental Assessment and Monitoring Branch in Kansas City.

Movies require you to suspend your disbelief, but when you watch a film that hits close to home it can be tough. I have a friend in federal law enforcement who squirms when cardboard cutout agents run across the screen. Action flicks don’t do his profession justice, but at least his job is sometimes glorified on celluloid. The only two movies I can remember featuring a prominent EPA employee are Ghostbusters and the Simpsons Movie, neither of which ever made a kid say, “Man, when I grow up I want to work for the EPA.” On the off-chance your youngster was inspired to seek out public service please let them know we don’t inspect unlicensed nuclear storage facilities, nor do we have a fleet of helicopters. We do however, have one cool plane.

EPA’s Airborne Spectral Photometric Collection Technology, known as ASPECT, is an aircraft equipped with sensors that allow for surveillance of gaseous chemical releases from a safe distance. ASPECT gives emergency responders information regarding the shape, composition and concentration of gas plumes from disasters such as a derailed train, factory explosion or terrorist attack.

Since its inception ASPECT has flown over several fires, provided support during the Olympics and Columbia shuttle recovery, and supplied some of the first aerial images of the devastation along the coast during Katrina.

This was the scene in Kansas City outside our office windows in 2007 when a chemical facility went up in flames. ASPECT deployed and was instrumental in verifying that while ominous, the fire did not present a significant health threat to the community (the white signature you see below is the fire).>

Most of the technology you see in movies is sheer fantasy, but EPA’s high-tech plane and the scientists who operate it are worthy of a spot in the next summer blockbuster. Here’s hoping for the appearance of an EPA scientist who isn’t a bad guy (although with my face the best I could hope for is Thug #4 in the next straight to DVD clunker).

Each week we ask a question related to the environment. Please let us know your thoughts as comments. Feel free to respond to earlier comments or post new ideas. Previous questions.

Hurricanes, spring floods, and other incidents can all wreak havoc with our daily lives. Here at EPA, we’re ready to respond in an official way. For individual people, preparing can range from keeping extra food and water to making evacuation plans. Either way, it pays to think ahead. In fact, September is National Preparedness Month.

How have you prepared for emergencies?

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En español: Cada semana hacemos una pregunta relacionada al medio ambiente. Por favor comparta con nosotros sus pensamientos y comentarios. Siéntase en libertad de responder a comentarios anteriores o plantear nuevas ideas. Preguntas previas.

Huracanes, inundaciones y otros incidentes pueden arruinar nuestras vidas cotidianas. Aquí en EPA, estamos listos para responder de manera oficial. Para los individuos, los preparativos pueden comprender el almacenar alimentos y agua adicionales, así como hacer planes de evacuación. De cualquier manera, es bueno anticipar las cosas. De hecho, septiembre es el Mes Nacional de Preparación.

¿Cómo se ha preparado para las emergencias?

About the author: Mary Kemp is currently the Homeland Security Coordinator in the Dallas, TX regional office. Mary started at EPA in 1985 and has worked in the asbestos, Superfund, and air programs. She’s keeping us updated on how her office is responding to Hurricane Gustav.

Because of the limited damage from Hurricane Gustav, I have been doing less and less associated with the storm over the last couple of days. EPA has staff deployed to Louisiana to assist in public information, drinking water and wastewater assessments, and technical assistance. This work is on-going as well as reconnaissance work. So far, minimal support has been needed from EPA.

Gustav is fading . . . The next storms (Hanna, Ike, and Josephine) are coming. Hanna looks to hit the east coast sometime this weekend. We’re not sure where Ike will go. As long as we are needed, we will continue to help the states recover.

About the author: Mary Kemp is currently the Homeland Security Coordinator in the Dallas, TX regional office. Mary started at EPA in 1985 and has worked in the asbestos, Superfund, and air programs. She’s keeping us updated on how her office is responding to Hurricane Gustav.

Our first reconnaissance flights from yesterday showed no emergencies at facilities and limited damage. Our water experts will be assisting the state with assessments of drinking water and waste water infrastructure in the hurricane impacted area. They are also sharing and distributing information along the way. Our Public Information Officer is located at the Joint Field Office in Baton Rouge. He is coordinating information sharing and distribution of information too. We are continuing to work with the state. I’m on hold waiting to see if there will be an activation of the general Response Support Corps.

About the author: Mary Kemp is currently the Homeland Security Coordinator in the Dallas, TX regional office. Mary started at EPA in 1985 and has worked in the asbestos, Superfund, and air programs. She’s keeping us updated on how her office is responding to Hurricane Gustav.

Hurricane Gustav has left the Gulf Coast and moved into northern Louisiana, close to Shreveport. We have a team of individuals in the field currently conducting the Rapid Needs Assessment. We have been in touch with Louisiana today and understand that the state is planning on requesting FEMA to activate Emergency Support Function-10, which is the collection of household hazardous waste. The first picture is what a collection site for household hazardous waste might look. This picture is from Hurricane Rita.

From today’s Regional Incident Coordination Team meeting, we learned that there is wind damage in Terrebonne Parish. EPA’s Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology (ASPECT) plane will be doing flyovers in Orleans and St. Bernard parishes. We will be conducting helicopter flyovers in other parts of the state of Louisiana later today. Some of the drinking water facilities are down due to no power. A boil water advisory will be issued by the State for some areas that were impacted. We are also working with FEMA to disseminate flyers.

One might wonder what kind of damage occurs during a hurricane. I’ve enclosed another picture from Hurricane Rita showing damage in Cameron Parish. What I remember most from hurricanes Katrina and Rita were the number of trees uprooted, the number of church steeples blown off, the golden part of the McDonald’s arches being gone, and getting lost a lot because road signs were down. I am always amazed at the kind of destruction that Mother Nature can leave behind.

About the author: Mary Kemp is currently the Homeland Security Coordinator in the Dallas, TX regional office. Mary started at EPA in 1985 and has worked in the asbestos, Superfund, and air programs. She’s keeping us updated on how her office is responding to Hurricane Gustav.

Hurricane Gustav made landfall this morning at 9:30 am at Cocodrie, Louisiana as a Category 2 hurricane. Both Hurricanes Rita and Katrina were Category 3 hurricanes at landfall. We have been in contact with both Louisiana and Texas throughout the day.

In today’s Senior Regional Incident Coordination Team (RICT) call, we were given an update. We are mobilizing a Rapid Needs Assessment team for reconnaissance. The Rapid Assessment team will likely be in the field on late Tuesday/Wednesday.We have been activated by FEMA to have a Public Information Officer in Baton Rouge.We are looking at additional ways to distribute public information.

I have been working with the Response Support Corps Coordinator on development of a deployment form. I expect that things will be very busy tomorrow when we are all back in the office.

The storm seems to be moving very fast. We are already seeing a little more breeze here in Dallas. I can see the clouds from the outer rain bands off in the distance looking east. Here in Dallas, I am hoping for the rain and very little damage for the folks on the Gulf.

About the author: Mary Kemp is currently the Homeland Security Coordinator in the Dallas, TX regional office. Mary started at EPA in 1985 and has worked in the asbestos, Superfund, and air programs. She’s keeping us updated on how her office is responding to Hurricane Gustav.

Our Regional Administrator set the tone in today’s meeting, “People in harm’s way along the gulf coast are depending on EPA to respond to their needs. They could not be better served than they are by the federal, state, and local partners who are ready, tried and proven through hard earned experience in recovering from the environmental impacts of natural disasters. We will not let them down.”

Preparation efforts continue at EPA Region 6. In this morning’s meeting, we discussed when to begin flyer dissemination, fuel waivers, and when we expect to have people on the ground doing damage assessment. A Gustav website should come up later today detailing how Region 6 is preparing.

As Homeland Security Coordinator, my job during disasters is to work with our Regional Incident Coordination Team and also work with Response Support Corps deployment. We learned from Katrina and are using these lessons in our Hurricane Plan that we are following. We are setting objectives and timeframes for specific actions next week. I have been working on a deployment one-pager for Response Support Corps personnel. I have also been setting up a meeting schedule for next week’s Regional Incident Coordination Team. We continue to coordinate with State and Local officials. We continue to prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

EPA info about hurricane preparedness. This page is also available in Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

About the author: Mary Kemp is currently the Homeland Security Coordinator in the Dallas, TX regional office. Mary started at EPA in 1985 and has worked in the asbestos, Superfund, and air programs.

There’s a flurry of activity today at EPA Region 6 . . . it’s Hurricane Season! This time it’s Gustav and as usual, it’s always on Labor Day Weekend! We are getting ready for what we think will be a pretty sizable hurricane. As discussed previously in Dan Heister’s blog on Incident Command, we have designated an Incident Commander, an Operations Section Chief, a Planning Section Chief and a Logistics Section Chief. We are checking on staff availability for next week, particularly in our Response Support Corp. Since Gustav is expected to make landfall somewhere in Texas or Louisiana on late Monday or Tuesday, we expect to be in full mode next week.

Within EPA, we manage major incidences through something called the Regional Incident Coordination Team (RICT). The RICT has been meeting to discuss plans for activation. EPA is coordinating with both Louisiana and Texas through conference calls. In fact, we have added a section to our website on hurricane preparedness. This page is also available in Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese.

Even though Gustav making landfall is still days away, it is always best to “lean forward” in preparation for the worst. In Region 6 that is what we are doing . . . preparing for the worst, but hoping for the best.

La autora: Mary Kemp labora actualmente como Coordinadora de Seguridad del Territorio Nacional en la Oficina Regional de Dallas, TX. Mary comenzó en 1985 y ha trabajado en los programas de asbesto, Superfund y aire.

Hoy a un revuelo de actividad en la Región 6 de EPA…es la temporada de huracanes! Esta vez se trata de Gustav y, como siempre, coincide con el fin de semana feriado del Día del Trabajo! Estamos preparándonos para lo que creemos será un huracán de gran envergadura. Como se discutió previamente en el blog de Dan Heister sobre el Comando de Incidentes, hemos designado un comandante de incidentes, un jefe de sección de operaciones, un jefe de sección de planificación y un jefe de sección para logística. También estamos verificando la disponibilidad del personal para la siguiente semana, en particular nuestra corporación de apoyo para respuesta a emergencias. Como esperamos que Gustav toque tierra en algún lugar entre Texas y Luisiana tarde el lunes o martes, esperamos estar trabajando a todo vapor la semana próxima.

Dentro de EPA, manejamos eventos importantes mediante lo que llamamos el Equipo Regional para la Coordinación de Incidentes (RICT, por sus siglas en inglés). El RICT se ha estado reuniéndose para discutir los planes de activación. EPA está coordinando tanto con Luisiana como Texas por medio de llamadas de conferencia telefónicas. De hecho, también hemos añadido una sección a nuestro sitio Web para preparativos de huracanes en inglés, en español, chino, y vietnamita.

A pesar de que Gustav todavía está a días de distancia de arribar, siempre es mejor estar “en avanzada” en preparación para lo peor. En la Región 6 eso es lo que estamos haciendo…preparándonos para lo peor, pero esperando que suceda lo mejor.

About the author: Mary Kemp is currently the Homeland Security Coordinator in the Dallas, TX regional office. Mary started at EPA in 1985 and has worked in the asbestos, Superfund, and air programs.

Recently, Dan Heister mentioned the Incident Command System. The Incident Command System is part of how we respond to emergencies under the National Response Framework (NRF). We are responsible for Emergency Support Function (ESF) #10, Oil and Hazardous Materials Response under the NRF. An example of ESF #10 activities was after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita we collected and properly disposed of thousands of paint cans, propane tanks from gas grills, and other hazardous household items that were tossed around.

Seeing the destruction that Hurricane Rita left on a community that was located along the Gulf in Cameron Parish was absolutely unbelievable. Every house in this community was swept away! The only thing left of the community was a few pilings, the concrete of the carport bays, and a couple of child’s toys. When I first saw it, I asked the group I was with, “You mean there was really a community here?” We were later told that the debris field from the community ended up about 9 miles north in the Marsh.

The Storm Surge from a major hurricane can be incredible. In Cameron Parish, the only structure left standing was the Courthouse. We were told later that the Storm Surge from Hurricane Rita was up to 20 feet. In fact, we were also told that the entire Parish was under water after Hurricane Rita came ashore. Because of the destruction from Hurricane Rita, we set three hazardous waste collection points within Cameron Parish. All of these activities were under ESF #10.

We have been involved with several major disasters including the World Trade Center, Space Shuttle, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, etc. We have learned the need for better preparedness and the need to utilize other EPA employees that are field trained. We tested this concept called the Response Support Corp during the Space Shuttle Columbia recovery. We have also learned that we need to set a goal of being able to manage more incidences at once. To improve our preparedness, we have goals within the Current Strategic Plan.

In closing, we are moving into the peak of Hurricane Season, typically August and September. If a hurricane is heading your way, please secure paint cans, propane tanks, etc. in a place where they won’t be swept away. We don’t want to find your paint cans or propane tanks in a marsh or along the side of the road.