Severe storms with rain, hail, high winds, and tornadoes moved through eight counties in central/western Kansas during the evening of May 4, 2007. The city of Greensburg and outlying rural areas (Kiowa County, approximately 1,500 residents) was hit directly by an F5 tornado. This particular tornado tracked through six counties (starting in Comanche, Kiowa, Edwards, Stafford, Pratt, and Barton Counties). EPA dispatched three On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs) to the scene with the response truck and mobile command post, and they reported observing scattered miscellaneous hazardous waste, including solvents, paints, propane tanks, chlorine cylinders, anhydrous ammonia tanks, rail tankers, etc.
EPA crews continue to conduct curbside pickup of household hazardous waste (HHW) items and white goods. A total of 1,800 items were picked up on May 16, 2007, for a total of 16,794 items picked up to date. HHW is staged at the south staging areas, and white goods are transported to the south landfill.
EPA response contractors stationed at the north landfill are assisting Kansas Department of Health and the Environment (KDHE) officials in identifying and segregating hazardous substances brought to the landfill in debris loads.
EPA responded to a small demolition operation at the hospital to ensure no hazardous materials were involved.
EPA OSCs are working with the Kansas Corporation Commission to review the next course of action for crude oil tank batteries impacted by the tornado. Additional reconnaissance of potentially impacted rural areas to the north of Greensburg will continue.
A total of 106 damaged transformers have been collected by EPA and were inventoried and sampled for laboratory analysis.
EPA OSCs assisted KDHE in identifying buildings with potential asbestos containing materials. These buildings were marked and recorded in a GIS database.
EPA will continue to provide support for HHW and white goods collection at the north landfill as curbside pickup of HHW and white goods continues.
EPA will continue to monitor the demolition status of buildings identified as potentially having asbestos.
Per KDHE request, EPA will transport several drums of waste pharmaceuticals and narcotics to the Ford County landfill for disposal. There is no secure location on the site for these materials to be stored until other transportation arrangements can be made. NOTE: The pharmacist responsible for these pharmaceuticals and narcotics found a means to dispose of these materials and pharmaceuticals, so the Kiowa County Health Department released the narcotics back to the pharmacist for disposal.
EPA continues to sample the PCB transformers.
PCB transformer disposal continues to be a key item.
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