EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A Mission Assignment for EPA to conduct household hazardous waste and orphan drum collection in New York as a result of Tropical Storm Lee was received.  EPA has deployed resources to the Binghamton area, located in Broome County.  OSCs are coordinating with local and state officials on activities to be conducted in the areas affected.  Elsewhere in NY, collection of HHW and orphan containers continued in Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, and Essex Counties.  EPA has received requests for assisting with recovery operations in Schenectady County.

New Jersey operations continued in Passaic County with the collection of orphan containers and HHW located in the Passaic River and surrounding municipalities.  EPA continues to coordinate with local officials to determine an appropriate staging area in the County.

HURRICANE IRENE OPERATIONS (NJ/NY)

Emergency Response Task Force

·         The Task Force was not activated.

NEW JERSEY RESPONSE ACTIONS

Passaic County

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

• Orphan containers were collected from the Passaic River at the Hilary Street Bridge.
• HHW was removed from the Presidential Boulevard location.  No oil was observed in this area.
• HHW was also removed from areas throughout Woodland Park, NJ.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         No HHW collection activities were conducted by EPA in Passaic County.

Bergen County

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         The REOC fielded calls relating to a sewer overflow in Hasbrouck Heights during Irene and Lee.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         No HHW staging areas have been established by EPA in Bergen County.

Morris County

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         No recovery or response operations were conducted in Morris County. 

 Household Hazardous Waste / Bulk Liquid Collection and Disposal

·         Dover - The HHW staging and processing facility continued to receive materials from the tri-county area.  Bulking of materials continued as preparation commenced for disposal.  Commencement of hazard characterization of materials.

·         Lake Hiawatha – Crews collected materials from this municipality operated HHW and transported to Dover HHW processing area.

·         Riverdale – No activities occurred at this bulk waste storage area.

·         Whippany – No activities occurred at this bulk waste storage area.

Below is a summary table for NJ Incident Reports as of 1410 on 9/12/2011.  The table includes their status and materials involved.

NEW YORK RESPONSE ACTIONS

NYSDEC Region 4 Area 

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         Assessment of the Gallupville HHW collection area established by the municipality.  Vandalism has been an issue and the municipality requested EPA to collect and remove the materials.

·         Operations for HHW and orphan container recovery commenced in Sidney.

·         Curbside collection of HHW and orphan recovery efforts continued in all three counties of the operational area.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         Greene County

·         Hunter – Facility was operational.

·         Windham – Facility was operational. 

·         Catskill – Facility was operational. 

·         Prattsville – Facility was operational.

·         Delaware County

·         Arkville – Facility was operational, however it is projected to close on 9/18/2011.

·         Sidney – Facility was established to handle HHW collected from Sidney and nearby communities.

·         Schoharie County

·         Howes Cave – This central HHW staging area for the NYSDEC Region 4 area was operational and receiving materials.

·         Schoharie Debris Pile – Crews continued to segregate and containerize HHW received into the yard and located throughout the pile. 

NYSDEC Region 5 Area

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         No information was available for this operational area.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         Au Sable Forks – This facility has been closed due to limited amount of material delivered. 

·         Lewis – No information was available for this area.

Below is a summary table for NY Incident Reports as of 1410 on 9/12/2011.  The table includes their status and materials involved.

CUMULATIVE HAZARDOUS WASTE SUMMERY TABLE

Below is a summery table indicating the amount of containers collected through HHW and orphan container recovery efforts in response to Hurricane Irene.  This data was collected at 1410 on 09/12/2011.  Container counts may include numbers not previously reported from past operational periods.

The Region 2 Regional Emergency Operations Center (REOC) continued to manage EPA and contractor resources for support of field operations.  Long-Term Staffing Plans have been generated to fill potential personnel needs in the REOC and in field operations. 

A Daily Work Order was issued to the ERRS contractor for response personnel and resources to be deployed to the Binghamton, NY area for TS Lee (NY) operations. 

A Liaison Officer has not yet been assigned however coordination activities are being done at several locations and with multiple Federal and State Agencies.

Pat Seppi is the Public Information Officer and can be reached at 646-369-0068.  The PIO worked on the following:

·         The RA generated a statement to be placed on a FEMA announcement regarding HHW

·         Larisa Romanowski 515-703-0101, CIC for NYSDEC Region 4 has been delayed until 09/13/2011.

·         Natalie Loney, CIC for NYSDEC Region 7 will deploy to Binghamton on 09/13/2011. 

Unified Command is currently not activated at this level.

EPA is currently coordinating with FEMA, NYS DEC, NYS DOH, NJ DEP, NYSEMO, NJOEM.

WEBSITE:  http://www.epaosc.org/R2HurricaneIreneResponse

INSTRUCTIONS FOR EPAOSC.NET:

If you do not have a password or have never used the EPAOSC.net website before, you will need to click the login button on the top right of the web page. Once on the login page, you will need to click on REGISTER HERE, provide the information requested and submit. This submits your request to ERT, and they will generate a user ID and password for you to enter the private side of the Website. In less than 10 minutes after registering, you should receive an e-mail from ERT SUPPORT providing the information (login and password). At this point you can then enter the website: www.epaosc.net, click on log in, then enter your information. Once logged in, click on websites, then click on Region 2. The Hurricane Irene website should be one of the first ten websites that pop up, if not, you can scroll down to the find the site. Click on R2 Hurricane Irene. Once on the site, you can navigate to the documents that will be stored there.

If you find that you are having trouble viewing the website, please contact the EPA duty officer at (732) 906-6850

EPA Edison REOC                                                                        732-906-6850

Afterhours Notifications, National Response Center (NRC)             800-424-8802
Regional Incident Commander (RIC) for NY, James Daloia             908-420-4505
Regional Incident Commander (RIC) for NJ, Christopher Jimenez    908-420-4484

FEMA IMAT (Albany), Dwayne Harrington, OSC                          908-420-4492

Situation Reports are planned for release at 1630 on a daily basis.

Police were called to the Schoharie Debris Pile due to scavengers looking for copper.

All responders are asked to remain vigilant during the anniversary of the September 11^th attacks.

Hotels in the Binghamton area are difficult to come by.  Many people are displaced and several hotels have sustained damage.

Contact was made with EPA CEPD offices to ensure the safe conditions following the passing of TS Maria.  No concerns were reported.

An Asbestos Handling Guide was generated for responders and contractors in the field at the HHW and orphan container recovery sites.

EPA responded to a spill at the Kinder Morgan Facility located in Staten Island.  At approximately 07:45 this morning, the REOC was contacted by the National Response Center regarding a spill at the Kinder Morgan Facility located in Staten Island, NY.  Approximately 60 bbls of #2 oil had been released into the secondary containment system.  Material in the tank was being transferred to an empty tank.  No release out of secondary containment occurred.

Pollution Reports for response activities in New Jersey associated with Tropical Storm Lee can be found at www.epaosc.org/TSLeeNJ

General Weather for the next Operational Period:

·         In NJ operational areas, scattered showers are expected.  Temperatures from 64-81.

·         In NY operational areas, scattered thunderstorms are expected with temperatures from 53-70  In the Southern Tier of NY hazardous weather may generate strong thunderstorms and hail.