INCIDENT CATEGORY

EPA Region 2 is currently responding to threats and actual spills/releases of oil and hazardous substances caused by the impacts of Hurricane Irene which moved through the NJ and NY area on Sunday, August 28, 2011.  EPA Region 2 was also activated as part of the Stafford Act Response and is coordinating Emergency Support Function 10 (ESF-10).  EPA is responding under its authorities provided by CERCLA and OPA as well as authorized Mission Assignments under the Stafford Act.

INCIDENT LOCATIONS

With the passing of Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene, high winds and significant rainfalls have caused widespread infrastructure damage throughout the NJ and NY areas.  EPA is currently coordinating and collecting data on the hardest hit impact areas with respect to environmental threats.  Tropical storm force winds extended outward up to 320 miles from the storm center and record rainfalls have and are expected to cause significant flooding throughout the Region 2 area.

DESCRIPTION OF THREAT

OPERATIONS

Emergency Response Task Force

·         Mission is to respond to significant reports of spills or incidents not currently being managed by another Response Division in NY and NJ.

·         Task Force resources addressed oil clean up work in the Burlington County area.  Sites addressed include an oil impacted marsh area and (1) impacted residential home with oil in the basement.  The residential property was completed on 9/4/2011 and an OSC with an ERRS crew plan to complete marsh action by COB 9/5/2011.

NEW JERSEY RESPONSE ACTIONS

Passaic County

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         EPA and DEP, worked on an initial assessment and response action at Browertown Rd, Woodland Park (aka West Paterson).  During the oil spill recovery operation along a tributary of the Passaic River, DEP Contractors identified and recovered (7) 55 gallon drums of unknown material.  Those drums were recovered, staged, and EPA ERRS was deployed to collect and transfer to the Dover, NJ HHW location.  The unknown material(s) will be characterized and disposed.

·         Field assessments in the Woodland Park (aka West Paterson) indicate EPA may need to establish an orphan container recovery operation. 

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         HHW collection areas have not yet been set up in Passaic Co however assessments of the area indicate that this is likely to be a requested operation.  EPA continues to monitor and plan for the potential establishment of HHW collection sites in Passaic County.

Bergen County

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         EPA completed its oil recovery operations in the impacted area of South Hackensack, along the Saddle River.

·         EPA continues with its operations in the Mahwah area, recovering oiled debris and oil from smaller surface waters in the area.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         HHW collection areas have not yet been set up in Bergen Co and current assessments indicate HHW support may not be required.   EPA has not received any requests for HHW in Bergen County.

Morris County

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         The Lake Hiawatha response action  was completed

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         EPA is working in Morris County with State, County and Local officials to establish and manage HHW collection and staging areas in the following locations;

o   Dover, NJ - EPA Coordinated with Local OEM Officials and identified a second HHW site in Dover, NJ.  The location of this site will be an old recycling facility at 22 Rich Boynton Road in Dover, NJ.

o   Lake Hiawatha, NJ  - HHW staging area has been established at River Rd. and Lake Shore.  Collected waste from this site are being transported / consolidated at the Dover, NJ HHW Collection Area.

Below is a summary table for NJ Incident Reports as of 1600 on 9/4/2011.  The table includes their status and materials involved

NEW YORK RESPONSE ACTIONS

Emergency Response Task Force

·         No emergency response actions were conducted outside of existing hurricane response areas in New York.

NYSDEC Region 3 Area

NYSDEC Region 3 area includes the following counties; Orange, Rockland, West Chester, Putnam, Dutchess, Ulster, and Sullivan counties.  EPA primary work areas have been in Orange County however EPA continues to assess and coordinate with state and local officials in that region.

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         EPA has not received any requests or reports of incidents requiring EPA response actions in the Division 3 area.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         EPA has not received any requests for HHW support in the Division 3 area.  EPA continues to coordinate, access, and plan should this need arise in the future.

Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) Assessments

·         EPA Region 2 has (1) team conducting sampling and assessment of WWTPs in Orange County NY.  On 9/4/2011 the WWTP Team assessed 3 facilities; Blooming Grove, Maybrook, and New Windsor.  These three facilities were in operation with nothing significant to report.  The team also attempted to visit the Goshen facility but the facility was locked/secured with no plant operators present.  The will continue to reach out and coordinate to complete assessments on requested facilities.

NYSDEC Region 4 Area

NYSDEC Region 4 area includes the following counties; Delaware, Greene, Schoharie, Albany, Schenectady, Otsego, Montgomery, Rensselaer, and Columbia Counties.  EPA’s primary work areas have been in the counties of Greene, Schoharie, and Delaware, however continues to coordinate with other counties in this DEC Region.

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         EPA’s recovery efforts have focused primarily in the town of Prattsville, Greene County.  This town was severely impacted by flood events and currently EPA is working on areas impacted by spills/releases and recovering orphaned containers of hazardous materials.

·         Division 4 received a report regarding a school in Greene County, the Windham Central School.  The report indicates the presence of hazardous waste and local officials have requested EPA assistance.  Division 4 OSC will assess and deploy necessary resources address any issues.

·         Preliminary assessments in the Middleburg, NY (Schoharie Co) indicate significant debris and HHW throughout the town.  County officials have planned a debris pick up on 9/6/2011 and EPA Division 4 is planning to follow along and collect HHW.

·         EPA is fielding requests from local fire departments, Arkville and Margretville, to deal with home heating oil recovery issues.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         EPA has established HHW collection areas in the following County / Towns;

o   Greene County – Hunter, Windham, Catskill, Prattsville

o   Delaware County – Fleishmanns and Arkville

o   Schoharie County – Howes Cave

o    EPA continues to coordinate with State, County, and Local Officials in the NYS DEC Region 3 area for any additional HHW collection needs.

NYSDEC Region 5 Area

NYSDEC Region 5 area includes the following counties; Essex, Clinton, Franklin, Hamilton, Warren, Saratoga, Washington, and Fulton.  EPA is conducting its initial assessment and coordinating with state and county officials in that Region.

EPA REGION 2 COORDINATION ACTIVITIES

EPA Region 2 is currently manning the following coordination centers;

·         FEMA R2 RRCC (NYC) – (1) OSC coordinating Mission Assignments and assisting with the Planning efforts in the overall Stafford Act Response.

·         NY State EOC (Albany, NY) – (1) OSC coordinating and assisting with State  “Requests for Assistance” (RFAs) and updating State elements on EPA Planning and Response Actions.

·         NJ State EOC (Trenton, NJ) – (1) OSC coordinating and assisting with State  “Requests for Assistance” (RFAs) and updating State elements on EPA Planning and Response Actions.

·         EPA Region 2 REOC (Edison, NJ)

o   Coordinating efforts related to operations, planning, resources, and logistics from the REOC.  The REOC is staging and coordinating the deployment of operational resources including EPA ERRS and RST contractor support.

o   The REOC is manning the Regional Hotline phone and addressing follow-up and response actions to incidents both related and unrelated to the impacts of Hurricane Irene.The REOC is tracking situational information related to RFAs and changing conditions on the ground.

·         EPA has a staffed REOC to include EPA Incident Management Team (IMT) members, ERRS Response Managers, and ERRS Field Cost Accountants to support the field operations..

·         REOC is coordinating / contacting additional Region 2 Programs for support related assessment of other program facilities (drinking water, waste water, RCRA TSDs, etc.)

·         REOC implementing cost tracking measures for incident response actions.

Major impacts to property and infrastructure throughout the region may cause impacts to response actions and or response personnel availability. 

EPA ERRS crews have been deployed to priority field operations.  The REOC continues to plan and order ERRS resources as the funding is available and the need arises.

The REOC in Edison, NJ is fully operational and at this point in time, no forward command posts have been established. 

An Incident Safety Officer has been assigned and is currently working ERRS field safety officers and OSCs.  An initial Health and Safety Plan has been developed and reviewed and approved.  A copy of the HASP will be posted to the regional incident website; http://www.epaosc.org/R2HurricaneIreneResponse.  A safety message is distributed daily and can also be found the Incident website.

·         Met with residents and distributed flyers at the Lake Hiawatha impacted areas. 

·         Coordinated with OEM in Paterson, NJ

·         Coordinated with County and Local officials in NYS DEC Region 3 and 4 (Orange, Schoharie, and Greene Counties)

·         Developed a PSA related to collection sites for HHW in all of Greene County.

·         Developing flyers related orphan containers.

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

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), James Daloia                            908-420-4505
FEMA IMAT (Albany), Dwayne Harrington, OSC                            908-420-4492

NJ EOC (Trenton), Ellen Banner, OSC                                              908- 420-4462
FEMA District 1 RRCC (NYC), Steve Touw, OSC                          908-420-4458

NYC EOC - EPA not requested at this time