Emergency Response Task Force

·         The Task Force assessed a residential property at 62 Carlson Place in Lake Hiawatha, NJ on 9/6/2011 and found it only to be an odor complaint.

·         An assessment was conducted at 310 Ferry Street in Trenton, NJ due to reports of oil in the basement of a residential property.  Upon investigation, no materials or oil were found in the basement.

·         The Task Force was deployed to 64 Manito in Lake Hiawatha under the request of NJDEP for a tank pump-out. 

NEW JERSEY RESPONSE ACTIONS

Passaic County

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

• EPA, along with NJDEP, continued joint operations for the collection of oil from the Peckman River along the McBride Avenue Bridge.  Operations include the use of sorbent materials and vacuum trucks to contain and recover product.  A temporary staging area has been established at 1150 McBride Avenue to stage HHW and orphan containers.

• EPA continued to manage sorbent boom and pads near the Presidential Boulevard area of West Paterson.  A series of auto shops are located in the immediate vicinity.
• EPA continued reconnaissance of orphan containers in Woodland Park.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         EPA has not established a HHW staging area in Passaic, but is scouting locations.

·         Wayne, NJ – The municipality is collecting material at the 201 Dey Road facility.  It is not operated by EPA, but the Township of Wayne.  EPA will transfer materials to a facility in Passaic County once established.

Bergen County

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         EPA continued to monitor oil recovery operations in the impacted area of Mahwah, near Jersey Avenue.  Maintenance activities include setting sorbent materials in the surface water to collect and corral oil.  It was determined that due to heavy rains, sorbents should remain in the water. 

·         EPA continues to conduct oil recovery operations in the impacted area of South Hackensack, collecting oil and debris along the Saddle River.  Several drums and cylinders were removed from the area and transported to the Dover, NJ HHW staging area.  Sorbent materials located in the Saddle River continue to be managed.    

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         EPA conducted reconnaissance of facilities in Bergen County for potential HHW staging areas.

Morris County

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         Response and recovery operations in Lake Hiawatha have been completed.  Additional requests may be forthcoming as reports indicate the area is flooding again due to recent rains. 

 Household Hazardous Waste / Bulk Liquid Collection and Disposal

·         Dover, NJ - The HHW staging area located at 22 Richboynton Road in Dover, NJ is operational and receiving materials.  Support areas continue to be established. 

·         Lake Hiawatha, NJ - The Lake Hiawatha HHW staging area continues to become inundated with water as heavy rains fall in the area.  Although the staging area is closed, locals continue to deliver HHW to the location.  EPA continues to collect and transport materials to the Dover, NJ HHW staging area.

·         Riverdale, NJ  - The bulk storage collection area at 107 Newark Pompton Turnpike is operational and accepting bulk liquids and oily debris only.  Two roll-off containers and two frac tank are located at this facility.  It is not a manned station.

Below is a summary table for NJ Incident Reports as of 1500 on 9/7/2011.  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

·         No response actions or requests have been received for the area. 

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         No requests for HHW support in the Division 3 area have been received at this time. 

 Wastewater Treatment

• WWTP Team has completed the mission of assessing Wastewater Treatment Plants in Orange County.  A grand total of 5 facilities were inspected, however one did not provide access (Town of Goshen).
• A Team from Region 6 to assist with WWTP inspections has been discontinued.

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

·         Operations were suspended due to evacuations in the area.  Excessive rains have caused flooding in Delaware, Green, and Schoharie Counties.  Rivers are at flood stage levels or above, temporary repairs to secondary and major roads have been failing, and washouts have been occurring throughout.

·         Curbside collection of HHW in Windham was conducted by ERRS crews prior to the municipality removing debris in anticipation to flooding.

·         Orphan drum container assessments continued in Ashland, Prattsville, and Oak Hill.  Containers will require heavy support for removal.

·         Large debris fields were found on the western side of town in Prattsville.

·         In the Village of Schoharie, NY the municipality has given control of recovery efforts to the Army National Guard.  NYSDEC has a good handle on addressing spills, but requests EPA to maintain HHW in the area.

·         Requests to remove pool chemical from the Schoharie Central School have been received.

·         Requests for oily debris removal at residential properties in Catskill, Oak Hill, and Windham, NY have been received.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

Due to excessive rains in the area, all facilities were closed mid-day.  Many counties are under mandatory evacuations causing operations to be temporarily suspended.

·         Greene County

·         Hunter, NY – Facility closed due to evacuations. 

·         Windham, NY – Facility closed due to evacuations. 

·         Catskill, NY – Facility closed due to evacuations. 

·         Prattsville, NY – Following work on constructing of the HHW collection pads, the facility was closed due to evacuations. 

·         Delaware County

·         Fleishmanns, NY – Facility closed due to evacuations. 

·         Arkville, NY – Facility closed due to evacuations.  

·         Schoharie County

·         Howes Cave, NY - HHW staging area is operational.  EPA is working with FEMA, ACE, and County Solid Waste on segregation of materials.

Below is a summary table for NY Incident Reports as of 1500 on 9/7/2011.  The table includes their status and materials involved.

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 Region 5.

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         EPA obtained a list of affected homes located in Keene, NY.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         Au Sable Forks, NY – The facility is located on Route 9 North near the Grand Union parking lot.  The facility will take material from Essex and Clinton Counties.

·         Elizabethtown, NY –  Approval has been obtained to establish a HHW staging area at the Elizabethtown-Lewis Transfer Station located at 8053 Route 9,Elizabethtown in Essex County.  The facility is currently not operational.

CUMULATIVE HAZARDOUS WASTE SUMMERY TABLE

EPA is currently staffing the Region 2 Regional Emergency Operations Center (REOC).  An Incident Management Team (IMT) has been activated and is working with ERRS Managers, ERRS Field Cost Accountants, and RST support.  All coordination at the regional level, including drinking water, wastewater, RCRA, TSDs, and other issues, are facilitated through the REOC.  All cost tracking is being conducted at the REOC.

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

EPA ERRS and RST crews have been deployed to Passaic, Bergen, and Morris Counties in New Jersey and in Greene, Delaware, Schoharie, Essex, and Clinton Counties in New York.  Resources are managed through the REOC in Edison, NJ.

The REOC in Edison, NJ is fully operational and at this point in time.  A forward operating command post is being established in Prattsville, NY.  The Region 2 Mobile Command Post was deployed to the area for support of operations in the field.

FEMA has identified (2) locations for Joint Field Offices.  The NJ JFO is to be located in Neptune, NJ and the NY JFO is to be located Albany, NY.  JFO’s are not yet operational but are anticipated to come online within the near future.

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, 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.  For 9/7/2011, the briefing included flash flood advisories and gas/electrical concerns.  New safety emphasis: No pumping of cellars will occur until the power company has pulled the meter to the building.  This is required even if the power to the area is not working.  In addition, the cellar atmosphere must be tested for combustible gas prior to entering.

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

Response operations and planning information are being provided to the EPA Public Affairs Division.  Patricia (Pat) Seppi has been identified as the Incident Information Officer.  Pat Seppi can be reached at 646-369-0068.  The Information Officer continues to work on the following items and issues;

·         Coordinate with Community Involvement Coordinators deployed to the field

·         Pompton Lakes / Paterson : David Kluesner 908-420-7261

·         NYSDEC Region 4 : Larisa Romanowski 515-703-0101

·         Public Service Announcement continues to be aired on WRIP 97.9

·         Responded to congressional inquiries on EPAs involvement with Mahwah and Saddle River

·         Responded to residential property owners in Garfield, NJ concerned about hexavalent chromium impacts due to flooded basements

·         Press statements were provided to NBC and affiliate news organizations

·         Statements continue to be generated regarding NPL Sites that have become impacted by Hurricane Irene and associated floods, including Ellenville and American Cyanamid

·         Fielded calls from press and public regarding sampling activities of private and public lands following the flood

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

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

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

General Weather:

Most of northern New Jersey is under a flood watch or warning, including the counties of Passaic, Essex, Bergen, and Morris until Thursday September 10, 2011.  Rain is expected until the end of the week.

In areas of New York where EPA is engaged, rain is likely to occur until Friday.  Flood watches and warnings remain in effect for areas of NYSDEC Region 4.

Tropical Storm Maria has developed east of Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.  Impacts to this area may be felt starting Friday September 09, 2011.  It is expected to remain a tropical storm and not develop into a hurricane.