EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Weather continues to be a dominant factor in delaying operations throughout New York and New Jersey.  Although evacuations in New Jersey were mostly called for areas along the Delaware River, flood waters inundated various operational areas in Passaic, Bergen, and Morris Counties.  Work crews continued to manage orphan containers and HHW in Woodland Park, NJ.  Management of booming strategies continued in the Mahwah and South Hackensack areas.  Operations in Dover continued to organize HHW and orphan containers being delivered from the tri-county communities.  In Riverdale, NJ vacuum trucks continued to transfer oil/water mixtures into frac tanks and drop oil contaminated debris in roll-off containers located at this storage site.

Task Force crews remained busy with calls throughout New Jersey as requested by NJDEP, including a call from the Ramapough Mountain Indians.  Oil brought in from the rising Ramapo River contaminated ceremonial grounds for the New Jersey recognized tribe.

Evacuation orders remained in effect for parts of New York where EPA has been working.  As a result, some field operations were suspended.  Work continued in Prattsville with orphan drum and HHW assessments and collection.  Elsewhere in New York, Broome County evacuated approximately 20,000 residents near Binghamton due to rising waters of the Susquehanna and Chenango Rivers. 

It is anticipated that requests for assistance will increase in New York and New Jersey.  A number of rivers have reached major flood stage and have yet to crest.  New operational areas may become activated as waters recede in the next few days. 

FEMA has opened the RRCC in New York, NY in anticipation of Tropical Storm Maria.  TS Maria is expected to impact the US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico beginning late Friday.  EPA Region 2 is expected to have 5 OSCs in the Caribbean next week throughout the USVI and Puerto Rico.

Emergency Response Task Force

·         The Task Force completed operations on 09/07/2011 at 64 Manito in Lake Hiawatha.  NJDEP contacted EPA to address a residential tank in Lake Hiawatha.

·         The Task Force was deployed to the intersections of Market and Water Streets in Belvidere, NJ at the request of NJDEP to address a 1,000 gallon heating oil tank.  The Task Force completed the mission, but noted tanks at additional residential properties that need to be addressed.  Due to the rising waters of the Pequest River, those tanks could not be reached.

NEW JERSEY RESPONSE ACTIONS

Areas along the Delaware River including, Lambertville, Milford, Holland, and Stockton (Hunterdon County) were evacuated.  Evacuations also occurred in Pequannock, Wayne, Paterson, Fairfield, Little Falls, and Pompton Lakes (Morris County).

Passaic County

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

• Materials staged at 1150 McBride Avenue have been moved to the Dover, NJ HHW due to flooding.
• EPA continued to manage sorbent boom and pads near the Presidential Boulevard area of West Paterson. 

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         EPA continues reconnaissance for a HHW staging area in Passaic.

·         Wayne, NJ –The staging area flooded, and the municipality requested EPA to move the contents to Dover, NJ HHW.  The Wayne, NJ HHW is maintained and operated by the Township. 

Bergen County

Oil / Hazardous Materials Response and Recovery Actions

·         EPA was deployed to Brake Shoe Place in Mahwah, NJ to address a storage shed with drums, waste oil, a 300 gallon home heating oil tank, and batteries.

·         An assessment was conducted at the Ramapough Mountain Indians Ceremonial Grounds.  Reports had indicated that oil/water was impacting the area.

·         EPA continued to manage booming strategies in Mahwah, near Jersey Avenue.

·         EPA continued to manage booming strategies in South Hackensack along the Saddle River.

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

·         Response and recovery activities were not requested in Morris County. 

 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.  Preparations have started to characterize the hazardous materials being brought in.

·         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.

·         Whippany, NJ – The liquid bulk collection area at 38 Eden Road has one frac tank that is full.  This area is not operation, and awaiting removal.

Below is a summary table for NJ Incident Reports as of 1500 on 9/8/2011.  The table includes their status and materials involved.

NEW YORK RESPONSE ACTIONS

Due to major flooding and an increase of rain, evacuation orders remained in place throughout various operational areas of New York State.  Rivers have yet to crest and flooding has been occurring in areas that were previously unaffected.  As a result, some field operations were suspended.

Emergency Response Task Force

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

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

·         The Village of Sidney and NYSDEC requested assistance with removal of oil tanks, HHW, and orphan containers in Sidney, NY.

·         In the Village of Middleburgh, officials have requested EPA assistance with orphan drum and HHW collection.

·         Schenectady County officials have requested HHW assistance from EPA.

·         Some field operations in Greene, Delaware, and Schoharie were suspended due to evacuations and flooding.

·         The debris pile located in Schoharie County is being picked through by residents to claim property.  EPA will collect HHW from the pile following residential claims of property.  This pile is under the operation of the National Guard.

·         Orphan drum collection continued in Prattsville, NY.

·         Two requests were received from NYSDEC for the collection of orphan containers in Montgomery County.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         Greene County

·         Hunter, NY – Facility was operational.

·          Windham, NY – Facility was operational. 

·         Catskill, NY – Facility was operational. 

·         Prattsville, NY – Facility was operational.

·         Delaware County

·         Fleishmanns, NY – Facility closed due to floods.

·         Arkville, NY – Facility closed due to floods.

·         Schoharie County

·         Howes Cave, NY - HHW staging area is operational.

·         Schoharie Debris Pile – Operation was suspended due to floods.

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

·         No response or recovery operations conducted.

Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Disposal

·         Au Sable Forks, NY – The facility was operational.

·          Elizabethtown, NY – The facility continues to be established and is not yet operational.

NYSDEC Region 7 Area

EPA was requested to provide assistance with assessing Water Treatment Plants in Johnson City, NY.

Below is a summary table for NY Incident Reports as of 1500 on 9/8/2011.  The table includes their status and materials involved.

CUMULATIVE HAZARDOUS WASTE SUMMERY TABLE

EPA continues to staff the Region 2 Regional Emergency Operations Center (REOC).  An Incident Management Team (IMT) continues to work 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.  The REOC is staffing the incident through December 2011 to ensure the coverage of operational activities and maintain appropriate rest periods for all responding personnel.

All logistics is managed through the REOC in Edison, NJ.  Additional RST personnel were ordered and deployed throughout New York and New Jersey operational areas.  Requests for additional RST support to assist with GIS and data management services have also been generated. 

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. 

A forward operating command station is being established in the Prattsville area of New York.  The Region 2 Mobile Command Post was deployed to the area for support of operations in the field.

The Incident Safety Officer continues to work with ERRS field safety officers and field operations.  The initial Health and Safety Plan (HASP) has been developed and approved and is posted on the regional incident website: http://www.epaosc.org/R2HurricaneIreneResponse.   Site specific HASPs continue to be developed for each collection site and/or operation.  Site specific HASPs will be posted along with a daily safety message that is also found on the incident website. The daily safety message is in addition to the HASP and is based on field observations and other hazardous conditions that arise. The site specific HASPs for the Dover Collection site and for Prattsville Operations are currently under review.  HASPs for other current collection areas and operations are in progress and expected to be completed soon.  Site specific HASPs will continue to be developed as new locations and/or operations are identified.  

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:

·         Coordinate with Community Involvement Coordinators deployed to the field.

·         NJ Operations : David Kluesner 908-420-7261

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

·         Addressed questions regarding Arcen Lake and Echo Lake.

·         Additional calls regarding chromium in basements relating to the Garfield site were addressed.

·         Craft responses for the Regional Administrator on citizen questions for sampling Pompton Lakes.

·         Visited FEMA Disaster Recovery Center in Paterson, NJ.

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

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

Looting and civil unrest in Lake Hiawatha have increased a police presence.

Many questions are coming in to Public Affairs regarding sampling of private property, particularly in Pompton Lakes, NJ.

General Weather:

·         Extensive flooding throughout Broome and Tioga Counties (NY) is occurring.

·         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 and 5

·         Most of 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.

·         Tropical Storm Maria is in the Leeward Islands and expected to impact Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands as early as Saturday September 10, 2011.