Agency committed to working with FEMA and City of…
Agency committed to working with FEMA and City of Minot with long term community recovery efforts
(Denver, Colo -, October 4, 2011) The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today that the field mission assignment in response to flooding in Minot, North Dakota has been completed.
EPA Emergency Response staff first mobilized
to Minot on July 11th, 2011 and began
mission activities at the request of the Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA), the City of Minot, and the State of North
Dakota on July 17th,
2011. The final shipments of removed waste and
demobilization of EPA staff were completed on September
29th, 2011.
“For over two months we’ve worked
hard to help make Minot a safer place to live,” said Paul
Peronard, EPA On-Scene Coordinator. “Our collaborative
relationship with the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Coast
Guard, and other agencies really helped us execute our mission
under FEMA’s leadership.”
In response to extensive flood damage and the
potential for environmental impacts, FEMA issued a Mission
Assignment to EPA to accomplish four objectives: remove household
hazardous wastes from the impacted area; decontaminate and prepare
white goods and electronic waste for recycling; collect and process
orphaned containers; and to conduct environmental monitoring and
sampling in impacted and work areas.
In total, EPA removed:
· More than 90,000 small containers including paint, household cleaners, and small gas cans totaling more than 15,000 gallons of gas which was sent to a fuel processor.
· Several large containers, including propane tanks as large as 3,000 – 5,000 gallons, which were returned to their owners or sent to a local Minot company for reuse.
· 215 lead-acid batteries which were turned over to the city of Minot.
· Over 550 cubic yards of electronic waste such as household electronics, computers, and television sets which were sent to a contractor for recycling.
In addition, EPA collected asbestos insulation from over 220 households, conducted air sampling during cleanup activities, and conducted soil sampling in city parks once flooding subsided.
Looking to the future, EPA has participated in three FEMA-sponsored Community Recovery Open House Planning Meetings in Minot and Burlington. At the request of FEMA and the community, EPA will partner with FEMA and other agencies to continue Long Term Community Recovery activities to assist with restoration activities in Minot.
For more information please visit: https://www.epaosc.org/site/site_profile.aspx?site_id=7093