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Past Disaster Response Actions
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita
Beginning in early September, 2005, EPA Region 9 assisted EPA Region 6 and FEMA with perhaps the largest response to a natural disaster in the history of both Agencies. EPA OSCs, response support corps (RSC) members, Incident Management Team (IMT) members, drinking water program specialists and public information officers all brought their expertise, dedication and hard work to the task, under very arduous conditions.
EPA Region 9 staff participated in search and rescue operations, drinking water system evaluations, field reconnaissance, rapid needs assessments, field command post incident management, response performance evaluations, environmental sampling and analysis, public affairs, and numerous field operations. In addition, Region 9 assisted with air operations coordination, provided operational support in the Region 6 Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Dallas, and has provided personnel to act as the Senior Federal Official and to fill critical positions on the Incident Management Team.
EPA's Response to Hurricanes Web siteCalifornia Wildfires
Each year large, destructive wildfires occur throughout the West and in some eastern states. The potential for more extreme wildfires becomes greater during times of drought. The threat of very large wildfires has increased because of the extreme buildup of fuels — dense trees and vegetation, much of it weakened by drought and disease, in our forests and other wildland over much of the past century.
In October 2007, the State of California experienced one of the greatest fire seasons on record. A state declaration of emergency was made by the governor, opening the way to a federal disaster declaration that provides federal support for fire fighting and recovery. U.S. EPA Region 9 was tasked by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide technical assistance and support to the counties of San Diego and San Bernardino counties, and the fire impacted Tribal lands of southern California.This assistance consisted of conducting rapid needs assessments for protection of human health and the environment of fire impacted properties.
During the recovery phase, EPA Region 9 was tasked to provide direct assistance to the counties of San Diego and San Bernardino in the identification, collection, and segregation of unmanaged household hazardous waste (HHW) for the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). Region 9 formed an Incident Management Team (IMT) in Long Beach, CA, to provide logistic and technical support to undertake these recovery operations. From managing the incident recovery operations in the field, to overseeing task orders at the FEMA run Joint Operations Center (JOC) in Pasadena, CA, EPA personnel worked closely with federal, state and county agencies to ensure an effective and efficient response.
Columbia Shuttle Disaster
On February 1, 2003, the Space Shuttle Columbia was lost during its return to earth. EPA was tasked under the Robert T. Stafford Act to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and NASA by conducting environmental monitoring and assisting in the cleanup of hazardous materials from the Space Shuttle Columbia. EPA experts from across the country mobilized to help local, county, and state officials protect public health and the environment. Over 60 EPA emergency response teams assisted officials recovering materials from communities and providing for safe transport of these materials to secure locations. EPA mobilized its Airborne Spectral Photo-Imaging of Environmental Contaminants (ASPECT) aircraft to help locate debris using infrared sensors to detect hazardous chemicals and deployed the Trace Atmospheric Gas Analyzer Unit to provide mobile analytical support. Recovery of the shuttle material was essential to the public’s safety, as some material could have been hazardous.