News Releases from Headquarters›Land and Emergency Management (OLEM)

EPA Hurricane Florence Update Wednesday, September 19, 2018

Raleigh, N.C. (September 19, 2018) – Today, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 4 Administrator Trey Glenn met with EPA’s state and federal partners in North Carolina to coordinate interagency and intergovernmental response to the ongoing natural disaster caused by Hurricane Florence.

At the North Carolina Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Raleigh, Region 4 Administrator Glenn met with North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality Secretary Michael Regan and federal colleagues from the Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA), the U.S. Coast Guard, and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

“As I have seen firsthand, the disaster in North Carolina is ongoing. Water is still rising, flooding is widespread, and lives are still in danger,” said Region 4 Administrator Trey Glenn. “The government’s first responsibility is to protect lives and the health of the citizens impacted. That is why we are meeting today, to coordinate personnel support and information flow so that EPA can carry out our mission to protect human health and the environment.”

While Region 4 Administrator Glenn held meetings in the North Carolina EOC, EPA Superfund Site Assessment Teams began preliminary assessments of some assessable National Priority List sites.

Considering the ongoing nature of this disaster, conditions will require more time to properly assess sites so that we can provide the most accurate and updated information.

View prior EPA press releases on Hurricane Florence here: https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/search.

EPA Region 4 Superfund Division Director Franklin Hill (left) and Region 4 Administrator Trey Glenn (center) discuss Hurricane Florence response efforts with FEMA Region 4 Administrator Gracia B. Szczech at the North Carolina State Emergency Operations Center on Wednesday, September 19, 2018.