hurricane recovery epa water program overview briefing for acwi
TRANSCRIPT
Hurricane Recovery EPA Water Program Overview
Briefing for ACWI
Briefing Overview
• EPA’s Role
• Assistance for Drinking Water and Wastewater Infrastructure
• Water Monitoring & Assessment Processes
• Ecosystem Restoration
• Closing
EPA’s Role
• Direct/coordinate and/or provide technical assistance for environmental response activities at the incident site
• USCG lead for coastal zone; EPA lead for inland zone
Typical response activities include:
• Incident Action Plan development• Site safety plan development (response
planning)• Sample collection & analysis (air/water
monitoring)• Alternative water supply provisions (potable
water)• Source control & stabilization (berms, booms,
dikes, plugging release points)• On-site treatment (neutralization, thermal
destruction, solidification, detonation)• Off-site disposal or treatment • Temporary relocation• Evidence collection and other law enforcement
efforts
Assistance for Drinking Water and
Wastewater Infrastructure
Short-term Activities • Tracking the operational status of systems
• Technical assistance for emergency repair
• Mobile labs
• Technical assistance and advice for FEMA Public Assistance
Long-term Activities• Improving future emergency response and recovery
- "Utilities helping Utilities" - Mutual Aid Agreements (Modeled after FlaWARN)
• Participating on ESF #14 Interagency Working GroupSupport states in providing technical assistance to utilities:
• Funding assistance and advice
Assistance for Drinking Water and
Wastewater Infrastructure
Water Monitoring & Assessment Processes
Short-term Activities• Floodwater Sampling with LA DEQ
• Mississippi Bays Study with State of Miss.
• BOLD surveys with other Federal/State Agencies
• Weekly monitoring calls with other federal agencies, states
• Data flow/approvals and web postings
Water Monitoring & Assessment Processes
Long-term Activities • Coordinated efforts on water monitoring with other federal and state agencies to analyze data and interpret, collectively, what it means
• Participation on State-Federal Taskforce on Sampling and Analysis of Fish and Shellfish from Katrina Affected Coastal Areas
• Participation on White House Task Force Working Group on Environmental Impacts and Cleanup Subcommittee on Bio-monitoring and Sampling
Ecosystems Restoration
Short-term Activities• Promote EPA’s restoration message: Reconstruction PLUS Restoration for True Protection
• Commit EPA staff now to emerging activities (LTCR plans)
• Build on existing EPA Region/State collaborations (CWPPRA Task Force)
Ecosystems Restoration
Long-term Activities
• Support three primary restoration themes: - River reintroductions
- Barrier island restoration- Pipeline sediment transfer for wetlands restoration
• Explore funding and collaboration alternatives (private/corporate as well as governmental) needed for full implementation
• Inform/adaptively manage restoration with assessment results
Closing Remarks
• Environmental Information Sharing across all levels of government was and remains critical
• Timeliness and Quality Assurance of Monitoring Results
• Data Standards are a good start but Agencies must adopt and implement them from Field – Lab – Analysis – Results!