[CPEO-BIF] Katrina debris - still

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

This GAO report was written before hurricane Gustav.

Summary

Hurricane Katrina: Continuing Debris Removal and Disposal Issues 
GAO-08-985R   (37 pages)
August 25, 2008


For the original plus links to the full report, go to
http://www.gao.gov/docdblite/details.php?rptno=GAO-08-985R


In 2005, as a result of Hurricane Katrina, more than 1,600 people lost 
their lives and more than a million were driven from their homes on the 
Gulf Coast. Tens of thousands of homes in New Orleans were flooded, many 
requiring either demolition or gutting before reconstruction. Nearly 3 
years later, the New Orleans area still faces significant debris 
management issues and challenges. For example, the Louisiana Department 
of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) stated that while the Department of 
Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) estimated 
in July 2008 that it had funded about 16,900 home demolitions, an 
estimated 6,100 homes remained to be demolished around the New Orleans 
area. The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance 
Act (Stafford Act) establishes programs and processes for the federal 
government to provide major disaster and emergency assistance to states, 
local governments, tribal nations, and others. FEMA has the 
responsibility for administering the provisions of the Stafford Act, 
including approving and funding the assistance provided under it. This 
assistance has been provided to the Gulf Coast under the Department of 
Homeland Security's National Response Framework (formerly called the 
National Response Plan). In New Orleans, the U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers (Corps of Engineers) was the primary federal agency 
responsible for providing debris removal and disposal until it concluded 
its response activities in September 2007. The Environmental Protection 
Agency (EPA), the coordinator of federal emergency support for oil and 
hazardous materials releases, also assisted the Corps of Engineers and 
LDEQ with debris removal and disposal and continues to undertake Katrina 
response activities, such as monitoring landfill operations. The federal 
law addressing the management of hazardous and other solid wastes--the 
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act--addresses nonhazardous solid 
wastes under subtitle D. The act prohibits "open dumping"--the disposal 
of solid waste in landfills failing to meet the relevant criteria--and 
requires state plans to prohibit the establishment of open dumps. RCRA 
provides EPA with limited authority to address environmental problems at 
solid waste landfills. The Water Resources Development Act of 2007 
directed GAO to address certain activities related to debris management 
in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. We briefed relevant committee staff on 
the results of our work on March 6, 2008, and held subsequent 
discussions with them in March and April 2008. We are following up with 
this report, which provides more detail on the topics covered in the 
briefing. This report describes (1) key plans and practices federal and 
state agencies are currently using to oversee debris removal and 
disposal in response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, (2) 
enforcement actions state and federal agencies have taken related to 
Katrina debris removal and disposal, and (3) actions by LDEQ and EPA in 
response to potential environmental issues at the Gentilly Landfill in 
New Orleans.

Key plans and practices state and federal agencies are using to oversee 
and implement debris removal and disposal in response to Hurricane 
Katrina in New Orleans include (1) a state emergency order covering 
debris removal and disposal at landfills, currently extended until 
August 29, 2008; (2) EPA "no action assurance" letters to LDEQ 
concerning asbestos emissions requirements related to building 
demolitions; and (3) EPA's asbestos emissions monitoring plan. The state 
emergency order broadens the state of Louisiana's definition of 
construction and demolition (C&D) debris. Regarding asbestos practices, 
since 2006 EPA has not been enforcing certain Clean Air Act regulations 
for asbestos for homes demolished under government orders. In terms of 
oversight of debris removal and disposal activities, key practices that 
LDEQ and EPA are using include surveillance at landfills and other 
debris sites. The pace of home demolitions, which are now managed by the 
individual parishes, continues to be slow. As of May 15, 2008, LDEQ had 
issued 120 enforcement actions for Hurricane Katrina-related violations. 
Fifty-three of these actions involved solid waste, hazardous waste, or 
water program actions taken against businesses or individuals who, among 
other things, improperly disposed of C&D debris at unauthorized sites. 
In other enforcement actions, LDEQ worked with EPA, the Corps of 
Engineers, and the Louisiana National Guard in a joint effort to combat 
illegal dumping activities after the hurricane in an area east of New 
Orleans called the Almonaster Corridor. One of the landfills highlighted 
in our report, the Gentilly Landfill, is constructed on top of a former 
municipal waste landfill. EPA concluded that while there is no way "to 
protect against future Superfund liability absolutely"--particularly for 
a landfill--the use of the landfill appeared to be consistent with the 
types and volumes of wastes for which it was designed and permitted by 
the state. Finally, we are providing information on (1) the status of 
the Chef Menteur Landfill in New Orleans, (2) a disaster debris 
reduction pilot project in St. Bernard Parish that was scaled back prior 
to its implementation in June 2008, and (3) the effect of a debris 
provision in the Water Resources Development Act of 2007. First, the 
Chef Menteur Landfill, which was controversial because of its proximity 
to a national wildlife refuge and a residential neighborhood, was opened 
under emergency authority in April 2006 and closed in August 2006. The 
landfill is currently waiting on, among other things, a Corps of 
Engineers permit under section 404 of the Clean Water Act, after which 
final closure activity can commence. Second, EPA conducted a disaster 
debris reduction pilot in St. Bernard Parish in June 2008. EPA has 
acknowledged that an error in its risk estimate of the potential health 
effects of exposure to asbestos related to the pilot was a factor in the 
decision to exclude regulated asbestos-containing material from the 
revised pilot. Third, a provision of the Water Resources Development Act 
prohibits federal funds from being used to reimburse any state or local 
entity in Louisiana for the disposal of C&D debris in a C&D landfill in 
Louisiana unless that waste meets the federal definition of that debris. 
While LDEQ officials acknowledged that the provision has therefore not 
impacted debris disposal operations, EPA and LDEQ officials emphasized 
that C&D disposal practices in Louisiana have complied with the 
provisions of the Water Resources Development Act of 2007.

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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