Vance Jackson, UST Section ChiefWayne Randolph, Wilmington Regional UST SupervisorDivision of Waste Management

Disaster Preparation and Response (Hurricane Florence, September 2018)

May 2019

ASTSWMO Mid-Year Meeting

New Brunswick, New Jersey

Summary of Presentation

DWM Organization and Responsibilities

DWM Storm Preparation and Response

• Tools Developed for Storm Response

• Summary of Response Actions

• Moving Forward

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DWM Organization and Responsibilities

The primary purpose of the Division of Waste Management (DWM) is to protect public health and the environment by assuring that solid and hazardous wastes and underground storage tanks are managed properly, and that existing contamination is cleaned up. The work of the Division is handled by the following Sections and Programs:

• Hazardous Waste

• Solid Waste

• Superfund

• Underground Storage Tank

• Brownfields Program

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Department of Environmental Quality

Planning and Response to Storm Events

During major storm events like Hurricane Florence, DEQ is responsible for managing a wide variety of environmental incidents. With staff located all over the state, sharing information about the incidents can be complicated by power outages, timing and distance. Therefore, a centralized tracking system that is capable of storing, sharing and summarizing information about the environmental incidents that DEQ handles is critical.

In preparation for Hurricane Florence, staff from DWM and DWR built such a system.

The basic requirements were:

• Accessible and easy to use by all DEQ staff,

• Information and tools in the cloud,

• Geo-Referenced for display in a map format, and

• Report/Summary capable for Upper Management Reporting

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Incident Response System

Components of the System:

• Survey 123 Data Entry Form

• Incident Editing Application

• Incident Tracking Dashboard

• DEQ Storm Tracker

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Hazardous Waste Section Planningand Response

The Hazardous Waste Section contacts the following to discuss storm prep and to offer assistance

• all permitted Treatment and Storage facilities,

• all permitted Post-closure and Corrective Action facilities, and

• the Large Quantity Generators in the area expected to be impacted by a storm, prioritizing those known to be within a flood plain.

Storm-related assistance could include a waiver to keep waste onsite longer without a violation when there are transportation delays after a storm due to flooding.

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Solid Waste Section Planningand Response

Year-Round

• Offer training/tech assistance to facilities, local, state and federal agencies on disaster debris management

• Evaluate temporary disaster debris sites (TDDS)

• Coordinate with NC Dept of Natural and Cultural Resources on TDDS approval

Pre-Storm

• Communicate with SW Facilities in projected storm path for preparedness

• Identify facilities with carbon sources to assist in ESF 11 coordination

• Plan Emergency Operations Center (EOC) staffing

• Update TDDS GIS layer on Web EOC

• Maintain and update database of 640 TDDS

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Solid Waste Section Planningand Response

Post-Storm

• Assess damage to facilities, ability to return to normal operations

• Waivers for permit conditions - hours, volume

• Evaluate new TDDS, add to Incident Tool.

• Activate TDDS for use

• Update active site mapping tool

• Coordination with NCDA&CS and NCEM on carbon sources, technical assistance on animal mortality disposal & composting

• Assisted with ESF 10 mission on abandoned vessels recovery

• 3 – 12 months post-storm - TDDS inspections, assist FEMA staff

Hurricanes Florence/Michael

• 100 New TDDS Evaluated

• 217 TDDS activated/used

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Superfund Section Planningand Response

The Superfund Section contacts sites to discuss storm prep and to offer assistance:

• Inactive Hazardous Sites having potential risk for release of contamination if flooded, particularly sites under active cleanup with exposed contaminated soils.

• Inactive Hazardous Sites without pre-storm contacts are visited by field teams after.

• Pre-regulatory landfills under current earthmoving work expected to be impacted by a storm. All PRLF sites in impacted areas are visited by DWM teams after the storm

• Sites with active remediation systems that could be damaged by flooding.

• All NPL sites are contacted pre-storm, and visited by EPA/DWM teams after.

Information gathered will be entered into the Section’s databases for future reference by the Incident Tracking System

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UST Section Planning and Response

Pre-Storm

• Identify UST facilities at risk of flooding; also AST’s, Remediation Systems

• Contact the UST owners of these UST facilities and educate them on the risks and some best practices to

follow to help minimize the risk of a release from their UST system.

• Before Flood Guidance

Post-Storm

• Contact the UST owners of the previously identified facilities again to see if there was a release from their

UST system.

• UST Inspectors visit each at-risk facility to check for damage to the UST systems and signs of a potential

release.

• After Flood Guidance

• Coordinate with Federal agencies to canvas heavily impacted areas.

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UST Post-Storm Response

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Extent of Impacted Area

Hurricane Florence came ashore

At Wilmington as a Category 1-2

Storm and “Stalled”

Floodwater and/or Wind Damage

to Roughly One-Half of the State

Intense rainfall for 72 hours up to

100 miles inland; exceeded 30

inches in some locations

UST Post-Storm Response

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Damaged Commercial Facilities & Bulk Storage Facilities

UST Post-Storm Response

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Farm & Agricultural Tanks

UST Post-Storm Response

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Home Heating Oil Tanks

UST Post-Storm Response

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Derelict Tanks & Containers

UST Post-Storm Response

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Abandoned and Sunken Vessel Mitigation and Recovery

UST Post-Storm Recovery

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The Unexpected

Post-Storm Response

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Other Hazards

DWM/Federal Collaboration

National Response Framework: a guide to how the Nation and all levels of domestic partners provide a unified response to all types of disasters and emergencies

• Emergency Support Function 3 (ESF #3) - Public Works and Engineering

• State support for infrastructure damage assessment and recovery including Public Water Supply, Dams, Energy, and Solid Waste Debris Removal

• Emergency Support Function 10 (ESF #10) – Oil and Hazardous Materials Response

• Federal support authorized through the National Response Framework under the Stafford Act in response to an actual or potential discharge and/or release of oil or hazardous materials.

• Emergency Support Function 11 (ESF #11) -Agriculture and Natural Resources

• Nutrition assistance, animal & agricultural health, safety & defense of Nation’s supply of meat, poultry & egg products

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DWM/Federal CollaborationESF-3

• Pre-storm – provided training to local, state and federal partners on mapping tools to locate SW facilities and TDDS for debris staging/disposal.

• 3-12 months post-storm - providing technical assistance, conducting site visits with NCDOT, local governments, FEMA and NCEM PA staff on requirements for debris site clean-up status, compliance, and final disposal for sites within disaster declared counties.

• TDDS clean-up required within 6 months

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DWM/Federal CollaborationESF-10 Preparation

In advance of the storm EPA, DWM, and DAQ staff:

• Telephoned 1,000+ site owners and permit holders in declared counties

• Identified 1319 DWM sites within the 500 and 100 year flood zones

• Evaluated risks these sites may pose if impacted

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Sites within Flood Zones

Hazardous Waste Section

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Solid Waste Section 102

Superfund Section 417

UST Section 794

• Monitored high risk sites

• Entered high risk sites into Incident Tracking System

DWM/Federal CollaborationESF-10 Response

• EPA established a grid network layer covering all counties on the Federal Disaster Declaration list to organize and coordinate efforts.

• Grid layer and ESF-10 Targets could be viewed and edited in the office or in the field by DWM staff and Federal personnel.

• Teams of DWM staff and EPA staff/contractors worked methodically to search each grid for incidents and identify ESF-10 targets.

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DWM/Federal CollaborationESF-10

ESF-10 Mission:

• DWM staff collaborated with USEPA & USCG to locate orphaned tanks/drums and releases of hazardous substances and oil requiring emergency action in NC Counties on the Federal Disaster Declaration List.

• ESF-10 Targets identified by reports submitted to the National Response Center, by County Emergency Response, by NCDEQ Offices and by EPA / DEQ field teams sweeping grids in impacted areas.

• ESF-10 Targets were added to the DEQ Incident Response layer by the personnel receiving the calls or by personnel in the field. Targets were also updated in the field by utilizing mobile GIS applications.

• Following ESF-10 target designation, Federal and State resources were mobilized to respond to the incident.

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DWM/Federal CollaborationESF-10

Division of Responsibilities

• USEPA and DWM – Identify and address ESF-10 targets on land and small, inland bodies of water.

• USCG and NC Wildlife Resources Commission; (DEQ assist) – Identify and address ESF-10 targets in coastal waters and larger, inland bodies of water.

• DWM -- Identify and address incidents located outside of Disaster declared Counties

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DWM/State/Federal CollaborationESF-10: Abandoned Vessel Mitigation & Recovery

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• Division staff assisted NC Wildlife Resources, DEQ Coastal Management,

NC Emergency Management, EPA, US Coast Guard, NOAA and others

to develop plans to locate and evaluate land and water based vessels for

hazardous material abatement.

• Assistance in staffing Joint Field Office located in Fayetteville for this

mission

• Staff went afield with US Coast Guard staff to abate hazards

• Provided technical assistance on temporary staging areas and proper

disposal of recovered materials

• Division staff diverted some Household Hazardous Waste (HHW)

materials such as household cleaners to charitable organizations for

reuse

• Providing supporting role in area contingency planning efforts for future

storm events

• Possible ESF-3 crossover as land based vessel can be managed as

debris once abandoned

DWM/State CollaborationESF-11: Animal Mortality Management

• DEQ and NCDA&CS staff have worked on planning efforts for years related to foreign animal disease outbreaks. In response to Avian Flu outbreaks in 2015, DEQ developed a task force and guidance documents in support of NCDA Emergency Response efforts. Due to high mortality rates in commercial poultry in Hurricane Matthew, much of the same guidance was deployed.

• Since Hurricane Matthew, DWM along with other DEQ staff have continued planning meetings and joint training with NCDA staff, industry Ag and Landfill professionals to improve mortality management options.

• Worked with regional landfill staff and management on protocols for acceptance and disposal methods

• Assisted in development of carbon source tracking database for composting projects

• DWM staff are trained and medically cleared to go on farm for technical assistance on disposal and composting

• Several DWM staff have served in an SME capacity on composting operations

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Recommendations for Moving Forward

Pre-Storm Coordination/Planning

• Improve readiness for coordinated State and Federal response by

• identifying field-capable staff

• conducting joint training sessions

• coordinating efforts to meet needs for technology, communications, equipment, transportation, and safety.

• Identify and prioritize sites, based on risk, that may require a field response.

• Implement an automated email notification process for facilities to provide guidance. Supplement with telephone follow-up as necessary.

• Collaborate with the DEQ Office of Recovery and Resiliency

Funding

• Additional resources to respond to releases from ASTs

• Relief funds for citizens impacted by non-commercial UST releases and AST releases.

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Recommendations for Moving Forward

Technology

• Revise, improve and fully implement the DEQ Incident Management System.

• Ensure compatibility with legacy data systems

• Meets needs of wider audience (engage all programs/divisions)

• Conduct Department-wide training on use of system before next storm event

Regulatory

• Adopt rules for disaster debris management to codify the debris site approval process for temporary sites, to

provide consistent requirements for management of debris, and provide assistance to public entities to meet public

assistance eligibility requirements while maintaining protection of public health and the environment

• Possible need for additional statutes/rules and/or clarity to existing law on abandoned vessels

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Questions?

Contacts:

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Vance Jackson

UST Section Chief

Division of Waste Management

919-707-8262

vance.jackson@ncdenr.gov

Wayne Randolph

Wilmington Regional UST Supervisor

910-796-7320

wayne.randolph@ncdenr.gov