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§ M \ Office of Inspector General	September 14,2006
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At a Glance
Catalyst for Improving the Environment
Why We Did This Review
This review was conducted in
conjunction with the
President's Council on Integrity
and Efficiency as part of its
examination of relief efforts
provided by the Federal
Government in the aftermath of
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Based on our prior reviews of
the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA's)
response to Katrina, this report
identifies lessons learned from
the Katrina response. We also
examined whether EPA
followed its emergency
response protocols, including
those lessons learned from the
World Trade Center collapse
and the Agency's
responsibilities as delineated in
the National Response Plan, in
responding to Katrina.
Background
On August 29, 2005, Hurricane
Katrina made landfall on the
Mississippi coast. Katrina
devastated the Gulf Coast of
Mississippi and Southeastern
Louisiana, and caused
extensive flooding in New
Orleans and extensive damage
to the environmental
infrastructure in the region.
For further information, contact
our Office of Congressional and
Public Liaison at (202) 566-2391.
To view the full report,
click on the following link:
www.epa.aov/oia/reports/2006/
20060914-2006-P-00033.pdf
Lessons Learned: EPA's Response to
Hurricane Katrina
What We Found
In our prior reports on EPA's response to Katrina, we reported that EPA,
Mississippi, and Louisiana took extraordinary efforts to assess and restore public
drinking water supplies after Hurricane Katrina, and that EPA provided timely
and quality information to address wastewater and hazardous materials and debris
concerns. EPA generally followed its emergency response protocols to ensure
that environmental concerns were addressed. Further, the actions taken by EPA
and the States in response to Hurricane Katrina generally improved upon the
lessons learned from EPA's response to the World Trade Center collapse. EPA
officials told us that planning and good working relationships with State officials
were key factors in responding successfully to this emergency. While these
efforts were generally successful, we identified three lessons learned.
•	Coordination within EPA, with State and local officials, and with the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) could have been better. In some
instances, coordination problems resulted in duplicative work being
completed by EPA and Louisiana officials. EPA Region 4 and USACE
officials confirmed the need for more interaction between USACE and EPA
before the next emergency.
•	Initially, there were problems in New Orleans with the transport of drinking
water in potentially hazardous tanker trucks. The Louisiana Department of
Health and Hospitals, with assistance from EPA Region 6, established
procedures, and EPA issued an administrative order to correct this situation in
early October 2005. No adverse health effects were identified.
•	State of Louisiana officials reported problems querying and verifying the
quality of data in EPA's database used to collect floodwater results.
EPA Regions 4 and 6 have initiated actions to address the issues noted in this
report for responding to future disasters.
What We Recommend
We recommend that the Assistant Administrators for the Office of Solid Waste
and Emergency Response and Office of Water, as part of the Agency's efforts to
address lessons learned from Katrina, ensure that the corrective actions discussed
in this report are implemented. EPA generally agreed with our recommendation.

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