HURRICANE UNIFIED COMMAND
St. Tammany
Orleans
St James
St. Charles
¦Parish
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St. Bernard
Plaquemines
Lafourche
Terrebonne

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St. Charles Parish
August 2006
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
AT A GLANCE
Drinking Water Plant
Assessments
41	Wastewater Facility
Assessments
25	Industry Damage
Assessments
39	Hazardous Material
Containers Collected
21	School Lab Assess-
ments
Completion Report
Since September 2005, the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the Louisiana
Department of Environmental
Quality (LDEQ) have worked
together to address environ
mental hazards from Hurri-
canes Katrina and Rita to help
St. Charles Parish recover.
One of EPA and LDEQ's first
priorities was to ensure resi-
dents returning to all the cities
affected by the hurricanes had
safe drinking water. Through-
out St. Charles Parish, 2
assessments were conducted
at drinking water facilities. Similarly, forty-one wastewater treat-
ment plants were assessed for damage.
Next, EPA and LDEQ turned to federally-permitted facilities. The
agencies conducted interviews and site visits at hazardous waste
storage, transfer or disposal facilities through March 2006. Dur-
ing this time facilities in southern Louisiana were addressed, in-
cluding 25 facilities in St, Charles Parish. The site visits and inter-
views established that employees could return to work at facilities
operating in accordance with federal and state regulations.
Because of concerns that damaged chemicals in school biology
and chemistry laboratories could cause a health hazard, EPA and
LDEQ conducted assessments of 21 schools in St. Charles Parish.
Some chemical containers were found to be damaged by the hurri-
canes, flood waters and/or heat exposure. EPA and LDEQ, in coor-
dination with the Louisiana State Police and local fire depart-
ments, removed dangerous chemicals from 6 schools. At the sev-
enth school, the chemicals were removed by a private contractor
hired by the school.
Not only were there dangerous chemicals present in the schools,
but also throughout the communities. Thirty-nine hazardous mate-
rials containers were collected and disposed in landfills designed
to handle them safely.
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Above: EPA inspecting a wastewater facility for damage

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