Managing safety, the environment,
and cost

94 miles of tires recycled

Hazardous material disposal

An "Asbestos Demolition"

A City Says Thanks

Executing A Historic Mission Safely, Quickly with Respect

Debris and demolition is a part of the Katrina and Rita recovery work that is assigned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers by the Federal Emergency.  At the forefront of planning are our key values of safety, integrity, and respect for each other and for our victim communities and property owners.

Katrina and Rita combined to produce the largest debris removal mission in American history.  FEMA, the Corps, partner municipalities, contractors, and advisors and specialists from around the world combined to produce a record-debris pace in a debris field that was 5 times that of Hurricane Andrew and many times larger than the World Trade Center debris field.

A night time demolition in New Orleans

Statistics

• 28.5 million cubic yards

• 7,000 demolitions

• Enough debris to fill the Superdome 10 times!

• Enough debris to fill 18 Empire State Buildings!

Benefit to Victim Communities
Removing debris from rights of way enhances rescue and recovery operations in municipalities and neighborhoods, and allows the economy, schools, and government to come back to life.

Assisting private property owners with curbside debris pick up and even private property debris removal helps families and lives get back to normal and speeds the recovery process.

The Army Corps of Engineers uses contractors to actually remove the debris, employing quality assurance teams from around the world to ensure the work is done safely and in a cost effective manner within guidelines established by FEMA.

A variety of vehicles await processing

Debris Management
Materials are taken to landfills specifically selected and approved by state and environmental organization for three types of storm-related debris:

• Construction and demolition

• Vegetative

• Hazardous materials

The focus is then on reducing debris through chipping, grinding, and recycling, or disposing of the material through standard landfill operations.

The FEMA-USACE debris mission and team have been featured on several national television programs such as Modern Marvels, Big Machines, Boneyard, Dirty Jobs.  The debris teams have overcome many technical, social, and environmental challenges to accomplish a record mission in record time.