"Like ants on a picnic" Like ants on a picnic," crew members pounce on newly recovered household items to sort and process hazardous materials. LA-RFO Photo by Dave Harris. Back to Features

Easy Transition:
Corps takes control of hazardous household waste site from EPA
By Dave Harris, Public Affairs, Louisiana Recovery Field Office

If it’s not broken, don’t fix it. When the Army Corps of Engineers took control Nov. 22 of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility in the Gentilly neighborhood on New Orleans’ east side, it assured continuity by keeping experienced contractor crews.

"The operation is super smooth," said JoJo Johnson of Dallas, one of the contractor crew members.

Heading up the transition is Tim Gouger, program coordinator from the Corps’ Omaha District. He has overseen the changeover since earlier this year.

Why switch agencies?

"The Corps’ curbside debris removal included collection and transport of household hazardous wastes to EPA consolidation sites," Gouger said. "Now that we have substantially completed curb-side debris removal, most of the household hazardous waste results from decommissioning houses prior to their demolition. It makes sense for one agency to manage both the front end and back end of hazardous waste."

Additionally, the Corps has the expertise for management of hazardous waste as well as a contaminated debris management mission under FEMA’s Emergency Support Function #3.

Gouger emphasized a high degree of collaboration will be maintained between EPA, the Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality, and within the Corps in order to maintain expectations.

Coming in to oversee the day-to-day operation is the Rapid Response Team from Omaha District. The team is described as the Corps’ "special forces," a unit that can move in and respond immediately to contain and clean up hazardous materials, and absent those missions, they undertake cost reimbursable and design-build missions, said John Hartley, Rapid Response project manager.

Having essentially the same crews is a "lifesaver," he said. "We don’t have to change a bunch of people or find them." Corps and EPA people have "double-teamed" in recent weeks to enhance on-the-job familiarization.

Hartley said the facility handles an average of 6,000 pieces a day, right now down from 25,000 in the early days of Corps debris removal, but he said he expects the numbers to increase, since Orleans Parish will start ordering involuntary or condemnation demolitions with "500 to a thousand houses on the bubble."

What kinds of items come in for processing?

"Anything you find in the house or garage," Hartley said. Some of the materials have energy value - added to fuel - or scrap metal and go to a treatment facility. There are no sales, but "we pay less for disposal because of the added value." He said special care is needed for such items as propane cylinders and medical sharps.

Hartley likes to pinch pennies. While he surmised that costs look comparable between EPA and Corps management, Hartley said he hopes to continue what Rapid Response is known for: "better, cheaper, faster."

No observable cost difference - "I don’t see any downside - he said he wants to realize his goal by looking for added efficiencies.

"Little tweaks over a year add up to real money," he said. "My boss gets on my case because I think it’s my money!"

Accountability for hazardous waste managements comes in multiple layers, Hartley said - quality control checklists, government quality assurance checklists, foremen inspecting, and more checks and balances through the various stages of packaging, labeling and shipping.

It all starts when a loaded truck arrives at the site. The crew converges on the truck "like ants on a picnic," he said.

Hartley concluded that the experienced crews have the routine down to "sweet little processes."