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News Release 160
DEPARTMENT,
U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY ADDRESSING
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
IN POST-FLOOD CLEANUP
Volume 36-160 |
Contact: Larry Archer |
(For immediate release) |
573-751-3807 |
JEFFERSON CITY, MO. MARCH 24, 2008 -- The Missouri Department of Natural Resources has begun locating fuel tanks and other potentially hazardous containers displaced by last week's flooding and is asking for the public's assistance.
Working with the Missouri Highway Patrol, emergency responders from the Department of Natural Resources' Environmental Emergency Response Section began flights over the Black, Gasconade and Meramec rivers today, looking for abandoned propane and fuel tanks and any unidentified drums that might have been swept up by the floodwaters that inundated south and eastern Missouri. Responders will also be conducting additional searches by water.
The department is asking members of the public who find such containers to contact the department's 24-hour spill line at 573-634-2436. To help with the cleanup of these orphaned containers the department needs specific information:
- Name, phone number and address of the person making the report
- Watershed in which the container is located
- Location of the container, including GPS coordinates if possible
- Description of the container, such as propane tank, fuel tank, drum
- Evidence of leaking (sheen on water)
After the locations of these containers are determined, the department will work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on determining the quickest way to safely remove and transport the containers to an EPA-managed staging area.
Information on what individuals can do in dealing with their home cleanups after the flood is available on the department's disaster Web page at http://www.dnr.mo.gov/disaster.htm.
For news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do .
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