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April 2009                                                                       Volume 16 - Number 3

Perspective...

Wet Debris: A New Twist on an Old Mission Assignment

By Bo Ansley

With the landfall of the latest significant hurricanes, Katrina and Ike, The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has found themselves front and center with the task of removing debris from marine and wetland environments. This work, which is commonly referred to as “wet debris removal”, is similar to the traditional terrestrial debris removal operations and takes into account FEMA’s eligibility guidelines and typical Federal authorities. How future wet debris missions are tasked and executed, has been the topic of many discussions and analysis.

Under normal authorities, the US Coast Guard (USCG) under ESF#10 has the responsibly of removing hazardous materials (fuels, oils and batteries) from abandoned vessels and rounding up orphaned barrels. Typically USACE is responsible for operation and maintenance of Federal navigation projects. Together USACE and USCG, with coordination of others like NOAA and state/local port authorities, work to quickly open ports and harbors to establish national security and commerce.

After Hurricane Katrina, USACE and USCG were tasked with similar wet debris removal tasking for Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. In Alabama, both USACE and the State tackled debris removal from State waters. In Mississippi, both Federal agencies engaged in the initial mission assignments. The USCG took the lead under an Interagency Agreement in Louisiana and is on target to complete work by summer 2009. The inconsistencies in mission assignments and eligibility has been well documented and the Federal agencies are working together to eliminate gaps and build consistency in future mission assignments.

With the completion of the Louisiana wet debris removal operation, USCG will forego any future assignment onto USACE. In support of this decision, FEMA has developed draft policy guidance (http://www.iaem.com/Committees/GovernmentAffairs/documents/DebrisRemovalfromWaterways.DAP9523.5.pdf) to direct future work, terminology and eligibility. In January 2009 USACE drafted a fact sheet (https://eportal.usace.army.mil/sites/ENGLink/DebrisManagement/Operational%20Guidance/fact_sheet_for_wet_debris_removal.doc ) and is currently developing field operation guidance to solidify the way new mission assignments are executed.

With the recent collaboration between FEMA, USACE and USCG, guidance for future wet debris removal missions are becoming clearer. Roles for scoping the mission, defining debris eligibility, coordinating NEPA compliance and determining personal property related issues are being properly addressed. Coordination for the mission is proving to be much more intensive than the typical terrestrial debris removal missions. FEMA will issue mission assignments for broad geographic regions (counties, parishes, state boundaries, etc.), but it is up to the individual states to narrow focus areas. All NEPA documentation will be the responsibility of the local USACE District, since individuals can be held personally liable for failure to address some environmental issues. Pre-positioned USACE contractors are available to perform wet debris removal operations. Consideration is made for wetlands to ensure debris removal is more advantageous than the damage potentially caused by the removal operation, which could be imposed on environmentally sensitive sites. A diligent effort must be made to find owners of abandoned vessels and States are faced with the burden of recuperating funds from individuals to offset recovery costs (including reconciliation of insurance payments to individual who suffer loses).

With the continued development of lands adjacent to the coast, the likelihood of storm related debris landing in the surf and wetlands is imminent. Although terrestrial debris removal is not a new mission assignment, now attention is being paid to the needs and cumbersome tasks of removing wet debris. Hopefully the continued analysis, discussion and coordination of key agencies, like FEMA, USACE and USGC, sound policies will be made that are beneficial to the public without significant impacts on the environment.

References:

1. Federal Emergency Management Agency (Feb 2009). FEMA Draft Disaster Assistance Policy – Debris Removal from Waterways. Retrieved Date March 16, 2009, from International Association of Emergency Managers Web site: http://www.iaem.com/Committees/GovernmentAffairs/documents/DebrisRemovalfromWaterways.DAP9523.5.pdf

2. US Army Corps of Engineers (Jan 2009). USACE Wet Debris Removal Fact Sheet. Retrieved date March 15, 2009, from USACE ENGLink Public Portal website: https://eportal.usace.army.mil/sites/ENGLink/DebrisManagement/Operational%20Guidance/fact_sheet_for_wet_debris_removal.doc, March 2009.