Courtesy of EPA
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on Dec. 9 that it concluded its removal of household hazardous waste from burned-out properties in eight Oregon counties affected by wildfires in September.
The EPA began its clean-up activities on Oct. 17 in Jackson County, Oregon, and quickly expanded operations to the seven other counties: Clackamas, Douglas, Klamath, Lane, Lincoln, Linn and Marion. The agency eventually identified and removed approximately 300,000 pounds of hazardous waste from 2,285 properties.
Among the items rendered safe or removed from properties were thousands of propane tanks, ammunition, oil, gasoline, solvents, paints, pesticides and bulk asbestos. Removing these items helps ensure the safety of workers who are slated to begin removing ash and fire debris as part of the second phase of the cleanup.
To protect water quality and sensitive fish and wildlife habitats, EPA also conducted bank stabilization, erosion control and fire debris removal work on 226 riverfront properties along seven vulnerable rivers: Bear Creek in Jackson County, Little North Fork Santiam and North Fork Santiam River in Marion and Linn counties, Salmon River and Panther Creek in Lincoln County, McKenzie River in Lane County, and North Umpqua River in Douglas County.
“Over 250 EPA staff and contractors from around the country contributed to this effort to help Oregonians begin the rebuilding process,” Randy Nattis, incident commander for the EPA, says. “We’re grateful to our county, state and federal partners for helping us complete our work. The people of Oregon are in very caring and capable hands.”
The state of Oregon is now beginning the larger task of clearing ash and debris, and will also remove hazardous waste from assistance-eligible properties not cleared by EPA.