Due to extensive flood damage, FEMA tasked EPA to collect and manage household hazardous wastes (HHW), white goods, e-goods, orphaned haz-mat containers and asbestos on curbsides.  In addition EPA will be providing air monitoring/sampling support throughout the operational theater.  During the week of July 25th, it was determined that vermiculite insulation (aka "Zonolite" or "Zonolite Attic Insulation" or "ZAI") is present in some of the older homes and neighborhoods.  Consequently, this asbestos bearing material has been appearing in the curbside debris piles as home owners return and gut their houses.

Returning property owners continue to bring out HHW and e-wastes for collection.  Orphaned containers continue to be present in all areas but in decreasing numbers (see Operations Section).  Asbestos bearing materials are present in abundance throughout the Minot area.

Recon Teams continue to use the established grid system of Ward and McHenry counties to systematically track and manage the presence of hazardous materials.  Summaries of these assessments can be found on the EPA Field Assessment Viewer (http://react.nvs-inc.com/epasilver/).   

Reconnaissance of orphan containers along waterways and oxbows has identified significant numbers of small containers, drums and small tanks during this period.  Preliminary screening information is available on the website referenced below.  Asbestos (vermiculite) piles are being inspected by the Recon Team to verify locations and quantity; this is being done in coordination with USACE inspectors managing debris removal.

The Operation Section is organized into three branches:

    I.      Processing Pad Branch (OSC Way)
                Container Group (Waste Sorting/Bulking)
                White Goods Team (Cleaning/Freon Removal/Mercury Removal)
                START Team (Monitoring/Hazard Categorization/Counting and Reporting)

    II.     Container Collection Branch (OSC Way and OSC Nattis)
                Curbside HHW Collection Group
                Orphaned Container Collection (Land) Group (open access collection)
                Orphaned Container Collection (Remote) Group (river and difficult access collection)
                Recon Team

    III.    Asbestos Collection Branch (OSC Guy)
                Bag Collection Group (collected bagged asbestos material)
                Excavation Group (excavate debris piles)
                Vac Group (vacuum loose piles of ZAI)
                Recon Team

Process Pad Branch:   The Pad crews continue to sort and bulk the incoming streams of HHW and orphaned containers.  As of 9/3/11, over 91,800 containers have been collected and processed at the Collection Pad.  This includes: small containers, drums, tanks, propane tanks, cylinders, batteries, fire extinguishers, fluorescent bulbs, ammunition, small engines and other.   

White goods continue to be received from the USACE collection operation, and to date 5,117 have been received of which 1,840 are refrigeration/freezer units.  EPA ERRS crews process the units: Freon and oils are removed for recycling, and spoiled food is removed and disposed of in the landfill. The White Goods Team has cleaned over 1,500 refrigerators and processed over 2,500 inert white goods to date.  Freon and/or mercury switches have been removed from over 1,120 refrigerators.  The processed refrigerators, along with all the inert white goods, have been turned over to the city of Minot for scrap-metal recycling. The e-waste recovery total volume is over 565 cy, more than 250 cy has been shipped off-site for recycling, and another load is ready to ship.

Bulked loads of flammables, paints, oil, oxidizers, pesticides, caustics, acids, and batteries are being prepared for off-site shipment and disposal.  The first loads of flammables and latex paints (recycling) were shipped for disposal/recycling on August 30. Every effort is being made to find reuse and recycling options for the waste streams generated from EPA's operations in Minot.

Hazardous classification by the START chemists on the majority of 1,200+ containers (1-85 gallons in size) of unknown materials was completed 8/24.  The Region 8 "Level A Truck," which houses a mobile GC/MS unit and a fume hood, has been brought in to assist the identification effort. Flammable and combustible liquids are being checked for halogenated compounds (chlorinated organics) and prepared for fuel blends, if appropriate.

Asbestos Collection Branch:  As of September 3, EPA has removed ZAI containing material from 255 properties. A total of 324 properties have been assessed for ZAI and 320 require some form of collection.  This has resulted in the removal and disposal of approximately 1,766 cubic yards of asbestos contaminated debris.  Currently, a list of 65 properties are awaiting removal work.  However, this number is continually added to, as others are completed. The asbestos Recon Team continues to find ZAI materials heavily distributed throughout the debris piles from older homes and neighborhoods in Minot.  This concentrated distribution forms something akin to an abaculus in adjoining portions of Evacuation Zones 3, 4, 5 and 6 all debris zones.pdf .    

USACE continues addressing a larger number of properties with debris and lesser amounts of ZAI materials.  These properties may need follow up assessments to determine if further asbestos removal is needed.  Also, because of the issue of recontamination mentioned above, it will be prudent to periodically reassess the properties where work has already occurred.  These reassessment procedures are discussed in the ZAI Collection Work Plan.

Container Collection Branch:  HHW and orphaned container (OC) collection efforts continue throughout the area of operation.  Collection of OCs has reached approximately 10,000 items complete by ERRS by September 3.  The area west of the Hwy 83 By-Pass through Burlington has been cleared of items and a verification reconnaissance inspection was completed by OSC (Nattis). A few items that will be collected during HHW collection remain. The Recon Teams (START and SERAS) and the ERRS crews were combined during the week of August 29 to perform recon and collection simultaneously along the river corridor below Minot.  The road acces in this southeastern reach of the river is extremely limited.  Items were recovered by boat and transported to the put-in locations.  Areas below Grid SE07 through Sawyer are clear of OCs.  The area below Sawyer was started on Labor Day, Monday, Sept. 5th.

If possible, orphan tanks and/or containers are returned to their original owner.  A summary of the collection efforts to date, as well as a graphical representation of collection trends can be found at the following link:  Total Count as of 082911.pdf 

A link to a website http://react.nvs-inc.com/EPASilver/ contains a visual summary of all recon, collection, and other information through the area of operation.

The asbestos containing material disposal arrangements are being finalized.  The ND Dept of Heath has been contacted regarding the appropriate facilities in ND to receive asbestos and that are in compliance. Given the current situation in Minot and the need to ensure rapid removal and disposal of asbestos debris waste, it was determined by the OSC to not require an asbestos disposal facility to be on the approved CERCLA Off-Site disposal list.  According to NDDOH, Minot and Sawyer both have State approved asbestos disposal facilities.  Currently, the asbestos waste collected by EPA will be shipped to the Clean Harbors facility in Sawyer.  The CERCLA off-site rule (found @ 40 CFR 300.440) allows the OSC to waive the requirements of the rule in certain circumstances.  The conditions present in Minot satisfy the basis to apply this waiver in order to facilitate the quick disposal needed to safely complete the task of removing vermiculite insulation from the streets, sidewalks, and yards of Minot under the ESF 10 Mission Assignment.  This waiver is provided for in the NCP at 40 CFR 300.440(a)(2): (2) In cases of emergency removal actions under CERCLA, emergency actions taken during remedial actions, or response actions under section 311 of the Clean Water Act where the release poses an immediate and significant threat to human health and the environment, the On-Scene Coordinator (OSC) may determine that it is necessary to transfer CERCLA waste offsite without following the requirements of this section.

*based on a visual estimate, a more accurate figure will be tracked as the material is packaged for off-site shipment