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EPA Recovers Orphan Drums in Flood Cleanup Effort

Release Date: 10/1/1999
Contact Information: Lena Kim, 215-814-3117 & Donna Heron, 215-814-5113

Lena Kim, 215-814-3117 & Donna Heron, 215-814-5113

PHILADELPHIA -- Quick response teams from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are looking for "orphan" tanks and drums that floated down fast-moving streams and rivers when Hurricane Floyd hit the area Sept. 17.

As part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s cleanup effort, and in partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, EPA work teams are scouring residential areas and local waterways to identify and collect drums, cylinders and tanks -- some that have traveled miles downstream and are now lodged on stream banks, up-ended on streets, and even settled in backyards.

After EPA locates all the drums, the next step will involve identifying the contents of each drum, the potential effect on the environment, and finally, tracking down the owners. Called "orphans" since the owners are not always known, these drums could contain motor oil, industrial chemicals, and chlorinated solvents.

Since direct contact with these materials could pose a public health threat, people are being asked to stay away from the drums and to report their locations to local emergency officials.

According to EPA on-scene coordinators who are monitoring the Schuylkill River and smaller waterways such as Neshaminy and Darby creeks, the environmental implications of this large-scale debris situation won’t be known until the contents of all tanks and drums have been analyzed. EPA’s immediate focus is to make sure people do not come into direct contact with any industrial strength chemicals or hazardous materials.

Once identified, EPA will arrange for the rightful owners -- mostly industrial and waste management companies -- to properly dispose of them. EPA’s mid-Atlantic region will assume responsibility for disposing of any tanks or drums that cannot be identified.

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