Terraine supported Hurricane Katrina relief efforts through a USEPA Superfund Technical Assessment and Response Team (START) contract. Terraine provided services to START Contractor Weston Solutions through a subcontract with Dougherty Sprague Environmental (DSE). Terraine personnel supported a number of environmental programs including:

• Emergency Response

• Environmental Reconnnaisance

• Household Hazardous Waste (HHW)

• Data Collection and Organization

• Field Sampling

Terraine mobilized professional and technical personnel from multiple offices to support this project. Terraine personnel had leadership roles in many tasks including development of data systems, field team leaders and managing field observations (FOB) teams. Examples of tasks performed include:

Emergency Response.Terraine personnel served on emergency response teams and performed sampling and monitoring work in Levels A and B. Emergency response activities included investigating and assessing conditions in flood-damaged buildings including hospitals, and cleanup activities associated with spills.

Environmental Reconnaissance.Terraine personnel performed reconnaissance of flood-damaged areas and identified locations and sites that required additional investigation and assessment.

Household Hazardous Waste.The objective of the Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) program was to remove potentially hazardous materials from the waste stream and debris that was generated as a result of Hurricane Katrina.  Services provided included distributing HHW flyers through residential areas, working with and monitoring Emergency Rapid Response Services (ERRS) contractor personnel to collect HHW, field reconnaissance to identify staging areas and other tasks to support the HHW program.

Data Collection and Organization.Terraine’s work included development and startup of a computer-based system to collect and organize data regarding hurricane damage on Grand Isle utilizing personal data assistants (PDA), digital cameras and GPS units.

Field Sampling. Terraine personnel assisted in the collection of environmental samples to assess water quality and exposure conditions in flood-damaged areas.