Here are some links to help you out.

Preparing
Ready.gov: this is the best place for most people to start. Especially check out their hurricane page (not a bad idea to review their earthquake page, too).

Remember that generator exhaust is TOXIC.  Always put generators outside well away from doors, windows, and vents. Never use a generator inside homes, garages, crawlspaces, sheds, or similar areas. Carbon monoxide (CO) is deadly, can build up quickly, and can linger for hours. Read more.

General info from EPA about reducing risks to health and the environment from a hurricane.

Social media accounts to follow for hurricane information
Facebook

• National Hurricane Center
• Department of Homeland Security
• FEMA

Twitter (hashtag #Irene)

• National Hurricane Center
• Department of Homeland Security
• FEMA
• FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate

Looking at the picture of the BP Exploration Alaska facility taken from the window of a small plane as EPA inspectors flew over; you can’t help but notice the vastness of the Arctic tundra and the great expanse of pipeline that covers it. Home to habitat for caribou and many migratory bird species, the area also contains an abundance of domestic oil.

Those oil reserves, tucked below the often snow-covered surface, will help fuel the nation as we work to expand domestic energy production, transition to cleaner sources of fuel, and innovate our way to a cleaner, greener economy. But, the extraction of that oil must be done in a way that follows the law to ensure the protection of the fragile Arctic environment and the health and safety of the people who live and work there.

In 2006, leaks caused by a corroded pipeline spilled more than 5,000 barrels of oil, covering the tundra and reaching a nearby lake. The spill was the largest ever on the North Slope of Alaska and was the result of the company failing to properly operate and maintain its 1,600 miles of pipeline. Because of that negligence, EPA, working with our partners at the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Transportation (who oversee pipeline safety) pushed for the toughest per barrel penalty ever for an oil spill.

This week, we settled with BP, imposing a $25 million dollar penalty and requiring the company to drastically reduce the types of conditions, like internal pipe corrosion, that lead to the spills. But, we can’t just take their word for it when a company has a history of failing to properly maintain and monitor their operations, so we have also called for BP to hire an independent monitor to confirm that they are meeting the requirements of the settlement.

EPA takes its responsibility to protect people’s health and the environment very seriously. We have an obligation to vigorously enforce our nation’s environmental laws and companies that cut corners and fail to follow those laws will be penalized. American’s expect companies to operate in a safe, responsible and legal way and EPA is hard at work to make sure that they do.

About the author: Cynthia Giles is assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

After last year’s snowstorms, I decided to purchase a heater for my home in case the power goes out again. The fireplace helped, but it just wasn’t warm enough. I needed more.

After visiting several stores, I realized that there were a variety of heaters to choose from. I saw several energy efficient heaters, but they all required electricity; therefore I decided to purchase a fuel heater.

That required me to also purchase fuel, so I was thinking to myself, do I really want to do all of this? But then I realized that my electricity seems to go out for every weather condition.

Once I purchased the heater, I decided to try it before the next snowstorm actually arrived. The heater felt great and it kept my house extremely warm. But when I turned it off, I then noticed there was some smoke. As soon as I noticed the smoke I began to think to myself, what are the side effects from this heater?

After the power was restored I decided to do the research I should have done prior to purchasing the fuel heater. I then realized that it is not the best thing to use, but what do you do for a heat source when your power goes out for days?

Check out DOE Energy Savers and EPA’s Burnwise Program information.

About the author: Denise Owens has worked with the Environmental Protection Agency for over 25 years.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

Luckily meteorologists in the Washington, DC metro area are not forecasting a major snowstorm in the near future. Nonetheless, as survivors of Snowgeddon 2010, my family and I are beginning to discuss preparations for the next major North American blizzard. We’re not all on the same page, though. While my youngest is praying for another major snow storm so that she can stay home and go sledding, my husband and I are debating the pro’s and con’s of investing in a snow blower and/or generator.

During the first day of Snowgeddon 2010, we were without electricity for 15 hours.  Energy Star windows kept the house comfortable for nearly 12 hours. When it started to get cold, we lit a fire and had great family time around the fireplace. While a cozy fireplace is still an option, we have to make sure that we burn firewood wisely.  Smoke produces a combination of gases and fine particles from burning wood. If you don’t use your wood-burning appliance properly, you can expose your family to serious health effects,
especially if they suffer from heart or respiratory diseases.

Personally, I am very concerned about the use of generators around the home. These gasoline-powered appliances can produce deadly concentrations of carbon monoxide in indoor air. Even though I know we have to operate generators outside to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning, the mere thought of the nearby exhaust scares me. Although we have a carbon monoxide detector, don’t want to have my family anywhere near that exhaust.

Now the other thing we’re also debating is the issue of the snow blower. It was not fun shoveling those tons of snow and we have the “battle scars” to prove it. Furthermore, gas-operated equipment like snowblowers and generators are also sources of air pollution, something we should all try to prevent. The only thing that is making me consider investing in this high ticket item is the probability that if we buy it, it won’t snow this year. We shall see. Are you preparing for snowgeddon 2011?

More about snow and ice

About the author: Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and chairs EPA’s Multilingual Communications Task Force. Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

While my mother and I escaped to safety, in the aftermath of the storm hundreds of EPA personnel and emergency response volunteers traveled into the area. Their mission was to assess the environmental impact of the event and uncover any immediate health threats. As EPA responders deployed throughout the city, they ended up rescuing more than 800 people.

2010 marks the fifth year since Hurricane Katrina struck, and we have asked some of the responders on the scene in 2005 to tell their stories. Today we are sharing those stories with you, and providing a glimpse into an unprecedented response effort. I invite you to read their accounts below,  learn about the events on the ground and in the water five years ago, and share your remembrances.

More about EPA activities in response to Katrina.

It’s hard to believe that we now are reflecting on the fifth anniversary of Katrina and the devastation it left. The lessons and experiences of responding in the Hurricane’s aftermath simultaneously feels much more recent and ancient.

All of us – EPA responders and citizens alike – recall images from the terrible flood: displaced families and individuals who symbolized an entire city, and their abandoned homes and businesses. Utter, heartbreaking devastation.

What I recall most strongly at this point, however, is more positive and hopeful. I spent two weeks or so in Louisiana, only a few weeks after the storm had hit. While I wasn’t in the first wave of responders who helped pull victims from the flood waters, I was there pretty early in the response effort. And within just those few weeks, I was incredibly impressed with how EPA staff from all across the country responded.

I remember someone saying while I was there, that there were something like 1,000 EPA employees volunteering at that moment to help the people of New Orleans and the rest of the Gulf Coast cope with the disaster. This amount of people represented a new EPA regional office – and a larger office than any of the existing ten – which had been pulled together in one month’s time. This represented a thousand families across the country where a mom or dad, a son or daughter, a sibling or loved one, had dropped every other important thing in their life, to respond to a call of duty and try to help our fellow American’s cope with a dreadful situation.

The hours were long and exhausting, the comforts nonexistent, the suffering we all witnessed was terribly disturbing. But nonetheless, responding during that emergency was probably the proudest moment I have ever had working at EPA during a 19 year career. It wasn’t about us, and it still isn’t. It’s about pitching in when there is a need and you are able to do something to help.

Being a part of EPA’s cleanup efforts in Louisiana reinforced my belief in the strength of the human spirit and our ability to live, fight and even thrive in the face of loss and destruction. In late September 2005 I reported to EPA’s Incident Command Post in Baton Rouge as an Assistant Public Information Officer (PIO). Shortly after arriving I had an opportunity to drive out to Slidell, Louisiana with the outgoing Assistant PIO.

Like many other communities, Slidell was hit hard from flooding. Nothing prepared me for the emotions of what I was about to see and experience. Homes toppled over in canals. Sofas perched in trees 20 feet above us. The inescapable smell of decaying animals. My nature is that I often absorb the feelings of those around me. I remembered feeling sick, overwhelmed and sad after a couple of hours of meeting folks in Slidell and witnessing their loss. I had nothing tangible to give the hurricane victims other than my time helping out with EPA’s household hazardous waste cleanup efforts. The folks in Slidell, and in particular the last resident that I met, reminded me of the value of listening and the importance of being there, the need for humans to feel connected.

A man in his late 60’s stood near his flooded home on a rural road just outside Slidell. It was almost completely destroyed, definitely uninhabitable. We stopped our car, and he invited us to look inside his home and walk around. Flooded and too dangerous to go into, we stood outside, under a tree with that sofa high above our heads. We listened as he told us of his losses and that his wife of 40 years had kidney disease and had to be taken to a hospital in Baton Rouge shortly before Katrina hit. She had only a few months to live he told us. Their home was an anchor to so many of their memories, and now that was pretty much destroyed. My heart was at its lowest as I thought we really had nothing to offer him. We had no check to give him. No promises of getting him into that home any time soon. I remember I felt embarrassed for “wasting his time”. As we said good bye and walked to our car, he yelled out “Thank you for stopping by. Thank you for listening and just letting us know that someone is out there trying to help us!” He had the biggest smile on his face. And that smile, and his words of thanks, gave me such strength and reinvigorated my own determination in the days and weeks that followed. Five years later, recalling that moment, I can see his smile like it was yesterday and it still lifts me.

Nothing teaches you more about what EPA does and why we do it than taking part in a response to an emergency. I had the privilege of serving as a public information officer during the response to Hurricane Katrina, a chilling experience that taught me lessons and provided memories still very much alive to this day.

I arrived at the Incident Command Post in Metairie, Louisiana about six weeks after the storm, and will never forget the silent ride from the airport as I looked over the devastation left by the receding waters. While the pictures on TV were shocking, seeing the watermarks well above the doors of home after home with my own eyes was much more compelling and disturbing. The city was deserted and quiet. But the Command Post, in which staff from EPA, the Coast Guard and the state environmental agency were working side by side, was cookin’. It was like a small city, completely organized to cover every needed function, from the operation itself – largely focused at that point on the identification and retrieval of hazardous materials – to the planning and logistics required to manage such a huge operation, to the simple needs of food and shelter for more than 100 people. If you needed bug spray, or a map to provide to a reporter, or an update on the exact number of electronic devices we had collected, there was a place to find it, and find it quickly.

The scope of the operation was simply mind boggling. One image etched in my memory is the sight of thousands of refrigerators lined up in neat rows in a huge field waiting to have their Freon removed so they could be crushed and recycled. It was a giant refrigerator graveyard. As I walked up and down the aisles with reporters in tow, I kept thinking how each refrigerator – a mundane part of daily life – had come from someone’s home that was now destroyed.

Looking back, I sometimes think about the 7:00 am mandatory meeting for the whole team – over a hundred bleary-eyed people, some who had been up half the night planning the next day’s work, getting their marching orders. One of my jobs was to report the results of the previous night’s sports scores, information critical to team morale. We got our assignments, the safety brief, and were sent off for our 12-hour shifts, exhorted by the burly and boisterous state Incident Commander to “Plan your play, and play your plan.” That’s what EPA does, even in the toughest situations, and does it best.

In early October, 2005, I was driving through the Ninth Ward on the way to do an inspection, and came upon two women in the front yard of the remains of a house knocked down by the floodwater. They looked haggard and exhausted. I stopped and asked them if they had food and water. They told me they had just come back to their home from Baton Rouge, where they went to escape the disaster. They were an elderly mother and her young granddaughter, sifting through the remains of their lives. looking for whatever they could find. “We were both born and raised in this house” the grandmother said. “Now it’s all gone. But at least we have food and water for today. We’ll be all right. Thanks for asking.” I drove on, knowing I would forever remember their tired faces as they searched for future meaning in the disaster of the past.

The storm surge from Hurricane Rita had lifted the house of an elderly couple off its foundation and set it back several feet, resulting in a demolition order. Rural, somewhat isolated, the Calcasieu Parrish agricultural area south of Lake Charles had been ruined for years by the salty water that flooded the rice fields to a depth of nearly thirty feet. It was February, 2006, and as I stood in their front yard, observing the demolition of the more than fifty year old house, I watched tears form in the eyes of the couple, standing a few feet away, as they watched their home since the 1950s’ being torn apart like it was garbage. I walked up to them and asked if I could get them a cup of coffee or something. “Oh, we’ll be alright”. the wife said. “We built this house in 1952, and we’ve been raising rice and beef cattle here ever since, and it’s just a little hard to say good-bye.” “Our neighbor had it pretty hard though.” said the husband. “How so?” I asked. “Well” said the husband, “as the flood water began to rise to a foot high in his house, he finally decided he had better get out, so he got in his brand new pickup and headed down the road. He made it as far as our old oak tree, here in the front yard..” The husband pointed to a gnarled old tree in the southwest corner of their property, near the two lane blacktop farm road. “The force of the incoming floodwater shoved his pickup off the road and into the tree, where it lodged. He climbed out of the truck into the tree, and kept climbing as the water rose higher and higher. He spent more than forty eight hours in the top of that old tree, kicking back snakes and ‘gators, till the Coast Guard came by in a boat and got him out. He still doesn’t know where his truck ended up, but he’s alive. We left before the surge came in. We’ve got our pickup and clothes, and each other. We don’t really need nothin’ else.”

In my 17 years at EPA, leading the Web response to Hurricane Katrina was one of my proudest, most meaningful experiences. I wasn’t on the front lines, but coordinating online communications across several offices required quick thinking and long hours under intense pressure. And let me tell you, we’re all lucky to have my colleagues who work in the headquarters Emergency Operations Center.

Our Web effort actually started a few days before landfall. I was at a picnic over the weekend and my boss called. Thirty minutes later, I was downtown, prepping materials and planning the opening days of Web development. One of the first pieces we published helped drinking water companies prepare.

I had two young daughters then, and they missed having Daddy to play with while I worked long hours. But we discussed how our family could help people hurt by the storm. My girls didn’t have money to donate, and they couldn’t physically go clean up. But what they could do was to let me work the hours I needed to work. It was a small sacrifice compared to what people lost, but I was proud to have passed on my dedication to public service. When people ask me why I work in government, I respond that I have the privilege of serving people as we did after Katrina.

We are all aware of the madness at local supermarkets and hardware stores on the eve of a storm. Since we can anticipate the possibility of power outages during or right after a hurricane, why not make sure we have flashlights and batteries on hand well in advance of a hurricane? A battery-operated radio is another useful item to monitor storm developments. I remember that during one of the snowstorms this year, my small battery-operated radio was my lifeline to the outside world when my family and I were stuck home without electricity for 15 hours!

Speaking about electrical outages, never use a generator inside your home or an enclosed space like a basement or garage. The engine exhaust generates carbon monoxide, a toxic deadly toxic gas. Make sure these portable generators are used safely.

As a result of a hurricane or natural emergency, drinking water supplies may be contaminated. You can prepare by having bottled water at hand. Listen to local media reports during and after the storm for information on water safety.

While you are planning how to protect your family and home during a hurricane, don’t forget about your pets. If you live along the coastline or in an area prone to floods, there is the potential you might have to evacuate with short notice. Plan ahead where you can take your pet in such an emergency. And lastly, don’t forget about important papers like passports and insurance documents. It’s always best to prepare for the worse case scenario to be safe before the hurricane winds and rain come your way.

About the author:  Lina Younes has been working for EPA since 2002 and chairs EPA’s Multilingual Communications Task Force.  Prior to joining EPA, she was the Washington bureau chief for two Puerto Rican newspapers and she has worked for several government agencies.

While we were snowed in at home, the power went off intermittently. One day we were without power for a span of 15 hours! During that long stretch without electricity, we had no heat and, of course, no functioning appliances. Our only lifeline to the outside world was a battery-operated radio. I must note that thanks to the green repairs we made to our home last year, the temperature in the house stayed relatively stable even without heat during that blackout. While it did cool down after 12 hours without power, it was nothing that an extra layer of clothing couldn’t handle.

While we were snowed in, I realized how dependent we have become on electricity for home entertainment. We take for granted the fact that we cannot use our television sets, computers, the Internet, electronic toys, rechargeable batteries, wireless technology without electricity. As a family we rediscovered some traditional forms of entertainment like board games to pass the time. My youngest even read several books on her own initiative. Not a bad lesson during the blizzard of 2010.

Nonetheless, I would like to leave you with some advice for future snow and ice storms. Try to have the necessary supplies well in advance so you don’t have to venture out unnecessarily during inclement weather. Use generators and other combustion appliances wisely. Stay safe.

A few weeks ago, when the CAPECO oil tank farm in Bayamon burst into flames, less than a mile from home, I went straight to the Internet for information. While most local news sites only had a few sentences on the incident, some of my friends had already posted their amateur videos of the fire on Facebook. As a public affairs specialist, I can tell you that we’ve come a long way from just using traditional media tools. Nowadays messaging happens in realtime. The Internet and social media have added a new dimension to the field of communications.

The blog you are reading is part of this new dimension. When I was asked to write for Greenversations, I was a little hesitant. With training from EPA’s Office of Public Affairs, I got it nailed. Since blogs are statements from a personal perspective, they are a great tool to quickly strike a resonating chord with the reader.

Recently I read a speech on social media given by GSA’s Chief Information Officer. In it she emphasized how government is changing the way it interacts with citizens through blogging. I also read an article on crisis communications which discussed how blogging shapes our response to a crisis. It provides timely information from a human perspective. A human voice can help connect with the public’s emotional response during a crisis. I invite you to read Greenversations or Gov Gab at USA.gov and GobiernoUSA.gov It is one way to stay connected with the people we work for: the general public.

About the author: Brenda Reyes Tomassini joined EPA in 2002. She is a public affairs specialist in the SanJuan, Puerto Rico office and also handles community relations for the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division.

What was a long awaited weekend all year long – we were holding our Halloween party – turned into an emergency response for me. Within ten minutes of the explosion, I called our Response and Remediation Branch Chief who in turn called the National Response Center.

As a public affairs specialist in the San Juan office of EPA, I had dealt with minor emergencies; this, however, was a real environmental threat since various drums containing jet fuel, Bunker C, diesel and other petroleum derivatives were on fire. The CAPECO facility is located on Road #28 in an area that encompasses three towns: Guaynabo, Bayamon and Cataño and is next to Fort Buchanan, a large military base. The San Juan Bay is two miles away and wetlands and minor water bodies are nearby. The reason this emergency hit home is because, aside from living nearby the facility, I drive down this very same road at 5 am to go to the gym at Fort Buchanan. The tanks are visible from the road.

The first few hours were frantic as federal, state and municipal agencies tried to contain the fire and activate all emergency protocols to ensure the citizens in this largely populated area were not affected. An Incident Command Center was established within 18 hours at a sports facility in San Juan, and we were deployed to work. The media and citizens needed accurate information. We worked hard to provide it.

I must say I have learned more from this experience than I have before in my seven years at EPA. While the fire is out, now the real work begins. I will keep you posted.

About the author: Brenda Reyes Tomassini joined EPA in 2002. She is a public affairs specialist in the San Juan, Puerto Rico office and also handles community relations for the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division.

El fin de semana que tanto habíamos anhelado durante casi un año—la celebración de nuestra fiesta de Halloween, se convirtió para mí en una respuesta a una emergencia. A los diez minutos de la explosión, llamé al jefe de nuestra oficina de respuesta y remediación de emergencias quien a su vez se comunicó con el Centro Nacional de Respuesta a Emergencias.

Como especialista en asuntos públicos en la oficina de la EPA en San Juan, he tenido que trabajar en emergencias de menor escala. Sin embargo, esta se trataba de una verdadera amenaza ambiental ya que varios tanques contenían combustible para aviones, Bunker C, diésel y otros derivados de petróleo que estaban ardiendo en llamas. La instalación de CAPECO está localizada en la Carretera #28 en un área que abarca tres pueblos: Guaynabo, Bayamón y Cataño y se encuentra frente a una base militar grande, el Fuerte Buchanan. La Bahía de San Juan está a tan sólo dos millas de distancia y varios humedales y cuerpos de agua de menor escala se encuentran alrededor. Por esa razón, la emergencia me tocó muy de cerca, a parte del hecho de que vivo cerca de la instalación, sino también porque viajo por esa misma carretera a las cinco da la mañana cuando voy al gimnasio en el Fuerte Buchanan. Los tanques son visibles de la carretera.

Las primeras horas fueron frenéticas mientras las agencias federales, estatales y municipales trataron de contener el fuego y activaron todos los protocolos de emergencia para asegurar que los ciudadanos en esa región altamente poblada no fueran afectados. Un Centro de Comando de Incidentes fue establecido a las 18 horas del evento en un centro deportivo en San Juan y fuimos desplegados allí para trabajar. Los medios y la ciudadanía necesitan información exacta. Nosotros trabajamos arduamente para brindarla.

Tengo que decir que aprendí más de esta experiencia de lo que había aprendido en mis siete años con la EPA. Aunque apagamos ya el fuego, ahora el trabajo real comienza. Los mantendré informados.

Sobre la autor: Brenda Reyes Tomassini se unió a la EPA en el 2002. Labora como especialista de relaciones públicas en la oficina de EPA en San Juan, Puerto Rico donde también maneja asuntos comunitarios para la División de Protección Ambiental del Caribe.