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Summary

Hurricane Katrina produced unprecedented destruction, resulting in disaster debris from vegetation and man-made structures. Before Katrina, the event that left behind the greatest recorded amount of disaster-related debris in the United States was Hurricane Andrew in 1992, which generated 43 million cubic yards (CY) of debris in Florida's Metro-Dade County. When the demolition of damaged property in the New Orleans metropolitan area is complete, Hurricane Katrina will have generated more than 100 million CY of disaster debris. Before the Gulf Coast region can rebuild, particularly in the New Orleans area, much debris generated by the storm must be removed and properly managed (i.e., landfilled, recycled, or burned). The types of debris generated include vegetation (e.g., trees, limbs, shrubs), municipal solid waste (e.g., common household garbage and personal belongings), construction and demolition debris (in some instances, entire residential structures and all their contents), vehicles (e.g., cars, trucks, and boats), food waste, white goods (e.g., refrigerators, freezers, air conditioners), and household hazardous waste (e.g., cleaning agents, pesticides, pool chemicals). Each type of waste may contain or be contaminated with certain toxic or hazardous constituents. In the short term, removal of debris is necessary to facilitate the recovery of the region. In the long term, the methods in which these wastes are to be managed require proper consideration to ensure that their management (e.g., landfilling) would not pose a future threat to human health or the environment. This report provides the background and information necessary to understand why cleanup activities are still incomplete and additional funding of debris removal activities may be needed for some time to come, as well as factors that make debris removal a costly, complex, and lengthy operation. (The "debris removal" process may involve several activities, such as waste separation, hauling, landfill disposal, burning, and recycling.) To illustrate these points, this report provides an overview of the types and amounts of debris generated, the governmental agency requirements and responsibilities regarding the debris removal process, and the complicating factors unique to Hurricane Katrina. Such factors include the slow pace of residents to return to hard-hit areas of New Orleans, the difficulty in separating hazardous debris from non-hazardous debris, and issues associated with demolishing private structures and structures that may contain asbestos. Another issue of concern involves sending construction and demolition (C&D) debris to landfills located in communities affected by the storm. This could become an issue of concern to Congress if agencies participating in the cleanup become liable under provisions of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), also known as Superfund; this could be possible because the definition of C&D debris was expanded after the storm to include potentially contaminated material. Debris removal operations associated with the hurricane are essentially complete in Alabama and Mississippi. Therefore, this report focuses primarily on issues associated with continuing debris removal activities in Louisiana.

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