Editor's Note: This will be the last daily "After Katrina" report. After this, we at PennWell Water Group -- WaterWorld, Industrial WaterWorld, and Water & Wastewater International magazines -- will post individual items related more selectively to the water and wastewater industry on an as needed basis. We hope you've found the two weeks of comprehensive coverage that we've provided on how the industry has responded informative. We know we've been a little inspired by some of the efforts. We would like to thank everyone who has sent us news items and photos to include here. While the environmental impact is still not well defined, you can track the progress that's been made almost daily by clicking links to earlier "After Katrina" reports listed at the bottom of this webpage. Our first coverage was on Aug. 31, when President Bush -- who pledged the full might and money of the federal government to New Orleans' reconstruction in a nationally televised speech Sept. 15 from Jackson Square -- noted succinctly: "This recovery will take years"...
In other news below, see:
-- U.S. Army's TARDEC sends water treatment units to Miss. for hurricane relief
-- KBR captures another Katrina cleanup contract
-- WEF developing Hurricane Katrina technical session for WEFTEC.05
-- Headworks Inc. touts Katrina Job Bank Initiative to water industry
-- Chicago-area signage firm offers 'We Will Rebuild' stickers to New Orleans
• U.S. Army's TARDEC sends water treatment units to Miss. for hurricane relief -- WARREN, MI., Sept. 15, 2005 -- Engineers from the U.S. Army's Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) and the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation), earlier this week began generating potable water using purification equipment to assist the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the Hurricane Katrina relief effort. At least one of several units sent to Biloxi and Waveland, Miss., is capable of producing 100,000 gallons a day of potable water. They're being used to support a hospital, residents and relief efforts...
• KBR Captures Another Katrina Cleanup Contract -- WASHINGTON, DC, Sept. 15, 2005 (DefenseIndustryDaily.com) -- Kellogg Brown & Root Services Inc. in Arlington, VA received $15 million for Task Order 0020 under its $500 million maximum "emergency response" contract with the US government. DID covered the particulars of that contract on Monday (which calls for the company to be paid nearly $45 million for various jobs, including revamping pumps, in New Orleans, Pascagoula and Gulfport, Miss.); they set out a number of specifications that leave just a handful of global firms able to meet them.
• WEF developing Hurricane Katrina technical session for WEFTEC.05 -- ALEXANDRIA, VA, Sept. 15, 2005 -- The Water Environment Federation (WEF) announces the development of a new technical session on Hurricane Katrina for WEFTEC®.05. The session is expected to feature a panel of experts who will discuss the storm's impacts to local water quality, public health, and the environment, as well as the status of recovery efforts in the devastated areas of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. WEF has joined in the call for financial contributions to disaster relief agencies and is supporting Gulf Coast-area water utilities by encouraging its members and other professionals to register with the Department of Homeland Security's National Emergency Resource Registry...
• Headworks Inc. touts Katrina Job Bank Initiative to water industry -- HOUSTON, Sept. 15, 2005 -- A few days after the levies broke in New Orleans, Houston-based Headworks Inc.'s CEO Michele LaNoue joined with The Houston Business Journal and other small businesses to provide employment opportunities and lodging assistance for those displaced by Hurricane Katrina. The HBJ's and the municipal and industrial wastewater screening manufacturer's grassroots effort has reached beyond Texas as far as Detroit. The HBJ has generously started a Katrina Relief Job Bank online at www.houston.bizjournalshire.com for companies looking to help...
• Chicago signage firm offers 'We Will Rebuild' stickers to New Orleans -- LIBERTYVILLE, IL, Sept. 15, 2005 -- William Frick & Co. is assisting construction crews in rebuilding areas affected by hurricane Katrina with much needed warning, danger and caution signs as well as utility pole numbers and safety markers. Signage will help identify dangerous sites to both workers and civilians in affected areas and will help to protect them from injury. In addition, the Chicago-area company is providing "We Will Rebuild" stickers...
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If you would like to assist financially, to contribute directly through the American Red Cross and for the latest news on Hurricane Katrina relief efforts, see: www.redcross.org/news/.
The latest government agency information on the Hurricane Katrina response can be found at:
-- Department of Homeland Security: www.dhs.gov/interweb/assetlibrary/katrina.htm
-- FEMA: http://www.fema.gov/press/2005/katrinarecovery.shtm
-- USEPA (including results of ongoing water quality testing), see: www.epa.gov/katrina/
-- U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (see "Daily Update on CDC Response"): www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/hurricanes/
-- U.S. Geological Survey (with before and after photos of the hurricane's devastation along the Gulf Coast): http://coastal.er.usgs.gov/hurricanes/katrina/
-- FirstGov, the U.S. Government's official website (English/Spanish): www.firstgov.gov
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For earlier "After Katrina" reports and related industry news dating to Sept. 1, see below:
-- After Katrina: Congress opens investigation, charges filed, tax cuts delayed & water flows (Sept. 14, 2005) -- As the president prepared to address the nation on Katrina, southern Mississippi had most water and sewer service restored. New Orleans reported 40% of pumps draining the city were operational. And federal biologists began studying the storm's impact, with a Duke engineering professor predicting pumping water into Lake Pontchartrain was just a problem delayed in terms of environmental problems. AWWA adds disaster preparedness to upcoming conference themes...
-- After Katrina: Post-hurricane environmental details emerge, water plants restarted (Sept. 13, 2005) -- A Shreveport expert caught in New Orleans works to get water and wastewater treatment services up and running. Officials indicate two thirds of SE Louisiana water treatment plants were now operational. As the Port of New Orleans prepares to reopen, aid shipments of water treatment equipment arrive in region from Holland and South Africa. President names veteran firefighter as new FEMA director and acknowledges responsibility for failures in federal response...
-- After Katrina: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers moves forward in disaster recovery efforts (Sept. 12, 2005) -- As FEMA chief resigns, Corps details breadth of recovery efforts to date. With over $2.9 billion in missions active in support of relief efforts, it's working with local, state and federal partners to not only drain New Orleans but assist in recovery across the Gulf. It's expected the city will be fully drained by mid-October. More concerns were expressed on the "toxic stew" being drained from the city into Lake Pontchartrain...
-- After Katrina: As FEMA chief exits, engineers dig in for long haul of hurricane recovery (Sept. 9, 2005) -- With criticism mounting, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff dismisses FEMA director. President signs bill for more aid to region, as squabbles erupt over investigating federal reaction to disaster. New Orleans newspaper reviews "Hurricane Pam," an emergency preparedness exercise whose Sept. 20, 2004 report predicted a worse scenario than Katrina. Projected tab of destruction rises to $125 billion. ABB, JEA, AMWA, CH2M Hill, Fluor, Bechtel and ASFE among latest gearing up for long term rebuilding of region...
-- After Katrina: N.O. drainage, evacuations continue as Congress mulls $51.8B in Gulf aid (Sept. 8, 2005) -- Veolia Water would like to hear from employees from its wastewater facilities in New Orleans or Kenner, La. In addition, Thompson Pump and Peerless Pump both pledged immediate assistance to helping flooded areas, hospitals and other crucial infrastructure get back up and running in affected areas. Meanwhile, criticism of disaster preparedness and the immediate response continued as evacuees were shuttled to cities around the country...
-- After Katrina: ITT Industries offers funds, critical material to aid hurricane relief efforts (Sept. 7, 2005) -- Equipment available to remove flood waters, provide safe drinking water, assist search and rescue. The company's Royce Technologies unit in East New Orleans, is likely to relocate temporarily. Meanwhile, the EPA and HHC have warned about contaminated floodwaters there, but have eased up on boil water alerts in surrounding parishes and other areas. A new, $15 million pipe factory in Gulfport also has delayed an opening scheduled for later this month...
-- After Katrina: Water professionals respond with volunteer expertise, equipment, supplies (Sept. 6, 2005) -- Amid revelations of an impending toxic stew of chemicals, sewage, etc., to be cleaned up in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, the American Water Works Association's 57,000 members have mobilized to aid victims by offering professional expertise and personnel and by donating water-related equipment, supplies and other resources throughout affected areas in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. See more headlines of efforts to respond to the disaster...
-- After Katrina: Damage estimate bumped to $100B, hurricane relief efforts escalate (Sept. 2, 2005) -- Risk Management Solutions quadrupled last Monday's estimate of damage costs to $100 billion, based largely not on the hurricane but flooding after the Aug. 29 event -- particularly in New Orleans, where authorities ordered the city abandoned. Still, tens of thousands of people -- largely the least economically able -- were said to be left in the city as of Thursday, with thousands of evacuees being taken to San Antonio, Houston and Dallas. And more company headlines of efforts to get clean water to victims...
-- After Katrina: Thousands thought dead, insurers expect $25B impact from hurricane (Sept. 1, 2005) -- Less than a year after the largest humanitarian effort in the world due to an earthquake-spawned tsunami in the Indian Ocean, the United States is now dealing with its own historic humanitarian effort to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina which struck the Gulf Coast on Tuesday leaving a path of destruction across three states -- Louisiana, Mississipi and Alabama. As such, the water industry steps to the fore with donations of equipment, supplies, personnel and money...
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