DNR looking for 'orphan containers' displaced by floods

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources announced today it's trying to round up 'orphan containers' that were swept into waterways after last week's flooding. Below is the text of the DNR news release:

JEFFERSON CITY, MO. MARCH 28, 2008 -- Crews supervised by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have begun recovering the more than 250 fuel tanks and potentially hazardous "orphan" containers displaced by this month's flooding in southern and eastern Missouri.

Throughout the week -- by land, air and water -- state and federal on-scene coordinators have been searching the Big, Black, Gasconade, Meramec, Current, St. Francis, Whitewater and Castor rivers and documenting the locations of cylinders, propane tanks, fuel tanks and chemical containers that were swept up in flood waters. By mid-afternoon Friday, 266 were identified, and more continue to be found even as crews begin removing containers found previously.

When identification is possible, crews are notifying the owners of recovered containers. Containers found without identification are being taken to Department of Natural Resources/EPA-coordinated staging areas in Poplar Bluff and Eureka, where they are being inspected and sorted for future disposal or recycling.

The department is asking members of the public who find such containers to contact its 24-hour spill line at (573) 634-2436. To help with the cleanup of these containers, the department needs specific information:

· Name, phone number and address of the person making the report

· Watershed in which the container is located

· Location of the container, including GPS coordinates if possible

· Description of the container, such as propane tank, fuel tank, drum

· Evidence of leaking (sheen on water)

The search for orphan containers has been aided by aircraft provided by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, Missouri Department of Conservation and the U.S. Army 7th Civil Support Team, as well as by boats from the Department of Conservation.

Information on what individuals can do in dealing with their home cleanups after the flood should visit the department's disaster Web page at http://www.dnr.mo.gov/disaster.htm. Additional information is available from EPA at http://www.epa.gov/naturalevents/flooding.html, and from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services at http://www.dhss.mo.gov/BT_Response/Nat_Disaster/index.htm.

For Department of Natural Resources news releases on the Web, visit www.dnr.mo.gov/newsrel. For a complete listing of the department's upcoming meetings, hearings and events, visit the department's online calendar at www.dnr.mo.gov/calendar/search.do.