Guiding Wildfire Response and Recovery

CSS supports communities following catastrophic wildfires to ensure that items discarded during site cleanup are properly identified, sorted, and sent to an appropriate disposal facility.

Air Monitoring and Household Hazardous Waste Removal Help Devastated Communities During Recovery Efforts

Homes are filled with hundreds of items that are safe in normal conditions but pose significant environmental and health risks after being engulfed in fire. CSS supports communities following catastrophic wildfires to ensure that items discarded during site cleanup are properly identified, sorted, and sent to an appropriate disposal facility. In the aftermath of the recent North Bay/Sonoma, Camp, and Santa Cruz/Carmel wildfires in California, we led teams conducting household hazardous waste (HHW) collections, environmental and asbestos assessments, and multimedia sampling. We also performed on-site air monitoring to protect the health of workers and returning residents, checking for unsafe levels of asbestos, volatile organic compounds, and other airborne hazards that may have been released in the fire. Our staff oversaw safety compliance, prepared daily Incident Command System (ICS) reports, coordinated with senior EPA leaders, and handled requests for special services. We also performed quality assurance reviews of completed removals and assisted with data management.

Additional Projects

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Environmental Resource Assessment & Management

Analytical Chemistry Support for the US EPA National Aquatic Resource Survey

CSS chemically analyzes hundreds of water samples collected annually from the US EPA’s National Aquatic Resource Survey (NARS), a critical contribution to the EPA assessments of the condition of the nation’s water bodies.

Safety, Health, & Environmental

Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) ES&H Support

CSS provided on-site environmental, safety, and health support 24 hours per day/five days per week to support approximately 1,900 employees occupying 1.4 million square feet of floor space at BEP’s Washington, DC, facility (DCF).

Emergency Preparedness & Response

Mobilizing Onsite at National Special Security Events

CSS operates and maintains EPA mobile analytical units that travel to support multi-agency security efforts during high profile events that draw large crowds.