Natural Disaster Assistance for Missouri Citizens -
Disaster Response Guidance for Public Drinking
Water and Wastewater Systems
|Department of Natural Resources fact sheet||
|Department of Natural Resources Director: Sara Parker Pauley||
The following information is intended to provide initial emergency guidance to the operators, owners and employees of both publicly and privately owned facilities that produce and distribute drinking water or collect and treat wastewater. Facilities damaged or out-of-service because of a disaster situation should follow their own emergency plan and procedures. If no plan is available, or for further support and guidance, individuals should contact an office listed in the emergency telephone numbers section of this document.
Disaster Response: First Steps
- Implement your emergency response plan.
- Contact the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ regional office serving you for further information. See the regional office map for a listing of the regional office nearest you.
- Consult the resource list at the end of this document.
Notification for Wastewater Treatment Plants Threatened by Flood Waters
- If a facility is significantly affected by flood waters, it is authorized to bypass or shutdown if necessary to prevent loss of life, personal injury or property damages; or where unavoidable excessive storm drainage or runoff would damage any facilities or processes necessary for compliance with the effluent limitations and conditions of this permit.
- The facility must take all reasonable measures to prevent a bypass or shutdown. If prevention is not possible, the facility must take all reasonable actions to minimize the bypass or shutdown and all impacts.
- The facility must call the Department of Natural Resources within 24 hours and follow with a written report to the regional office within five days if a shut down or bypass occurs. Call the department’s regional office serving you during normal business hours, use the online bypass reporting application, or call the after hours Environmental Emergency Response hotline at 573-634-2436.
- The facility must notify the department daily if a bypass or shutdown occurs on multiple days.
- The wastewater treatment plant is authorized to take any reasonable actions to contain excess storm water to prevent a bypass without a construction permit.
- After the bypass or shutdown event is over, the facility must provide a written report to
the department’s regional office that includes:
• Name and permit number of permittee.
• Location, duration and approximate volume of all bypasses.
• Duration of any shutdown.
• Description of conditions causing a bypass or shutdown.
• Description of all actions taken by the wastewater treatment plant to avoid a bypass or shutdown. If avoidance was not possible, include a description of the actions taken by the facility.
When attempting to restore service, be aware of potential hazards. Use the “buddy system.” Exercise caution with respect to the following:
- Confined spaces – use personal protection when entering. Test atmosphere for toxic or explosive gases and oxygen levels. If in doubt, ventilate or don’t enter.
- Electrical hazards.
- All underground utilities.
- Hazardous chemicals, such as chlorine.
- Biological hazards, such as bacteria and viruses.
- Potential for back injuries.
- Possibility of cave-ins or collapse of trenches.
- Structural damage and the potential for failure of a damaged structure.
- Fire or potential for fire.
Remember that safe operations always take precedence over shortcuts. Time saved is not worth a life lost or serious personal injury.
The following numbers are answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week:
|Missouri Department of Natural Resources’||
|Environmental Emergency Response||573-634-2436|
|Missouri Highway Patrol Headquarters||573-751-3313|
|U.S. Environmental Protection Agency||913-281-0991|
|U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Kansas City District||816-426-6320|
|CHEMTREC (hazardous materials information)||800-424-9300|
|National Response Center (e.g., oil and chemical spills, terrorist threats)||800-424-8802|
|State Emergency Management Operations Center||573-751-9512|
|National Weather Service|
The following numbers are answered during normal business hours:
|Department of Natural Resources||800-361-4827|
|Water Protection Program - Public Drinking Water Branch||573-751-5331|
|Water Protection Program - Water Pollution Branch||573-751-1300|
|Department of Natural Resources’ Regional Offices|
|State Emergency Management Operations Center||573-526-9100|
|Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services||866-628-9891|
|Missouri Rural Water Association||573-657-5533|
|Missouri Water and Wastewater Conference||573-761-0376|
|International Bottled Water Association||800-WATER-11|
For publications about restoring services after disasters, please call the Missouri Department of Natural Resources at 800-361-4827, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.