(Lenexa, Kansas, April 11, 2019) – Both federal and state agencies are asking Iowans to report any dangerous containers displaced by floodwaters in western Iowa. Recent flooding scattered tanks, drums, cylinders and barrels onto properties adjacent to the Missouri River and its Iowa tributaries. These items may contain hazardous materials such as propane and industrial chemicals and should only be handled by trained professionals.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has been given a Federal Emergency Management Agency mission assignment to coordinate hazardous material recovery along the I-29 corridor in Iowa. EPA is working closely with the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to identify and retrieve containers swept away by floodwaters in Iowa. Iowa residents are encouraged to report displaced (“orphaned”) tanks, drums or other containers found in flood debris using the online form located on the Iowa DNR Disaster Assistance web site.