FEMA To Melt Ice Stored Since Katrina

(AP)  After nearly two years, thousands of truck miles and $12.5 million in storage costs, a cold relic of the flawed Hurricane Katrina relief effort is going down the drain.

The federal government is getting rid of thousands of pounds of ice it had sent south to help Katrina victims, then north when it determined much of the ice wasn't needed.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency had been hanging on to the ice in case it was needed for another disaster, but decided to get rid of it because it couldn't determine whether it was still safe for human consumption.

"We just didn't take any chances," FEMA spokeswoman Alexandra Kirin told the Gloucester Daily Times.

The ice, held at AmeriCold Logistics in Gloucester and at 22 similar facilities nationwide, is being melted. The cost of storing the ice at all the facilities since Katrina is $12.5 million.

The Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged after the August 2005 hurricane that it had ordered too much ice because of faulty estimates by local officials. Truckers received up to $900 a day to move the ice to storage sites around the country.

Gloucester received 118 truckloads of ice that September, but 99 of those were sent to Florida in October 2005 to help with relief efforts after Hurricane Wilma. By November 2005, only four truckloads, weighing between 40,000 and 84,000 pounds each, remained in Gloucester.

FEMA contracts required disposal of the ice three months after purchase, but Kirin said the agency decided to keep the excess ice for the 2006 hurricane season. With fewer storms than expected, the ice was not needed, and the agency decided not to save the ice for the 2007 season.

She added that FEMA tried to donate the ice, but "had no takers."

[grammawhamma]

finally something the federal govt can actually do ... melt ice ... or can they?
Posted by bobnjersey at 07:38 AM : Jul 16, 2007

LOL

[brianbwb-2009]

I wonder who owns the refrigeration units, and got 12 big ones from Fema, Anyone else out there think it was someone Brownie and/or Georgie knew personally?...

[berniepeders]

I thnk that it doesn't really matter which party is in power, once politicians get to the Federal level, money is an abstract concept to them, and waste will occur on a large scale no matter what. It's not a Republican vs Democrat thing, it's all those billions of unspent dollars sitting there, and they have the checkbook.

[berniepeders]

Moonshadow22-

Are you crazy? Your suggestions make perfect sense, and I applaud them, but for such an efficient, common sense solution to succeed with our ridiculous , inefficient government is absolutely impossible. Who would make money on such a simple plan? Certainly not those fat cats in DC? But keep those good ideas coming.

[coffeehead-2009]

hurricane season JUST started??

Forget "human consupmtion", most of the ice we need is to replace refrigeration.... keeping consumable items cold. More waste from this admin.... As far as the cost of them moving it?
Well since those cruise ships we paid millions for returned to florida empty, couldn't we have gotten a free ride for some of those trailers in return for our "cold" cash?
I'm thinking those who run these programs are WAY OVERQUALIFIED - maybe just some of us normal peons could save a few bucks with our experience of having to be "thrifty" with our own $$$ --
whoops it IS our own $$$

[bobnjersey]

finally something the federal govt can actually do ... melt ice ... or can they?

[grammawhamma]

OMG...I can't believe Gore didn't buy it to send to the artic areas to keep the glaciers from melting!!

[zootallures2]

Make Chertoff and Israel pay for it!

[kennergirl]

Go drop it on those wildfires that seem to be sprouting up all the place. At least it would be used for something.

[gabbysmomrs]

I'm with Remmeler (is that right?) I live in FL and we're most likely going to need that ice during this hurricane season, what a dumb move, but typical. What harm to keep it stored till the end of hurricane season. That, or bottle the water retrieved from the melt so it is available for another emergency. You don't need refrigerated trucks for that.