Hurricane Maria Disaster Waste - USACE
| Submitted | March 18, 2024 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Jesann Gonzalez Cruz
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
- contracts/agreements, memorandums, plans, completion documents, and other related documents pertaining to debris removal and disaster waste management in Puerto Rico throughout recovery from Hurricane Maria
- data related to debris removal for Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico, including but not limited to quantities of removal per municipality
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 20 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Jesann Gonzalez Cruz
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on March 18, 2024. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Good afternoon,
This message confirms that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Mobile District has received your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request and are proceeding with our search for contracts/agreements for debris removal and disaster waste management for and data related to quantity of debris removed during Hurricane Maria recovery efforts in Puerto Rico.
However, we require some clarification regarding the portion of your request seeking “memorandums, plans, completion documents, and other related documents pertaining to debris removal and disaster waste management in Puerto Rico throughout recovery from Hurricane Maria.” FOIA regulations require that your request provide a sufficient description of any potentially responsive materials to facilitate a non-random, reasonable search of records. See 32 C.F.R. § 286.5(a). As currently written, this request is too broad for our employees to conduct such a search.
If you are interested in pursuing the above-mentioned portion of your request, please provide additional information regarding the specific records you are seeking. Information that may assist the team in identifying the requested records include date, title or name, author, recipient, subject matter of the record, case number, file designation, or reference number.
Thank you,
Kate Flukinger
Paralegal Specialist
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District
Phone: 251-690-3289
Email: katherine.c.flukinger@usace.army.mil<mailto:katherine.c.flukinger@usace.army.mil>
In Office: Mondays and Tuesdays
Remote: Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
This message contains either attorney-client communications or attorney work product. Its contents may be privileged from release to parties outside of the U.S. Government under FOIA or civil discovery rules. Do not retransmit or release the message's contents outside of the Government without prior coordination with Office of Counsel.
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~WRD3797
From: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Dear Jesann Cruz,
Thank you for your status inquiry dated April 15, 2024. Your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request dated March 18, 2024 (copy included here for your convenience) was received in this office by email on March 18, 2024. The request is appropriately processed by our Mobile District and is referred to them with this email. Should you wish to contact the processing office, the contact information is:
CESAM-OC
P.O. Box 2288
Mobile, AL 36628-0001
foia-sam@usace.army.mil<mailto:foia-sam@usace.army.mil?subject=FOIA>
Phone: 251-690-3289
Fax: 251-694-4378
Best regards,
Mary Alice Smith
Paralegal Specialist
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
HECSA - Office of Counsel
7701 Telegraph Road
Alexandria, VA 22315
703-428-8160 (office)
703-428-7221 (fax)
Mary.A.Smith@usace.army.mil<mailto:Mary.A.Smith@usace.army.mil>
THIS IS A PRIVILEGED COMMUNICATION -ATTORNEY-CLIENT/ATTORNEY WORK-PRODUCT. DO NOT RELEASE UNDER FOIA.
NOTICE: This email and any attachments constitute non-public information and may contain legally privileged and confidential information intended solely for the use of the addressee(s). If you are not the intended recipient, any reading, dissemination, distribution, copying or other use of this email, including attachments, is prohibited and may be unlawful. If you have received this message in error, please delete it, including all copies and backups, and notify me immediately by telephone at (703) 428‑8160 or by email at Mary.A.Smith@usace.army.mil<mailto:Mary.A.Smith@usace.army.mil>. Thank you.
From: Jesann Gonzalez Cruz
Dear Kate Flukinger,
Thank you for your response. This email serves to clarify the request for additional information regarding the FOIA request sent on March 18th, specifically related to the following statement request: "memorandums, plans, completion documents, and other related documents pertaining to debris removal and disaster waste management in Puerto Rico throughout recovery from Hurricane Maria.". Below, I attempt to describe, and/or provide examples of, the associated documents in greater detail.
Plans: For Hurricane Maria, USACE utilized a Debris Planning and Response Team to coordinate the debris removal response (e.g. how many trucks to send where). This FOIA requests access to written plans developed by the Debris Planning and Response team in response to Hurricane Maria.
Memorandums/Completion documents - Each municipality receiving USACE assistance for debris removal signed a memorandum or completion document, visible at the following two links. This FOIA requests copies of each municipality's completion document: https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4199238/usace-completes-debris-removal-dorado-puerto-rico AND https://www.dvidshub.net/image/4186743/caguas-physical-completion-debris-removal
Related documents include but are not limited to, for example, documents pertaining to the environmental assessments, quality assurance documents, and site leases for debris collection (temporary debris management sites) as referenced here: https://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Stories/Article/1415867/usace-emergency-response-missions-include-debris-removal-and-temporary-power-ge/#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20Army%20Corps%20of,in%20Puerto%20Rico%20to%20date .
I hope this provides greater insight and thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request.
Sincerely,
Jesann Gonzalez Cruz
From: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
Good afternoon,
We have completed processing the elements of your request for which we did not require clarification and need to discuss associated fees before releasing.
Record holders spent 9 hours searching for these records and your fees for this request total $ 240.00, see attached DD2086. As your fee category is Other, you are entitled to 2 free hours of search time and will not be charged for review time. These fee reductions are reflected in your estimate.
Please reply to this email with your willingness to pay these fees so that we may proceed with producing the requested records.
Kate Flukinger
Paralegal Specialist
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District
Phone: 251-690-3289
Email: katherine.c.flukinger@usace.army.mil<mailto:katherine.c.flukinger@usace.army.mil>
In Office: Mondays and Tuesdays
Remote: Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays
This message contains either attorney-client communications or attorney work product. Its contents may be privileged from release to parties outside of the U.S. Government under FOIA or civil discovery rules. Do not retransmit or release the message's contents outside of the Government without prior coordination with Office of Counsel.
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