Advice Please. Alleged Pressure Washing of Vomit from Dallas Ebola Victim (Thomas Eric Duncan)

I'm sure many here are aware of the twitter message channel 8 news posted regarding the alleged pressure washing of Mr. Duncan's vomit. I live in the Dallas area and I feel compelled to inquire about this incident. I know there are people who feel this isn't a cause for concern due to the ultraviolet radiation of the sun (which helps purify water). Or they don't believe that the virus can survive very long once treated in this manner. Of course, there are others that believe that this didn't happen. Nevertheless, an accusation like this bears investigation. No matter what you might think about the longevity of the virus outside a host this is not the proper way to dispose of an extremely hazardous material.

My first thought was to contact the EPA because they regulate the drinking water and enforce testing and conformance to drinking water quality standards. I would also like to contact the Texas Water Development board. I have already tried to reach the EPA but I will have to call back tomorrow between 9am to 5pm Eastern.

I'm looking for constructive advice from the community on practical steps that can be taken to further the investigation of the cleanup procedure and the current state of Dallas's water supply.

Here is a link to the picture of the cleanup from another ATS member and his post. Please note that the headline is vague. It is not explicitly saying that vomit was cleaned up. Only that they observed a crew cleaning the sidewalk where the victim stayed.

originally posted by: SoldierCarryingHashbrowns

HD Chopper 8 caught this image of crews cleaning the sidewalk outside the Ivy Apartments, where the Ebola patient was staying before being taken to the hospital.

If done with a slurry solution (bleach) in a methodical contracting square, everything will be most certainly killed. That's one thing Ebola is subject to, bleach.

I am confused a little op. In your op your talking about water contamination from what I gather, I am guessing from it running into the sewer? If I am wrong then I am sorry. Now if thats the case then what about all the people that vomit into their toilet or even bath water? So a little down the storm drain is no different than the sink correct?

a reply to: jaynkeel

There's many precautions in place for just this reason. At bare minimum the water has to be flowing through UV somewhere along the line.

a reply to: jaynkeel

Thank you for your reply.

There are many points of potential contamination. That's why we have laws regulating how we dispose of oils, coolants, etc...

Some municipalities recycle the sewage through treatment plants. They remove the debris, treat it chemically, treat it with ultra violet radiation, and then run it through a series of filters (mostly sand and gravel). Despite all of this treatment I wouldn't willingly drink from water that previously had ebola in it or some other deadly pathogen. There are other vectors as well such as animals drinking from the sewers.

However, it's not just about the current quality of the drinking water. It is about any negligence in caring for the water supply whether or not it results in contamination. My thought is that the EPA would have an interest in investigating this negligence.

People in the photo aren't in Level 4 suits. Probably an uneducated response.

a reply to: lynxpilot
Actually, your's is a great point. The unprotected worker spraying could be at risk for contamination.
Were they from the city...or the CDC?

Was this the whole process of cleaning? Did they treat the area with something prior to the pressure wash and was the pressure wash water treated?

a reply to: ketsuko

I'm not sure. That is what I would like to investigate. However, I don't think I will get very far on my own. Standard procedure is to call in a professional service that deals with crime scene cleanup or specializes in dealing with bio-hazards. I believe the fire department will treat blood at an accident site as well.

However, I don't believe the fire department or the majority of the professionals that do cleanup in the Dallas area are qualified to dispose of this level of hazard. If a cleanup agency did assist then they likely bagged it and treated it with bleach or some other type of agent. I would have expected a truck marked with their logo on site though.

a reply to: compressedFusion

I wondered about the clean-up, considering that

The United States is days away from settling the critical question of how hospitals should handle and dispose of medical waste from Ebola patients, a government official said on Wednesday.

That's a quote from an article today. If soaking it in bleach and flushing it away in water is all that's needed, then why is there so much debate over how hospitals should safely dispose of ebola patient waste?

US nears solution for safe disposal of ebola medical waste

Be aware that many communities route their storm drain water directly to the river, not through sewage treatment. Because of this there are often strict regulations about what can be washed into a storm drain.

P.S.
I'm wondering if the person cleaning isn't just the maintenance guy for the property. If you ask, they may just say what the want you to hear. Best bet would be to FOIA the invoice from whoever claimed to have it done.

originally posted by: CraftBuilder
I'm wondering if the person cleaning isn't just the maintenance guy for the property. If you ask, they may just say what the want you to hear. Best bet would be to FOIA the invoice from whoever claimed to have it done.

Excellent advice. I would not have thought of submitting an FOIA request. I have never been involved in trying to get information from the FOIA. My understanding is that you have to word the request correctly or it is easily dismissed. I will try to do some research on this topic. Any links that you might have handy are greatly appreciated. It seems like the first step will be to determine the target agency for the FOIA request.

It could just be the maintenance guy for the property, but to my knowledge pressure washing the sidewalk isn't a typical part of daily sidewalk maintenance.

Thanks for the great tip.

Edit:

1.) I may attempt to contact the Apartment complex tomorrow.
2.) I'm starting at www.foia.gov/how-to.html
3.) It looks like FOIA only applies to Federal agencies. It is section 552 of the US Code. 5 U.S. Code § 552 - Public information; agency rules, opinions, orders, records, and proceedings
4.) It looks like there is a Texas equivalent. The Texas Public information Act, TORA, or Texas Open Record Act, Tex. Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 6252-17a

My husband does hazmat. He says if they're not going to bleach the hell out of it and use something to soak it up and dispose of that mess in an incinerator and burn the cement off then dispose of the cement and ground around it and burn IT off ... then actually washing it down the drain and into the sewer where no one can come into contact with it will go through sewer treatment which will kill it and roping the area off and letting the sun bake the hell out of it will work, it just isn't the optimal. But UV from the sun will kill both bacteria and viruses given time.

And no one should be in that section of sewer for a while. The pH shifts of sewage should kill it, but there's no need to take chances.

It should have been treated as a CDC event, Bio Hazard Waste. The area should have been burned first. BIO waste is incinerated in a lab. This will probably just incubate the EBOLA Virus.

a reply to: ketsuko

Thank you to you and your husband for the information about cleanup procedures. I suspect he does/will get lots of these type of questions in the future. I wish you the best.

From the sound of it the gov is just not doing squat about this situation.

Gives me a nagging suspicion its all a lie

Any one got a elapsed time between him been sick and the pressure washing?
We are talking days here unless the news crew had prior knowledge of who it was.
That seems very sloppy by the cdc.

Don't you kinda wonder how many kids walked through that water in bare feet or flip flops before it dried up? From the looks of the two guys, I would guess they cleaned up the ebola barf in the exact same way they would clean up any other barf. Most likely the maintenance workers for the apartment complex.

originally posted by: compressedFusion
a reply to: ketsuko

Thank you to you and your husband for the information about cleanup procedures. I suspect he does/will get lots of these type of questions in the future. I wish you the best.

Well, they have to do professional committees at work, and he chose to get involved with the hazmat crew. His main job is a microbiologist, so he's trained to deal with possible infectious agent spills. Nothing like ebola where he works, of course, but the principles are the same.

originally posted by: joho99
Any one got a elapsed time between him been sick and the pressure washing?
We are talking days here unless the news crew had prior knowledge of who it was.
That seems very sloppy by the cdc.

It's also possible that there was a cleanup procedure that we didn't see, and this is a follow-up wash.