Kennedy Space Center
On February 1, 2003, "Columbia" and her crew of seven were lost during re-entry over Texas during the STS-107 mission (the 113th shuttle flight); a vehicle breakup triggered by damage sustained during launch from Pad 39A on January 16, when a piece of foam insulation from the orbiter's external fuel tank struck the orbiter's left wing. During reentry, the damage created a hole allowing hot gases to melt the wing structure. Like the "Challenger" disaster, the resulting investigation and modifications interrupted shuttle flight operations at KSC for more than two years until the STS-114 launch on July 26, 2005.
Environmental Quality Management
The Space Shuttle Columbia broke up on re-entry over Texas on February 1, 2003. Within hours of the Columbia disaster, U.S. EPA Region 6 used its Emergency and Rapid Response Services (ERRS) contract to contact EQM for help in the recovery effort. The company responded immediately by dispatching a crew to the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Before long, EQM and its team had 75 trained response personnel in the field assisting with the recovery effort. The EQM team was involved with tagging and retrieving the debris and transporting it to a secure location.