The University is currently in the process of appealing a $3,600 fine from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality regarding improper handling of hazardous waste. Meanwhile, a program official describes the University’s management of hazardous waste as responsible.
The University received a notice of violation and civil penalty on July 21 from DEQ saying the University had improperly handled some hazardous waste material, University spokeswoman Pauline Austin wrote in an e-mail.
Austin said the University has yet to receive a response from DEQ regarding its appeal of the fine.
Susan Shewczyk, a hazardous waste inspector for DEQ, said she did not have any information regarding the current status of the appeal.
Shewczyk said the $3,600 fine was for the following, found during an October 2004 inspection: paperwork violations, failure to label hazardous waste, hazardous waste stored for longer than 90 days, insufficient aisle space in a hazardous waste storage area, burning lead paint filters and radioactive waste stored with hazardous waste.
Shewczyk said the radioactive waste was a small amount, not uncommon in research labs. She said it was stored appropriately aside from being combined with hazardous waste, and that the person responsible didn’t realize the two types of waste were together. As soon as Shewczyk pointed it out, the waste was disposed of, she said.
Nick Williams, environmental manager for the University, wrote in an e-mail that the University’s largest source of hazardous waste is lead-contaminated debris, typically wood painted with lead-based paint between the 1930s and the 1970s. Other types of hazardous waste at the University include broken fluorescent lamps, old paint, old maintenance cleansers and laboratory chemical wastes. These are generated through maintenance, construction and classroom activities.
Hazardous waste is temporarily stored in a campus facility designed and built specially for that purpose. Williams said he has been advised not to give the specific location of the facility because of security concerns, in accordance with Department of Transportation guidelines.
Waste materials remain on campus no longer than 90 days, Williams said. At that point, the waste goes to an out-of-state facility authorized to receive hazardous waste.
“We think we run a pretty responsible program because we don’t have accumulation,” Williams said.
The University also strives to reduce the amount of waste on campus by reusing items as much as possible, Williams said.
“If you’re looking for a big pile of waste, you’re not going to find it because we don’t have one,” Williams said.
The University’s fine is not unusual compared to other large research universities, Shewczyk said.
“$3,600 is not extreme for me because campuses are so laid out that it’s hard to keep track of certain things,” Shewczyk said.
She added that the University only had problems with three out of hundreds of waste sources on campus, and she thinks the University has a good recycling program.
“It was not a significant enforcement case,” Shewczyk said.
Williams declined to comment on the specifics of the alleged violations in the DEQ notice, but he said other universities across the country are being targeted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with huge fines for alleged hazardous waste violations.
According to a 2000 EPA Enforcement Alert, the University of Hawaii was fined $1.8 million for inadequate disposal of chemistry lab chemicals in 1998 and 1999. Other schools, including Boston University, Yale University and the University of New Hampshire, have received fines in the tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars in recent years.
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