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Hazardous waste looms beneath campus life
May 19, 2004 Gene Konop of Green Guard shows an automatic external defibrillator to, from left, Douglas Cody of Nassau Community College, Kim Auletta of Sachem schools and Candelario Franco of SUNY Old Westbury. Colleges generate a lot of hazardous waste, much of it disposed of improperly, according to representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency. That makes Environmental Science 101 — inquiry into campus labs, gasoline and chemicals — a requirement on the faculty union curriculum. "They have significant environmental releases, yet universities and colleges have received relatively little attention from environmental regulatory agencies when compared to similar institutions," said Joel Golumbek, chief of hazardous waste compliance for EPA's Region 2. "They have a high rate of non-compliance." Golumbek spoke at the first-ever higher ed health and safety conference sponsored by a trio of unions: New York State United Teachers and its two largest higher ed affiliates, United University Professions at SUNY and the Professional Staff Congress at CUNY. Another sponsor of the conference at SUNY Old Westbury, Long Island , was the American Society of Safety Engineers (which includes many members of faculty unions working on health and safety issues). Power plants and labs While the average person visualizes leafy quads and busy dorms when thinking of a campus, most colleges also have their own power plants, laboratories and gasoline services. Underground gas tanks are probably the easiest way to contaminate the environment, Golumbek said. Plenty of waste is generated by veterinary schools, hospital and dental schools, mortuary schools and art departments. "The most significant problem is chemicals from the various labs," said Golumbek. "There's very little tracing of the chemicals and they are not stored properly." Some hazardous materials are stored for years, and can become combustible when dried out. "A lot of it is going out in the trash and down the drain," said Carl Plossl, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act compliance officer for the EPA. "One university actually sent waste home with students to dispose of." To deal with the hazardous waste problems at colleges, the EPA instituted incentives in 2000 for campus self-policing to give colleges a chance to do audits and disclose problems, Plossl said. The agency then signed audit agreements with many higher ed institutions, including SUNY and CUNY, he said, and developed compliance assistance information at www.epa.gov. The agency has made staff available for environmental safety presentations; three of the 25 delivered so far have been to SUNY campuses in Buffalo , Farmingdale and New Paltz. Then the EPA started what Plossl called "an aggressive inspection program," focusing on colleges that did not perform self- audits. Several of the colleges that have been found with violations, including Columbia University and Pratt Institute, are developing compliance assistance programs for other schools to help them deal with problems such as hazardous waste from chemical labs and art departments, said Golumbek. Faculty at the conference, accustomed to deconstructing works of Plato or Einstein or Joyce, took home safety manuals and Web site addresses from the EPA and other presenters. "Colleges are becoming more aware of the importance of health and safety conditions," said Candelario Franco, SUNY Old Westbury chapter leader for UUP, a key organizer of the conference. Fire prevention Elsewhere on the safety front, Paul Martin, deputy chief of the state Office of Fire Prevention and Control, talked about regulations. His presentation was under the auspices of a law passed in January 2003 creating the campus fire safety program. "Education brings about behavioral changes," he said. Rather than pay fines, colleges and universities should spend resources on abatement, education and upgrades, he said. For info, visit the Web site at www.dos.state.ny.us, and click on "Fire Prevention and Control." The office inspects campuses a minimum of once a year, repeating inspections if violations are found. Last year, there were 29,000 violations at the 5,563 registered buildings among New York's public and private colleges and universities, Martin said, and $841,150 in fines were levied. There were more than 400 violations for hazardous materials. Other examples include homemade extension cords; electrical problems; non-working fire alarm systems; and stored items blocking emergency exits. "This is where we show no mercy," when conducting inspections, Martin said. "We just want to make sure people get out." — Liza Frenette |
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