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Technical ProgramBiological Waste Management FacilityDon Helton, CHMM Biological waste disposal problems began to be troublesome to Texas A&M University (TAMU) in 1985. Continued problems with the two incinerators and an increasing volume of waste became issues at the Veterinary Hospital complex. In 1990, Texas A&M commissioned a committee to look at the biological waste disposal needs. The study looked at the sources of waste, types, amounts, and contaminates and determined that TAMU could not handle the projected waste increase with the methods for disposal at that time. In the June 2001, TAMU decided to look at the Biological Waste Management
Facility (BWMF) issue again. They took the original study, dusted it
off, and updated it. In July 2004, this BWMF will have its first waste
disposed thru it. Although the journey has been long and challenging,
the ultimate benefit for TAMU is a first class biological waste management
facility utilizing redundant, but alternative disposal methods. Ken Nichter Therasphereä is a therapeutic treatment that delivers radiation directly to tumors in the liver using glass Micro-Spheres which are one-third the diameter of a human hair, and are embedded with a radioactive element called Yttrium90, a Beta emitter. Million of these microspheres are injected into the blood stream; they are guided into the hepatic artery, the liver's main blood vessel. When they arrive in the liver, the radiation-laden spheres get lodged within the smaller blood cells that sustain tumors. From the Haz-Mat Tech's Perspective, extra caution is warranted in
the set up of the operating suite and the delivery device due to the
EXTREME contamination problems facing personnel and the facility if
the product gets loose. Problems can occur with the delivery device,
the catheter may become dislodged, the patient may begin to back flow
bleed, or the vial containing the Theraspheresä can be knocked
over. Given these possibilities, the Haz-Mat Tech or other qualified
members of the Dose administration team must be prepared to deal with
such concerns. William Favaloro Just as you think you are beginning to get the environmental program
under control at your main flagship university, you realize the glaring
deficiencies that exist at the outlying research facilities and experiment
stations that have been neglected for years. Though some research facilities
are hundreds of miles away and have a small staff, their contribution
to the mission of the university can be very significant. This experienced-based
presentation will provide guidance and recommendations of steps to assess,
develop and implement an environmental, health, and safety program for
the multi-sited university system As demonstrated by this University
of Georgia experience, the cost for this program can be surprisingly
low and the safety and regulatory benefits substantial. Celeste Caskey, MS, Industrial Hygienist II Medical schools generate multiple waste streams from both research laboratories and clinics. The research laboratories generate characteristic and non-characteristic waste streams as defined by RCRA, radioactive waste and biowaste from humans and animals. The clinics generate EPA regulated chemical waste and biowaste from humans. It is imperative that the biowaste be handled and disposed of properly and correctly to ensure the health and safety of all faculty, staff and waste transporters. In order to handle and dispose of biowaste, a written program on the correct procedures should be written and implemented. The existing biowaste program at WFUHS was reviewed in order to ensure
compliance with local, state and federal requirements. Areas for improvements
identified as the program was implemented included biowaste tracking,
manifest retention, training and program review. William S. Brewer, Ph.D. Duke University recently launched an initiative to become an institutional leader in environmental excellence and sustainability. To engage all aspects of the campus - education, research, services it provides, management, operations, facilities, and infrastructure - in the initiative, a holistic approach to integrate a set of core environmental values into institutional policies and practices was undertaken. Those values include: (1). Environmental Stewardship, (2). Sustainability, (3). Compliance, and (4). Resource Conservation and Preservation. A commitment to continuous performance improvement has led the university
to develop and soon deploy innovative approaches to environmental management.
These factors have, in effect, created an opportunity to reinvent current
environmental management systems. We will discuss the development steps
from policy to implementation and how process, people, and tools were
brought together to engage a diverse community of students, faculty,
staff, and administration in the development process. Charlotte Perry, Project Scientist Many colleges and universities have been scrambling to understand the
impacts of the EPA's revised Oil Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure
(SPCC) rules and to ensure compliance with the August 17, 2004, deadline
for updating their Oil SPCC Plans. When EPA issued the revised rules,
they had expected the changes to provide clarification and some regulatory
relief. However, the regulated community raised many concerns about
the rules. EPA extended the regulatory deadline for compliance to August
17, 2004, and began development of guidance documents to address those
aspects of the rule that were unclear. The regulatory extension has
given tank owners additional time in which to update and re-certify
their Plans. Nonetheless, some tank owners have not begun this process
and the deadline is fast approaching. This presentation is designed
to de-mystify the Oil SPCC regulations and help environmental managers:
(1) understand how the new rule applies to their oil storage facilities;
(2) capitalize on exemptions available within the rule; and (3) develop
cost-effective and workable strategies for satisfying the new inspection,
testing, and secondary containment requirements. Dennis K. Sullivan, CEM, CHMM Hospitals, hazmat teams and fire departments have been trying to develop
mass decontamination procedures and specify equipment required to manage
a major chemical, biological or radioactive event. Are these and other
agencies wasting valuable time, effort and resources preparing for mass
decon, considering the United States Army Soldier and Biological Chemical
Command (SBCCOM) has developed guidelines for handling mass decontamination
of victims? Andrew Phelan The University of Minnesota has four campuses differing in size, enrollment,
chemical usage and EHS staffing. Each Campus has a different strategy
for dealing with chemical spills. The Twin Cities Campus has an active,
fully trained and equipped hazmat team. The Duluth Campus has a trained
but rarely activated team. The Morris Campus relies on an outside contractor
for spills. The Crookston Campus has partnered with its local fire department
to provide hazmat coverage for both the campus and the community. This
presentation will describe the details, advantages and limitations of
each of these strategies. It will also cover how the campuses deal with
after-hours events. Adam Peters In early March of 2002 the University of Virginia's Department of Parking
& Transportation experienced a release of approximately 65 gallons
of diesel fuel into the storm drain system. This case study will review
the events that led to the release, the initial response and the full-scale
response that followed. Mistakes made during each portion of the event
will be analyzed and lessons learned will be discussed. These will include
the (un)reliability of information given by eye witnesses and/or guilty
parties trying to cover-up the problem; knowledge of topography and
waterways; and general preparedness in terms of materials needed to
respond to a "worst-case" scenario such as this. The pros
and cons of involving the Fire Department, including the implications
of making the public aware of the spill, will also be discussed. Matthew Doty, Sr. EH& S Specialist As a Large Quantity Generator of hazardous waste the University of Florida must meet specified training requirements. For a university of our size, training can be an enormous strain on resources. In addition to the actual training effort, data associated with training must be managed effectively. Due to the high staff turnover associated with the university research community, determining who needs training on an annual basis can also be part of the challenge. In an effort to make Chemical Hazardous Waste Management Training as effective as possible without consuming excess staff resources, the best combination of strategies must be determined. Methods of training include classroom sessions, on-line training, and
video training. Registration methods vary between on-line, mail-in and
phone-in reservation. Training schedules vary widely from seasonal clustered
schedules to monthly and weekly sessions to on-demand on-line sessions.
Kevin M. Eichinger, CHMM Due to the demands of the day-to-day management of chemical waste,
it is difficult to work on program development and training. Laboratory
personnel also have difficulty setting aside time to sit through chemical
waste training. In an effort to reduce the burden on both parties, the
University of Delaware Department of Occupational Health and Safety
(DOHS) developed a Chemical Waste Management online training program.
This program is accessible to all university personnel and communicates
all aspects of the University's chemical waste disposal program. Principal
Investigators, Laboratory Coordinators and Teaching Assistants now have
the option to complete an on-line training in lieu of sitting through
a training class. Our ability to entice people to sit through this training
is improved because each person is able to do it at their convenience
and pace. We have received positive feedback from the end users of this
training and have seen improvements in the management of chemical waste
as a result. Martin Costello, Associate Director, Yale University Every day, your facility receives and ships many different materials. The vast majority of this material would be considered innocuous items; however, many research institutions are now realizing the high volume of research materials and samples that are being shipped from their facility. The shipment of most, if not all, of these research materials through the air is regulated by the International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA has some similarities to the Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations, but is a separate regulatory agency with its own requirements. The regulations are very strict due to the unique circumstances presented by air shipments and the limited remedies available if a situation were to arise during the shipment. Understanding these complex regulations is necessary to keep colleges
and universities in compliance. The Federal Aviation Administration,
the authorized enforcement branch for the IATA Regulations, has recently
conducted a number of surveys at leading education institutions to determine
their compliance with the regulations. The goal of this presentation
is to raise awareness of the regulations and their impact, and is not
suitable for certifying individuals as IATA trained. Heather N. Perry Five years ago, Stanford University embarked on a mercury reduction
program to address the serious environmental and human health risks
posed by the release of mercury into the environment. The mercury reduction
program sought to reduce the potential health and environmental risks
to the campus and the surrounding community. It was decided that Environmental
Health & Safety (EH&S) would attempt to replace as many mercury
thermometers as possible with less hazardous, non-mercury alternatives.
Since its inception, nearly 1,5000 mercury thermometers have been exchanged
in over 150 different research laboratories. EH&S pays for the replacement
thermometers, but these costs have been offset by a significant reduction
in costs associated with mercury spill clean up and hazardous waste
disposal costs. Nicholas J. Magliano, Environmental Health and Safety Manager, Tufts
University In order to maintain environmental compliance, EH&S managers must
ensure that all environmental requirements are completed according to
regulatory deadlines. Meeting all deadlines can be a daunting task since
failing to meet one or more of them can result in substantial fines.
To successfully meet deadlines, an easy-to-use electronic environmental
compliance information management system was custom developed for Tufts
University to facilitate program management and report on all requirements,
tasks, due dates, and responsible persons. The electronic compliance
system was custom designed by working closely with the EH&S and
information technology departments. The tool was integrated with university
computer systems to allow for automated e-mail notifications of upcoming
tasks to prevent missed regulatory deadlines. It resides on the university
network and includes security protocols and user permissions. Tom Syfert, CHMM, CET, Director The University of South Carolina has approximately 500 labs and workspaces
in their Columbia and regional campuses. The department of Environmental
Health and Safety (EH&S) must ensure that these locations are in
compliance with the EPA, OSHA, DOT, Radiation and other applicable regulations.
The fire and police departments must be able to quickly determine the
hazards in these rooms in order to safely respond to fire or emergencies.
Therefore, a hazard information database is necessary to quickly define
and track what hazards are present and the specific training and regulatory
requirements. In addition, this database will be capable of tracking
the costs associated with hazardous waste generation, transportation,
and disposal. This database will help us define many of our environmental
aspects and impacts for our ISO 14001 EMS. We now have a fully functioning
database with the parameters listed above. This database has also helped
us track our waste costs and develop our future training plans. John Reed, Environmental Services Manager Washington State University (WSU) is a land grant University with 20,000 students, over 300 buildings and 1,500 laboratories on the main campus in Pullman. To improve environmental compliance and emergency response capability and enhance overall environmental performance, WSU has utilized computer aided drafting (CAD) to integrate information required by numerous environmental regulations. This data had previously been kept in separate files and databases and there was a great deal of duplication of records resulting in inefficiencies and inaccurate updating and retrieval of data. Information related to spill prevention, control and countermeasure, polychlorinated biphenyl management, emergency planning/community right-to-know, underground storage tank, aboveground storage tank, contaminated site remediation and emergency response programs are now all tracked on CAD files (using AutoCAD LT 2004) and a single Microsoft Access database. These CAD files are used by Environmental Health and Safety staff to prepare annual reports and document logs and aid in performing inspections. Response to chemical releases is more efficient and safer by having PCB content of all oil filled equipment and the location of high hazard/volume chemical locations displayed on the CAD files. These CAD files are shared with campus fire and police departments as well as campus facility construction and maintenance departments to facilitate safer, more cost effective construction/demolition projects. The presentation will include examples of these CAD files covering
areas of campus, specific buildings and individual floors of buildings.
The presentation will conclude with future planned enhancements to this
system. Lance Schumacher, Environmental Health and Safety, Harvard University Every day new technologies are being added to the workplace - technologies
that make the lives of users easier. The hazardous waste industry is
no exception. Harvard University has partnered with Triumvirate Environmental
to drive the Personal Device Assistant (PDA), a highly efficient software
program utilizing Palm Technology, which can be used to track regulatory
compliance within your entire hazardous waste program. The goal of instilling
a program such as this is to, reduce paperwork and costs, track compliance
progress, identify problem areas, analyze trends, and improve overall
environmental management systems. This is an excellent opportunity to
understand why developing a program like ECAP within your college or
university will not only benefit your university, but the environment
as well. Gene Christenson, Chemical Waste Manager Recent fires at a number of hazardous waste disposal facilities have sensitized disposal companies to proper management of waste batteries. They have put in place more stringent requirements for preventing short-circuiting and/or the build up of heat in batteries shipped to them. As a result, the University of Minnesota has revamped its battery management program to comply with vendor requirements, DOT regulations, as well as the EPA's Universal Waste rules for battery management. In recent years, due to concerns with potential mercury emissions at
the local solid waste incinerator, the University has collected all
dry cell batteries, including alkaline and carbon zinc, and sent them
unsorted for further processing by our waste vendor. We now are required
to sort our batteries prior to transportation and, in many cases, assure
that the terminals are protected against short-circuiting and heat generation.
For all the universal waste batteries, we use tape or bags for these
purposes. For the nonhazardous batteries (alkaline and carbon-zinc,
which make up 97% of our batteries) we have elected to drum them in
plastic lined steel drums for shipment to a local Subpart C landfill. Eric Jorgensen The regulatory status and the fiscal responsibility of disposing of electronic waste (e-waste) has been a well-debated point recently. The primary concern has been centering on lead in the Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) and heavy metals in the circuit boards. If the e-waste is not a hazardous waste by definition, why not send it directly to the local landfill? The debate continues into the proper techniques for representative sampling of a very non-homogeneous waste stream. A CRT screen, a CRT funnel, and circuit boards were randomly selected from each individual monitor systematically selected for analysis. Standard EPA test methods were employed for the TCLP and total priority pollutant metal analysis. The analytical results from the representative sampling showed both the funnel and screen portions of the CRT to far exceed TCLP limits. Environmental Health and Safety Offices, chiefly concerned with the
regulatory status, will need to demonstrate to the administration that
the gains associated with recycling e-waste outweigh the costs. In our
current operations at Utah State University (USU) we recycle 98 percent,
by mass, of the monitors that we receive. At 4,000 monitors per year,
averaging 29 pounds and 2 cubic feet, we have saved USU $25,000 in the
last fiscal year. R. Steven Fratoni I do not deal with hazardous waste. I deal with people. In a small
college setting, as a single person with many hats, most of the hazardous
waste management is actually done by others. Although the regulations
are filled with specific requirements for containers, paper work, etc.,
a successful program requires developing skills of another sort. Compliance
is after all, changing someone's behavior. This presentation will define
a successful waste management program as the result of good motivational,
organizational, and leadership skills. Both general concepts and practical
examples from a collegiate environment will be discussed. The presentation
will center on Steve's Seven Strategies for Avoiding Conflict and Controlling
Cost; an accumulation of concepts learned from sixteen years of consulting
and staff positions at many colleges. N. Venkataraman National Environmental Agency (NEA), Singapore has specific guidelines
and regulations on the storage, collection, movement and disposal of
toxic and hazardous substances. Factories Act, as provided by the Ministry
of Manpower, Singapore has a set of acts, regulations and guidelines
on various occupational issues on safety and health, including safe
storage of chemicals. Chemicals are purchased and used for specific
and routine research projects and/or academic studies. Many times, the
unused chemicals are not disposed after each project. Over a period
of time, the accumulation of chemicals, now to be termed as 'Obsolete
chemicals' pose a serious threat to the environment, besides the safety
and health of lab personnel. The labels of some of the bottles in the
shelves containing chemicals were not recognizable. By the end of March
2004, a massive cleanup of the obsolete chemicals from the shelves of
the various lab facilities in National University of Singapore (NUS)
was carried out. A whopping 3,400 kgs of chemicals were disposed at
a cost of around S$56,000. The disposal was executed through two NEA
approved contractors. |
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