Chaminade challenges
state’s test on chemicals

The university says the 'waste
materials' are actually part of
class science projects

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By Pat Gee
pgee@starbulletin.com

Chaminade University is contesting Health Department citations for improper storage of hazardous chemicals, said Peter Wolf, director of university relations.

He said yesterday that the large quantities of chemicals "were not waste, but useable materials" commonly "used every day in science class," he added. Chaminade faces a penalty of $154,711 for four violations that include failure to make a hazardous waste determination, failure to properly label and store such waste without a permit, mismanagement of containers and insufficient aisle space in the storage room.

Steven Chang, program manager of the Solid and Hazardous Waste Branch, said, "There's always a risk that chemicals spilling out of containers and their fumes could react with other chemicals and cause a combustion -- that was our concern."

According to a state Department of Health report on inspections made at the campus Nov. 20 and Dec. 4, "old laboratory chemicals, some dating to the 1930s and 1940s" were found. Also in storage were unlabeled bottles and containers, many of which were in poor condition, some with corroded caps and crystallized materials outside bottles, and several of them bulging. The Health Department has ordered Chaminade to comply with state rules that were violated and to respond within 20 days of the order, issued Aug. 23, Chang said.

The university has already properly disposed of chemicals and made extensive renovations to the storage room, he said. Chang said a similar discovery of hazardous chemicals and explosives improperly stored occurred with the University of Hawaii in 1997.

The UH was fined $505,000 and was required to undergo a $1.2 million systemwide audit of hazardous waste disposal, under a settlement reached with the Environmental Protection Agency in December 2000.

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Chaminade University