The word volatile serves as an indication of the hazardous wastes stored in the Center for Environmental Health and Safety behind a heavy, protective door.

But there is nothing unstable about the methods the University employs in keeping a lid on hazardous wastes generated on campus through research, film developing and other sources.

Following troubled times with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in 1990 and 1991 for unsafe storage of wastes, SIUC has stepped up its hazardous waste program and since has remained in good standing with the EPA.

Since 1992, the University has exercised extreme caution in the handling of materials which are classified as toxic, carcinogenic and corrosive. Such materials would cause a potential problem for human health if released into the environment.

Last year, more than 4,300 containers of assorted chemicals and chemical compounds totaling more than 40,000 pounds were accounted for at the Center for Environmental Health and Safety.

Many of the wastes came from solvents, corrosives, oxidizers and toxics such as ethidium bromide and mercury, both used for research.

Erik Talley, assistant director of the Center for Environmental Health and Safety and a member of the Hazardous Waste Oversight Committee, cited 611 locations on campus where hazardous wastes originate.

Wastes come to the center from several academic units and locations on campus, such as the Chemistry, Plant Biology and Engineering departments, Life Sciences Building and the Physical Plant.

And unlike the industrial community, which produces mass amounts of a handful of chemicals, the University produces small amounts of a large number of wastes.

The first thing to consider with the University as opposed to an industrial setting is that we can literally produce every kind of waste imaginable, but in real small quantities, Talley said.

Being a larger research institution, that’s your job to research the hazards or properties of a specific chemical.

EPA guidelines for the removal and storage of the hazardous wastes generated at SIUC periodically are inspected by Gerald Steele of the Illinois EPA.

Steele, acting regional manager of the Bureau of Land of the Illinois EPA, makes random, surprise inspections of SIUC’s storage sites and verifies paperwork that documents the movement of hazardous wastes on campus until they are hauled away.

Steele’s last inspection in May 1996 found SIUC in complete compliance with regulations of the Illinois Environmental Protection Act of 1970. The act covers all facets of waste handling from roadside litter to air emissions and water cleanliness.

Although completely compliant in 1996, SIU was cited by the Illinois EPA for illegal storage of waste. During 1990, the University was found in non-compliance in the areas of training and storage.

Steele recalled an inspection in 1990 where he discovered numerous incidents of EPA violations.

There were areas scattered around campus that were being used to hold wastes that was not the permitted storage site, Steele said. At that time period, they were only training pollution control people. They were not providing any generator training to the academic members who were actually generating the waste, which is where a lot of the unauthorized storage came from, and there was illegal dumping of wastes down drains.

Talley said chemical storage rooms in the Neckers Building held in excess of 400,000 containers, most of which were new products. All of the violations brought about changes.

After the warnings in 1990 and 1991, pollution control became the responsibility of the Center for Environmental Health and Safety. The EPA did not levy any fines against the University.

The Center for Environmental Health and Safety started to address the problems discovered in 1991, Steele said, and now the center handles all hazardous waste generated on campus.

Wastes are classified partially by toxicity, commercial use and corrosiveness on several lists created by the EPA.

SIUC stores wastes listed under the EPA’s U-list and P-list. The U-list contains items of a commercial nature such as benzene and acetone, and the P-list is comprised of acutely toxic materials such as some pesticides and herbicides that are extremely dangerous to human health.

[The University] occasionally find[s] some acutely toxic wastes either through research or someone has ordered it and not used it, Steele said. Particularly from pesticides used through operation of the farms.

All materials of a hazardous nature are disposed of every 90 days by means of Ensco Inc., a waste removal company based in Arkansas.

Last year 41,942 pounds of hazardous materials were hauled away at a cost of about $80,000.

John Mead, acting director of the Center for Environmental Health and Safety, said the costs of hauling waste would remain fairly constant no matter what methods are employed.

While it is conceivable that different practices could be developed, the risk of having the University cited for storing materials for too long a period or storing them in such a way that would trigger a different set of standards could, in the long run, cost us much more than the contract price of moving the materials does today, Mead said.

Waste removal is not the sole concern of the Center for Environmental Health and Safety.

Mead is involved with SIUC’s remaining in compliance with EPA guidelines and other issues of pollution control.

Compliance is one of the things we’re interested in, Mead said. In addition, the state and U.S. EPA are becoming more and more interested in what’s known as pollution prevention.

And so we’re active in identifying opportunities to reduce waste streams, and in some cases turn what might be a waste stream into a recyclable or useful by-product.

One way SIUC capitalizes on pollution reduction is through the method of silver recovery. There are three main silver recovery units available on campus:metallic exchange, resin based ion exchange and electrolytic recovery.

Silver can be recovered through such mediums as photo fixer solutions and x-rays. In the case of black and white photographs, the fixer solution pulls silver from the film creating the negative. The fixer solutions are then gathered and are ready for silver recovery.

Each method of recovery is used to correspond with the quantity of silver-containing waste produced. The ounces of silver recovered help offset the expense of disposing of the wastes. The wastes can be disposed of easily once reduced to a silver count of less than 5 parts per million.

The silver recovery program in a sense is recycling but it’s not recycling in the sense of solid waste recycling that you see going on with the paper bins around campus, Mead said. It’s more in the area of our chemical waste recovery and disposal.

SIUC has implemented an annual training program through a chemical training guide. Those people who work near generation points are taught the dangers and proper disposal of chemical wastes.

Talley instructs different groups of people about the regulations and dangers of chemicals. For example, the janitorial staff is taught independent from University chemists and undergraduate researchers.

They have to know that you can’t just throw [wastes] into a milk carton, Talley said. If it were sulfuric acid it would eat right through the container.

Compliance and safety will continue to be the most important functions of the Center for Environmental Health and Safety, Mead said.

The first priority is to ensure that the handling and ultimate removal of the waste material is done in absolute compliance with the law, Mead said.

There’s a degree of estimating that goes on each year and there is a degree of latitude that the law permits that I think is very important for the University to remain in very strict compliance when it comes to fulfilling the requirements, both for our own safety and our legal liability.