University of Georgia Settles Hazardous Waste Violations with EPA for $400K

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The University of Georgia will spend more than $400,000 after federal inspectors found dozens of safety violations in the way it handles hazardous waste.

Under a “consent agreement and final order” with the Environmental Protection Agency, the university will pay a $99,900 penalty and spend $333,000 over the next 18 months on programs that will help “local public school districts and emergency response organizations in low-income areas” upgrade hazardous waste practices, response capabilities and materials handling.

The Athens Banner-Herald reports UGA President Jere Morehead signed the agreement Wednesday with Larry Lamberth, chief of the EPA’s Region 4 Enforcement and Compliance Branch.

In inspections dating back to October 2014, EPA found violations in a number of UGA buildings and a lab in the Riverbend Research Lab North.

The EPA said UGA failed to monitor storage areas for leaking or deteriorating containers; stored wastes in unclosed containers; failed to properly label hazardous waste; and failed to give UGA workers required training in hazardous waste handling, among other violations.

Although federal authorities found numerous violations in UGA hazardous waste handling, including improperly using tap water to dilute waste poured into a sink drain, the agency did not find any of the violations placed UGA students or workers in any danger, according to a university announcement of the settlement.

According to that announcement, the university will “coordinate with public school districts to upgrade lighting in elementary and secondary schools,” working with them “to remove and properly dispose of fluorescent lights and fixtures containing mercury or PCBs and replace them with light-emitting diode (LED) equipment.”

The agreement allows UGA to provide help in low-income communities across the state, but officials plan to “prioritize initiatives in Athens-Clarke County,” said university spokesman Greg Trevor.

UGA has also addressed “all violations alleged by the EPA,” according to the university’s announcement.