Brown University is addressing charges made in a report released today by the
New England Region of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The report,
based on an inspection conducted in May 1999, charges Brown with 15 violations
of environmental regulations.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The New England Region of the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency today (Thursday, Nov. 30, 2000) released its final report of
an inspection conducted at Brown University in May 1999. The report cites Brown
for 13 violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and two
violations of the Clean Water Act. In its news release, the EPA said the penalty
for all 15 counts could total as much as $500,000.
Interim President Sheila E. Blumstein made the following statement in
response to today’s announcement by the EPA:
Brown University is fully committed to protecting the environment and
maintaining a safe and healthy campus and workplace. I wish to assure members of
the campus community and our neighbors on the East Side of Providence that none
of the charges outlined in the EPA’s report posed an immediate or
long-term threat to anyone’s health or safety.
I do not, however, intend to minimize the seriousness of the EPA’s
report. The University began to address concerns raised by the inspection team
immediately after the EPA’s campus visit in May 1999. Staff from our
Office of Risk Management (ORM) began a series of special meetings with more
than 100 faculty in chemistry, physics, engineering, biology, psychology and
geology. They discussed the EPA’s visit and reviewed the faculty and
staff’s pivotal role in compliance and training. Since May 1999, ORM has
provided training for more than a thousand faculty, students and staff.
For several months after the EPA’s visit, risk management staff
conducted additional assessments of campus areas noted during the inspection,
including photographic darkrooms, art studios, theater production shops,
maintenance facilities, oil tanks and hazardous waste storage sites in addition
to research laboratories. Regular inspections will continue. In addition, the
University intends to review and modify as necessary its compliance procedures
to assure that full compliance continues.
Brown University has more than 300 laboratories, studios and other worksites
which use materials that require special handling and disposal. In nearly all
cases, the amounts involved are small, but the number of sites poses a
significant management challenge. I commend the work of our Office of Risk
Management and its efforts to support and work with the faculty, students and
staff who are ultimately responsible for compliance with most of the EPA’s
regulations.
The University is addressing all the compliance and training issues raised by
the EPA’s report. Brown has rededicated itself to ongoing annual training
programs for faculty, students and staff and to aggressive enforcement of waste
management policies. We seek a productive partnership with the EPA which will
assure Brown’s continued compliance with all environmental
regulations.
