U honored
for pollution prevention
By Steve
Carr
UNM was
recently recognized with the Pollution Prevention Award of Excellence
for its campus-wide pollution prevention activities by the Industrial
Pretreatment Program and Pollution Prevention Program, a subdivision
of the City of Albuquerques Public Works Department.
The award
criterion includes superior performance above and beyond regulatory
requirements that accomplish the true spirit and intent of pollution
prevention.
This
award wouldnt be possible without the help of various
entities across campus who have received certifications for
their participation in the campus five parts per million (PPM)
Silver or Pollution Prevention programs, said Linda McCormick,
pollution prevention specialist with Safety, Health & Environmental
Affairs (SHEA).
McCormick
accepted the award at a recent City Council meeting on behalf
of the University and SHEA where the City of Albuquerque recognized
UNMs pollution prevention accomplishments during fiscal
year 2001-02. Some of the departments involved in the program
that helped UNM win the award include art & art history,
biology, chemistry and the physical plants grounds and
landscaping division.
Its
really fun and exciting to go and learn whats going on
around campus on a 'chemical user' level, said McCormick.
We have a lot of interaction with faculty, staff and students
throughout campus and we also serve as a knowledge base for
resource redistribution between areas on campus.
In UNMs
Pollution Prevention Report, sent to the city in early-January,
McCormick cited a number of program highlights where the University
has made significant strides. These include removal of significant
amounts of elemental mercury across campus for recycling; implementation
of a free mercury thermometer replacement program with non-mercury
thermometers; recycling of waste gas cylinders by
manufacturers in the United States saving UNM an estimated $40,000
on cylinder disposal; a surplus chemical program that redistributed
more than 2,100 pounds of chemicals; and the reclamation and
recycling of four tons of silver from photographic negatives.
In May
2002, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Pollution Prevention
between the City of Albuquerque and UNM was signed which implied
a high level of trust in the University to go above and beyond
regulatory requirements. Prior to this agreement, UNM was required
to maintain a Wastewater Discharge Permit that included semiannual
reporting by UNM and semiannual monitoring by the city of UNMs
wastewater discharge at six locations throughout campus. Wastewater
samples were analyzed for corrosives (i.e. pH), organic chemicals,
metals and temperature. As a result of the MOU, the Wastewater
Discharge Permit was inactivated by the city.
The whole
process was made possible through the U.S. EPAs Excellence
in Leadership (XL) Pilot Project which the city entered into
in February 2000 and is intended to encourage enhanced, innovative,
and overall superior environmental management at industries,
businesses and institutions. The city also directly benefits
by being able to shift much needed resources to pollution prevention
activities not otherwise able to be addressed at other locations
in the city, said McCormick.
Due
to UNMs excellent record with respect to semiannualreporting
and wastewater discharge quality, the city no longer requires
a wastewater discharge permit, said McCormick. They
expressed to us that they have confidence we are doing the right
thing.