Colleges and Universities: Changing Your "School of Thought" When It Comes
to Environmental Liability
October 2000
When you think of your alma mater, the first
thing that comes to mind is usually not hazardous waste or air quality. But
these environmental exposures can pose a significant risk to educational institutions
and the students, faculty, and members of the public that come in, on, and through
campuses everyday. This article examines such exposures and ways to deal with
them.
by Jeff
Slivka
New Day
Underwriting Managers LLC
When you picture your alma mater, odds are you probably envision rolling
landscape, main hall, tradition, mascots, sports, and the list probably goes
on. But have you ever envisioned the storage of hazardous chemicals, lab waste,
leaking underground tanks, or airborne pathogens? Probably not. If you do, you
are definitely the minority. Most of us don't, and because of that we expose
ourselves to bodily harm and the institutions to costly lawsuits.
This article will identify some of the major the environmental exposures
associated with educational institutions and hopefully reveal the magnitude
of the problem.
Hazardous Waste Exposure
In 1999 Yale University paid $348,000 to settle Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) allegations that the school jeopardized the safety of nearby residents
and students. The violations included storage of hazardous materials in open
or damaged containers in areas where students worked, improperly labeling waste
containers, and risking explosion by storing incompatible chemicals near each
other. Though the school neither denied nor admitted wrongdoing in the settlement,
it was an expensive lesson. In a separate but similar case, Stanford University
paid nearly $1 million to California regulators in a 1994 settlement.
Educational institutions face many environmental exposures coming from a
variety of sources. Most prevalent are the disposal practices of the past. When
you think about it, most research labs have historically disposed of waste in
underground tanks or 55-gallon drums around campus. Many of these research based
or "medical" universities have been around for over 100 years. That's plenty
of time for waste to accumulate in some forgotten corner of the campus. And
without proper paperwork, manifest, or management, who knows what's contained
in these drums?
It is only as the university expands that the hazards are identified and
the impact on the surrounding environment and reputation of the school surmised.
Now, take this example and multiply it by 10, considering that many colleges
and universities have a number of campuses. Each campus is usually managed by
different departments, making it even tougher to truly get a handle on the disposal
practices.
Air Quality Exposure
Another exposure that is becoming more prevalent is indoor air quality. An
unnamed East Coast college found itself in the middle of a cleanup effort ranging
around $400,000. It is alleged that the college improperly maintained the heating,
ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system in a dormitory. Condensation
accumulated in the ductwork, and before long, mold and mildew formed. The bacterial
contamination was blown through the ventilation system and caused some students
to become sick.
An even more obscure event involving air quality occurred in the early 1990s
when students were rushed to a hospital in a small town in New York for carbon
monoxide inhalation. Apparently the ice-skating arena at the school lacked proper
ventilation. When the "Zamboni" resurfaced the ice one night, students were
overcome by the fumes from the vehicle. In this case, no one was seriously injured,
however, it did not stop the parents of those students from filing a lawsuit
against the school.
Other exposures include:
- Acidic laboratory, x-ray, and maintenance chemicals corroding on-site
and off-site sewer pipes
- Exposed asbestos · Leaking underground and aboveground storage tanks
and piping
- Historical disposal practices for hazardous, infectious, and radioactive
waste
- Improper maintenance of laboratory hood filters
- Improper maintenance of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) -containing electrical
equipment
- Insufficient chemical pretreatment of wastewater discharge to municipal
wastewater treatment plant
- Inadequate maintenance of HVAC systems, causing sick building syndrome
- Lack of adequate assessment on properties donated to the school
- Inadequate records of prior disposal areas
- Improper building "seal," resulting in water penetration that can lead
to microbiological contamination (fungal growth)
- Inadequate maintenance of animal waste (surface water runoff from agricultural
activities, bat and pigeon droppings containing ammonia and bacteria)
There have been many events over the past few years involving the exposures
identified above. As you read the following examples, keep one thing in mind-environmental
liability does not discriminate. It can occur at the largest university or the
smallest state school. It doesn't even have to be a college or university—it
can be any secondary school, high school, elementary school, etc. Also, third
parties are on these locations every minute of every hour of every day, and
it's the duty of the school to protect them from the school's activities that
may be hazardous.
Radium 226 Contamination. Over 50 years ago,
a university had a Radium 226 spill. Remedial efforts at the time involved collecting
contaminated material over a tarp on the ground. During recent construction
for a new building on the space where the tarp had been placed, contamination
was noted and verified through sampling. Soil remediation and disposal costs
exceeded $400,000.
Hydrogen Cyanide Gas Sickens Students and Staff. A student at a small college committed suicide by taking potassium cyanide.
The chemical reacted with water in the student's body, creating hydrogen cyanide
gas, which sickened nine people including paramedics, college staff, and students.
In addition, fumes contaminated linens and other items at the school and hospital.
Costs are expected to exceed $20,000 for bodily injury and cleanup.
Sick Building Syndrome. A university had a
third-party contractor working in an old building. Several employees of the
contractor claimed bodily injury due to sick building syndrome. The claim is
presently being investigated.
Mercury
Contamination Leads to Building Demolition. Mercury was discovered in
the basement of a sorority house at a university. The mercury had been in a
container for many years and had volatized into the woodwork throughout the
building, making it virtually impossible to decontaminate the building. The
building will need to be demolished. Demolition and disposal costs are expected
to exceed $200,000.
Tank Spill. A college experienced a leak from
an aboveground storage tank valve. The tank was not properly contained and the
spill reached an adjacent river. Total investigation, cleanup, and disposal
costs exceeded $74,000.
Managing the Exposures
When it comes to the management of environmental liability at educational
institutions, you have to make the investment. Depending on the complexity of
the exposure, you may only have to charge the school's risk manager with managing
the day-to-day pollution exposures. For larger universities, you may want to
designate specific environmental managers or outsource to an environmental consultant.
Regardless, the first step would be to obviously identify what hazards exist
today—conduct an environmental exposure audit. This is extremely important for
those schools having multiple campuses.
Once the audit is complete, an environmental program can be developed. Such
programs are based on training and education. It is imperative that proper material
and waste handling procedures be developed and training provided to anyone,
especially students, who are exposed to the materials. Fire control and cursory
emergency response training needs to be provided to anyone in laboratories and
other effected buildings on campus. Lastly, consideration should be given to
conducting an introductory environmental exposure training course for employees
and possibly students, depending on their role within the school.
Conclusion
This is not a truly comprehensive look at how to manage all environmental
exposures at an educational institution, just a quick overview. However, if
you are either associated directly with a school or are the school's agent/broker,
my simple, quick, free advice to you is get some help—quick! If you haven't
addressed the environmental hazards (and I'm not talking about just purchasing
pollution insurance) that exist, it's only a matter of time before something
does occur. And when that happens, you want to at least make it look like you
knew what was going on.
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