CHEMICALS, TEXTBOOKS THROWN AWAY ACID DUMPED BY SCHOOL WORKERS.Byline: DANA BARTHOLOMEW Staff Writer LAKE BALBOA -- Workers at a Los Angeles Unified School District The Los Angeles Unified School District (the "LAUSD") is the largest (in terms of number of students) public school system in California and the second-largest in the United States. Only the New York City Department of Education has a larger student population. administration building dumped hazardous waste Hazardous waste Any solid, liquid, or gaseous waste materials that, if improperly managed or disposed of, may pose substantial hazards to human health and the environment. Every industrial country in the world has had problems with managing hazardous wastes. into a trash bin destined des·tine tr.v. des·tined, des·tin·ing, des·tines 1. To determine beforehand; preordain: a foolish scheme destined to fail; a film destined to become a classic. 2. for Sunshine Canyon Landfill, officials acknowledged Wednesday. Bottles of corrosive hydrochloric acid hydrochloric acid: see hydrogen chloride. hydrochloric acid or muriatic acid Solution in water of hydrogen chloride (HCl), a gaseous inorganic compound. were tossed into a bin at District 1 headquarters, along with other chemicals from leftover science kits. The trash also included computer gear and dozens of brand-new stopwatches, scientific materials and environmental textbooks that included chapters on ``comparing garbage'' and ``investigating sanitary landfills.'' ``Hydrochloric acid -- jeez jeez interj. Used to express surprise or annoyance. [Alteration of Jesus1.] , that's nasty stuff,'' said one high school teacher, who asked not to be identified. ``Why did they throw this in here?'' he asked while peering into the trash bin at the rear of the district's Balboa Boulevard complex. Several teachers phoned the Daily News after seeing maintenance workers toss the materials -- including at least three one-liter bottles of hydrochloric acid -- into the trash bin at 11:30 a.m. Workers removed much of the waste several hours later, after questions by a reporter. Hydrochloric acid, also known as muriatic acid, is corrosive to the eyes, skin and mucous membranes, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and . Acute exposure can cause severe burns, scarring and other ailments. The EPA EPA eicosapentaenoic acid. EPA abbr. eicosapentaenoic acid EPA, n.pr See acid, eicosapentaenoic. EPA, n. deems hydrochloric acid a hazardous waste. District 1 officials said the opened and unopened bottles of hydrochloric acid, ethyl alcohol and calcium hydroxide included in unused seventh-grade science kits were thrown out by someone in the nearby Sciences Resource Laboratory. On the front of the Allied Waste Inc. trash bin was a sign, ``No hazardous waste accepted.'' ``It's not a regular occurrence,'' Dea Tramble, an operations coordinator for District 1, said of the dumping. ``It came from the Science Center -- it must have been someone who didn't know.'' Tramble said the materials weren't explosive or dangerous, but should not have been there. Sunshine Canyon Landfill officials said chemicals such as hydrochloric acid are ``absolutely not'' permitted at the Granada Hills dump. Any hazardous materials sent to Sunshine Canyon is moved to other sites. ``All of our customers know what they should or should not put in our containers -- particularly if it was the school district,'' said Greg Loughnane, district manager for Sunshine Canyon Landfill. ``It's not allowed. Anyone who runs a lab knows you're supposed to have hazardous waste carriers.'' Loughnane said he will consult with the school district on the proper disposal of hazardous waste. Wednesday, teachers just shook their heads at the bounty of textbooks, stopwatches, Web cams, overhead scanners and other unused items deposited in the bin. One book on materials science, published by the University of California at Berkeley (body, education) University of California at Berkeley - (UCB) See also Berzerkley, BSD. http://berkeley.edu/. Note to British and Commonwealth readers: that's /berk'lee/, not /bark'lee/ as in British Received Pronunciation. , asks students: ``Are you concerned about the effects of hazardous materials on the environment?'' ``It's unbelievable,'' said another teacher, pawing through the refuse. ``At (my) school, you can't get supplies -- pens, printer cartridges. We can't get paper in the classroom -- nothing.'' dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3730 CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1) LAUSD LAUSD Los Angeles Unified School District (Los Angeles, CA) staff members pull items from a trash bin at District 1 headquarters next to Birmingham High School Birmingham High School is a public coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of the city of Los Angeles, California. The school is a part of District One of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). in Lake Balboa that contained brand new teaching materials, new stopwatches and some hazardous chemicals destined for the Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills. (2) Some of the items found in a trash bin outside Birmingham High School and LAUSD District 1 headquarters included bottles of hydrochloric acid, considered a hazardous material. John Lazar/Staff Photographer |
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