DEQ fines UO over toxic wastes.

Byline: Matt Cooper The Register-Guard

It's not hard to imagine a manufacturing plant or construction company occasionally running afoul of state environmental quality rules.

But the University of Oregon? The same venerable state institution that touts its closeness to Oregon's beaches, mountains, lakes and forests?

Believe it: The state Department of Environmental Quality has fined the university $3,600 for mishandling of hazardous wastes.

The university hasn't answered the violation notice, the state said Wednesday, and now has 10 days to pay the fine.

A three-day state inspection of the campus in October revealed eight instances where workers had mismanaged potentially hazardous waste, posing a risk that the waste could be released into the environment with damaging effects, said Susan Shewczyk, a state inspector.

For example, state inspectors found university employees uncertain of whether rags in a container were hazardous. UO workers also were unsure of how possibly hazardous solvents and old brake fluid were being disposed, and inspectors found open containers of paint waste, apparently abandoned and a potential threat to air quality, Shewczyk said.

In one instance, an arts instructor attempting to be resourceful disposed of potentially hazardous material in a heated kiln, Shewczyk said - another threat to air quality.

"My immediate response was, `Don't do that anymore,' ' Shewczyk said.

State rules require people who generate residue to determine if that residue is a hazardous waste, either through testing or through knowledge of the materials involved.

The state sent a copy of the violations by certified mail in December. University spokeswoman Pauline Austin said she couldn't comment because she wasn't aware of the report.

The sprawling, multi-building campuses of some universities can make it hard to keep up with regulations because instructors and a university's environmental staff may not be in close contact, Shewczyk said.

The fines are "not horrendous," she added, and the UO remains a leader in pollution prevention and recycling.

"They're at the top of their field," Shewczyk said. However, federal hazardous waste disposal law, which the state enforces, "makes you look at some very minor, detailed things and you still have to comply with them," she said.

For similar hazardous-waste cases, the state can fine as much as $10,000 a day per violation, said David LeBrun, an environmental law specialist with the state agency.

However, the particulars of the case - including the magnitude of the violation, the amount of waste and the university's prior history - dictated the lesser fine, he said.

The university generates more than 2,200 pounds of hazardous waste a month.

Additional penalties may follow if the university has not addressed all violations by mid-September, LeBrun said.