In June 2003, the US Environmental Protection Agency surprised Plymouth State University in New Hampshire with a routine inspection of how their labs were managing chemical waste. The inspectors found cardboard boxes filled with different chemicals in high-traffic areas, a potential hazard should one chemical react in a dangerous way with another. As the inspectors were briefing school officials about their concerns, they heard an alarm: One of the boxes had started smoking when a construction worker bumped it, causing chemicals to leak. The area was evacuated, the fire department was called; no one was hurt. The proposed fine levied by the EPA, which first went public with the incident in March: $171,050.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident. Schools across the United States are facing hefty penalties, the result of missteps by research laboratories in handling the hundreds of thousands of tiny chemical containers that are the detritus ...
