Jennifer,
That DENR inspector may have been way off base. I was a RCRA for years
and have logged more than 500 hazardous waste inspections. Those
regulations - 40 CFR 262.34(c)(1)(I) and 265.173(a) - apply to hazardous
waste. Other than the physical hazards you call "sharps", what was the
residue that gave this waste it's hazardous characteristic, i.e., the
EPA-defined hazardous waste codes? If there are no hazardous waste
codes that apply to this waste, then 40 CFR 262.34(c)(1)(I) and
265.173(a) are totally irrelevant. If you don't know the answer to that
question, then you should have been cited with 40 CFR 262.11 (c)(2)
instead - failure to make a hazardous waste determination.
Eric
Eric J. Clark, MS, CCHO, CHMM
Chemical Terrorism Coordinator
Laboratory Response Network
Oregon State Public Health Laboratory
1717 SW 10th Ave
Portland, OR 97201
(503) 229-5592
Fax: (503) 229-5682
https://lrn.hr.state.or.us/home/h_contactus.cfm
>>> "Young, Jennifer" 06/19/2007 2:14:25
PM >>>
I could use some help about how to respond to a DENR inspection
violation regarding an open sharps container. We were cited for
violating 40 CFR 262.34(c)(1)(I) and 265.173(a), which states "that a
container holding hazardous waste must always be closed during
storage,
except when it is necessary to add or remove waste." I understand
that,
but a sharps container is designed such that once it is closed, it
cannot be reopened. Only the small flap for adding sharps was open,
but
is has to be open. It would be quite a danger for the chemists to
have
to try to pry open the container when they had a syringe to dispose
of.
(This is a large, 7 gallon bucket-type container, with a flat lid that
is hinged and a flap that leaves an open space for adding the
syringes/needles, not the small wall-hanging or tabletop kind.) How
does one keep the waste container closed when it is designed to be
open
like that? How do I respond? Any advice you could give would be
great.
Jennifer A. Young, Ph.D.
Targacept, Inc.
336 480-2182
Jennifer.Young**At_Symbol_Here**Targacept.com
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