University receives environmental award

T he Environmental Protection Agency has honored the University with a 1999 USEPA Environmental Quality Award for the reduction in mercury usage at Strong Memorial Hospital and Eastman Dental Center.

The program to decrease or eliminate mercury usage was unveiled in a November 1997 meeting of SMH department heads and supervisors. Marvin Stillman, manager of environmental compliance, Facilities & Services, made a brief presentation that he said came down to a simple but serious message: "Mercury is bad. Don't use it." Since then--and with a lot of work, Stillman said--mercury thermometer usage at SMH decreased by 90 percent from 1997 to 1998 and almost all mercury-filled sphygmomanometers (an instrument for measuring blood pressure) have been replaced at SMH. At EDC, amalgam collection improvements and training were implemented.

In addition to the significant effects this program has had here at Rochester, it has served as a benchmark for others. Funded by an EPA grant, Monroe County, serving as the grant's administrator, worked closely with the University on developing a "how-to" manual to be shared with other institutions. Thus far, the manual has been used in over 16 states and three Canadian provinces.

While Stillman is proud of the work group's accomplishment and the award, he said they won't be resting on their laurels. "Success is not static. We must continue to keep mercury out of our system as much as possible in order to avoid costly waste disposal or wastewater treatment requirements."

The people who make up that work group, in addition to Stillman and the Monroe County Mercury Task Force, are as follows: Kathleen Parrinello, senior director, Hospital Operations; John Borrelli, director of finance and administration, Department of Dentistry; Nils Gurdin, manager, Clinical Engineering Laboratory; Tracy Herbert, director, facilities operations for Residential Life; Ernest Myers, manager, Materials Management; Vivian Palladoro, manager, education, quality assurance, and facilities, Clinical Laboratories; Melinda Spry, assistant quality officer, Quality Assurance; Nancy Vanderhoof, assistant coordinator, Methods/Procedures/Quality Control, Nursing Practice; Christine VanStean, education consultant, Learn Program; Brad Miller, chemist, Hazardous Waste Management Unit; Charles Oster, associate professor, Department of Dentistry; and Grant LeMasters, resident, EDC.