Marvin Stillman, manager of environmental compliance for the University of Rochester, has been honored with an Environmental Quality Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. At a ceremony in New York on April 21, the agency cited Stillman's exceptional commitment to helping the University of Rochester and Strong Memorial Hospital become and maintain the status of good environmental "citizens" of Rochester.
The EPA described Stillman and his colleagues as "assets to the environmental programs in Region 2." Thirty-eight others from New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and seven tribal nations were selected for the award.
"He is truly outstanding in his field," said Richard Pifer, associate vice president for University Facilities and Services. "Part of what makes this award special is that EPA called us and suggested that they would like to recognize him." As manager of hazardous waste, Stillman's operation serves the entire University.
The relationship between the University and EPA Region 2 started a number of years ago when Stillman agreed to train EPA inspectors about facilities at a university and hospital, particularly laboratories. Strong Memorial Hospital hosted an early pollution prevention and environmental compliance workshop and another in June 2004.
With Strong Memorial Hospital's cooperation and provision of training facilities for EPA instructors, Region 2 was able to reach numerous hospitals in the upstate area and train them on compliance with federal environmental regulations and how to implement successful pollution prevention programs, said Stillman. They also learned about voluntary federal programs and training courses for regional hospitals about complex regulations.
Stillman pointed out some of the many accomplishments that have taken place at the University in recent years through team efforts throughout the organization: solid and hazardous waste tracking, the hospital becoming virtually mercury-free, waste minimization, increased use of "green cleaners," considerably lower air emissions from the power plant, improved compliance tracking, and other actions to limit the environmental footprint of the University and hospital operations.
Strong Memorial Hospital and the University completed their third-party environmental audit and reported findings to EPA in December 2004. They showed that operations were at a high level of compliance.