The
Post Register in Idaho Falls reports that while some workers were cleaning out a storage space under the stage of an old high school, they found
"a crate filled with
potassium, hydrochloric acid and other chemicals usually associated with high
school science classes."But the school hasn't offered a
chemistry class in 50 years.
While this is an Idaho
story, there is no doubt that it is a national one, too.
The
Post Register story says:
Many [schools] are filled with old, outdated -- and
potentially hazardous -- chemicals that have been
forgotten about or that districts can't afford to remove on their own.
The
[Idaho] Department of
Environmental Quality estimates 200 to 300 Idaho schools are storing outdated, decades-old
chemicals. Though in most cases the chemicals aren't a serious health risk, officials say they need to be removed
before they become a problem.
"It would be best
to not have them there," said Shawn Sweetapple, a Department of Environmental Quality employee. "It's
better not to have the risk."
It was
Sweetapple who discovered the statewide problem while working on his Master's degree at the University of Idaho in 2004. For a graduate
project, he put together a pilot project with 10 northern Idaho
schools to remove these unwanted chemicals, most of which date to the 1960s.
Chemicals that were 20 years old were found during a cleanup at Everett High School. At Lynnfield High, 30-year-old species were discovered, preserved in large amounts of
formaldehyde. Chemicals dating to the Depression were found at Swampscott High School.
While schools have long been aware of the dangers of working with chemicals such as 2, 4-dinitrophenol and mercury, these incidents show how easy it is to lose track of laboratory
materials, sometimes decades old, according to area science teachers. Past practices, such as ordering chemical substances in bulk and keeping them in separate storage closets,
fostered a system that sometimes allowed schools to become
unwitting harborers of hidden hazards...
Old substances in science labs often aren't found
until teachers do major cleanups, such as after the departure of a
longtime teacher, or when school supplies have to be moved. Compounding the problem is a lack of guidelines from the state Department
of Education instructing public schools on how to store and dispose of chemicals and how often to take inventory, according to science teachers.
When chemicals are stored in school laboratories longer than they should [be], it is often because teachers have
never had proper lab safety training, or because ''they knew
about it and they didn't want to deal with it," said Jim Kaufman, president of the
Laboratory Safety Institute in Natick. The
institute is a 30-year-old nonprofit organization that teaches courses on
laboratory safety to teachers, organizations, and companies.
It is not hard to find
stories
about high school lab explosions:
Here is a study that tries to make
a connection between overcrowded
classrooms and accidents.
Here is a
collection of historic lawsuits
involving injuries in school labs.
When I was in high
school, my lab partner, Tommy Wiggington,
and I used to play with a bottle of mercury
our teacher left sitting
out.
That probably explains a lot about my
mental capacity.
Al's Morning Multimedia
After five days of watching
video news stories here at Poynter, the National
Press Photographers Association judges have announced the winners of the Station
of the Year and Editor of the Year awards.
Click here
to see the winners' work.Sometime today, the judges expect to announce the
winner of the Photographer of the Year award.
On the Poynter site, you'll find hours of video, as well as comments from the judges that will help you understand what makes great TV and online video.
Donate to Cut Jail Time
Inmates in South
Carolina may be able
to cut 180 days off a jail
or prison sentence if they agree to donate a kidney
to somebody in need.
The (Orangeburg, S.C.) Times and Democrat reports:A state Senate panel gave the nod to an inmate
organ and tissue donation
program Thursday; debate was postponed on whether the incentive
could be added because legislators worried
it may not be allowed under federal law.
"People are dying. I think it's imperative that we go all out and see
what we can do," said the bills' chief sponsor, Sen. Ralph Anderson, D-Greenville. "I would like to see us get enough donors
that people are no longer dying."
The measure, approved by the Senate Corrections and Penology Subcommittee, would set up a volunteer
organ and tissue donor program in the state Corrections Department to educate inmates about the procedures
and the need for donors. The incentive bill on which lawmakers want legal advice would shave up to 180 days
off a prison sentence for a donation.
South Carolina advocates for organ donations said the incentive policy would be the only one of its kind in the nation.
Federal law makes it illegal to give organ donors
"valuable consideration." Lawmakers want to know whether the term could apply to time off of prison sentences.
More Hotels Keeping the 13th Floor
USA
Today produced an interesting
little piece
on how some new hotels are including
a 13
th floor, despite the long-standing practice of skipping from floor number 12 to number 14.
We are always looking for your great ideas. Send Al a few sentences and hot links.
Editor's
Note: Al's Morning Meeting is a compendium of ideas, edited story
excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as
original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly
from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided
whenever possible. The column is fact-checked, but depends upon the
accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. Errors and
inaccuracies found will be corrected.
I read with interest your lead story today about chemicals...
