Proposed Waste Bill May Affect Harvard

Harvard research facilities may be forced to curtail their use of certain chemicals if a proposed toxic waste bill is approved by the Massachusetts state legislature.

The Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction Act, expected to be considered early in next year's legislative session, likely will curtail the amount of chemicals used at Harvard. But University officials are not certain as to whether this reduction will significantly affect academic research.

The purpose of the bill, which has been formulated by the Massachusetts Public Interest Research Group (MassPIRG) and co-sponsored by 130 state representatives for 1988, is to force large producers of toxic substances to come up with proposals to reduce the amount of waste they produce, said Michael L'Ecuyer, the toxics policy specialist for MassPIRG.

According to L'Ecuyer, use of any of the 2000 substances listed on the Massachusetts Substance List will be affected by the bill. "A lot of the hazardous materials used in university laboratories will come under this law," he said.

The bill will only impact Harvard's use or production of a certain substance if the quantity of the chemical involved exceeds a certain number of pounds per year, said L'Ecuyer. The bill holds accountable anyone using or producing more than 25,000 pounds of a listed substance per year as well as those making "any other use" of more than 10,000 pounds per year.

The any other use" clause of the bill is a very broad category and applies to the use of such substances as cleaning solvents, which Harvard may use in significant amounts, L'Ecuyer said.

Since the 10,000 pound specification applies mainly to non-manufacturers who produce toxic waste, Harvard would probably fall into this category and would be affected by the bill, said Nikki Roy, who works for the bureau of solid waste disposal at the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Quality Engineering (DEQE).

If Harvard were found exceeding the threshold by using more than 10,000 pounds of a listed substance, the bill would require that the University increase the amount of detail in their reports on toxic chemical use and production. The University would also have to present proposals to the DEQE to effectively reduce these amounts of waste.

"If we had to do that it would certainly take some extra man-power, and that costs money," said Gari Gatwood, Manager of Safety Engineering at Harvard.

But Gatwood does not believe that any single university research project produces enough waste to be affected by the terms of the bill. "There are very few research places that are going to come up with those kinds of numbers anywhere," he said.

Harvard's Community Relations Representative, Richard Doherty, said he was concerned that several common substances may be affected by the bill. "But it may not affect us at all," said Doherty, adding that if the bill is passed the University will have to conduct a survey of the amount toxic chemicals used on campus.

"I don't think it would be that many substances affected by the bill," Doherty said.

Gatwood also said the likelihood is small that the quantities of substances used for cleaning by Harvard's facilities and maintenance department exceed even the lower of the two numbers.

"They don't use whopping quantities of any given chemical," he said.