Three Texas universities fined over violations of hazardous waste rules

Baylor University, Texas A&M University and Texas Christian University (TCU) recently agreed to settlements with the Environmental Protection Agency that will see the institutions pay civil fines stemming from alleged violations of hazardous waste regulations.

Through analyzing records submitted under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the EPA found that the universities were generating enough hazardous waste to qualify as large-quantity generators under the RCRA. The universities were all classed as small-quantity generators at the time, a distinction that does not bear the strict employee training requirements that a large-quantity generators would.

Beyond these violations, Baylor also generated some hazardous wastes without identifying them as hazardous and did not make adequate hazardous waste determinations of its waste streams.

Texas A&M was cited for violations at its Commerce, Weslaco, Amarillo and College Station campuses and, in addition to not registering as a large-quantity generator, also generated acutely hazardous waste without notification and did not fill out required paperwork.

Under the terms of the settlements, all three universities will bring all of their facilities into compliance with the RCRA. Additionally Baylor will pay an $11,330 fine, TCU will pay a $30,591 fine and Texas A&M will pay a $141,912 fine.