Ohio Five receives EPA grant

The Five Colleges of Ohio consortium has received a state grant designed to help the schools prevent pollution and manage hazardous waste on their campuses. Awarded by the Environmental Education Fund of the state Environmental Protection Agency, the $50,000 grant will support a collaborative project at Kenyon and Oberlin colleges, the College of Wooster, and Denison and Ohio Wesleyan universities.

The project, called "Pollution Prevention on the College Campus: a Consortial Approach to Education and Training," addresses the fact that residential academic institutions function as small cities, according to Darcy Blankenhorn, Kenyon's biology materials and laboratory technical director and radiation safety officer. Environmental inspections have revealed problems in the handling of hazardous waste on some campuses, she says.

"We hope to update college prevention policies and procedures, develop a comprehensive program of education and training, and identify common methods for environmental management," says Blankenhorn.

The colleges will develop training programs for faculty, staff, and students in the sciences, studio art, and theater, all fields associated with significant amounts of hazardous waste. Training sessions are expected to begin in the spring of 2005.

The project will also help the colleges reduce and prevent pollution, in part by replacing hazardous materials with environmentally friendly ones. By collaborating, the schools hope to reduce the cost of pollution-prevention measures. Other areas embraced by the project include risk assessment, regulatory requirements, management practices, and communication.

The project team will be led by Kris Pohlman of Ohio Wesleyan University, the Ohio Five's environmental education specialist and grant manager. Also serving on the team are Emily Bain, Kenyon's environmental health and safety specialist, and Blankenhorn. In addition, expertise will be provided by the Five Colleges of Ohio Environmental Health and Safety Roundtable.