Mock drill simulates hazardous waste spill
Waste drill prepares students for real emergencies
Débora Biasutti
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: Campus News
Posted at 7:00 p.m. 11/17/09
Students from UW-Eau Claire's environmental public health program participated in a mock drill involving hazardous waste on the green area of Davies Center last Tuesday.
As part of the mock drill, according to associate professor Crispin Pierce, "hazardous" waste was transported out of Phillips Hall. Vandals scattered the boxes and containers, and the waste spilled around the green area.
Hazardous waste is classified as paints, motor oil, cell phones, batteries and other materials communities use in their lives.
Pierce said the task of the students of the environmental public health program was to identify where the waste was and test for the amount of chemical substances on it.
"The students identified where the waste was located and marked on a GPS," said Pierce. "They measured radioactivity and measured the pH, which represents an acid spilled."
One of the purposes of the drill was also to prepare the students for how to deal with real catastrophes, Pierce said.
"The waste drill was to train the students to respond to emergencies," said Pierce. "Could be a chemical spill, a terrorist attack or a hurricane."
Sophomore Ariel Smith was part of the waste drills and said she enjoyed testing the waste as a group.
"The drill was for us as students to understand how we can test if things are hazardous to us and people around us," said Smith. "If we can eliminate most of these wastes then we all can live a safer life."
Senior Marc Schultz created this activity, and he integrated the use of GPS and Google Earth on the project, Pierce said.
"The big importance of the drill is being able to use new technology to create a way so people in our field can be more efficient," Schultz said.
Smith also thought the use of GPS to find the waste was useful.
"I learned how to use a hand-held GPS system," Smith said. "Using one of these, you can see where an illness began and where it has spread."
Schultz said students should realize how the field of environmental public health is in their everyday life.
"If you walk in a food store and there is deli, the Health Department went there and made sure the meat was safe for everyone in the community," said Schultz.
Pierce said UW-Eau Claire students should be aware of the health issues that are happening on campus.
"I think education is the key," said Pierce. "Providing good information for students and faculty would prevent health problems."
Smith agreed. "What we do now will affect us in our future," said Smith. "Changing our ways is the first step to a better environment."
Students from UW-Eau Claire's environmental public health program participated in a mock drill involving hazardous waste on the green area of Davies Center last Tuesday.
As part of the mock drill, according to associate professor Crispin Pierce, "hazardous" waste was transported out of Phillips Hall. Vandals scattered the boxes and containers, and the waste spilled around the green area.
Hazardous waste is classified as paints, motor oil, cell phones, batteries and other materials communities use in their lives.
Pierce said the task of the students of the environmental public health program was to identify where the waste was and test for the amount of chemical substances on it.
"The students identified where the waste was located and marked on a GPS," said Pierce. "They measured radioactivity and measured the pH, which represents an acid spilled."
One of the purposes of the drill was also to prepare the students for how to deal with real catastrophes, Pierce said.
"The waste drill was to train the students to respond to emergencies," said Pierce. "Could be a chemical spill, a terrorist attack or a hurricane."
Sophomore Ariel Smith was part of the waste drills and said she enjoyed testing the waste as a group.
"The drill was for us as students to understand how we can test if things are hazardous to us and people around us," said Smith. "If we can eliminate most of these wastes then we all can live a safer life."
Senior Marc Schultz created this activity, and he integrated the use of GPS and Google Earth on the project, Pierce said.
"The big importance of the drill is being able to use new technology to create a way so people in our field can be more efficient," Schultz said.
Smith also thought the use of GPS to find the waste was useful.
"I learned how to use a hand-held GPS system," Smith said. "Using one of these, you can see where an illness began and where it has spread."
Schultz said students should realize how the field of environmental public health is in their everyday life.
"If you walk in a food store and there is deli, the Health Department went there and made sure the meat was safe for everyone in the community," said Schultz.
Pierce said UW-Eau Claire students should be aware of the health issues that are happening on campus.
"I think education is the key," said Pierce. "Providing good information for students and faculty would prevent health problems."
Smith agreed. "What we do now will affect us in our future," said Smith. "Changing our ways is the first step to a better environment."
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