BOSTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed a $1.3 million fine against Ultra Scientific Inc. for what it says are “extensive hazardous waste handling violations” at its Quonset Point/Davisville Industrial Park facility.
The company manufactures chemicals used by laboratories for quality control testing and instrument calibration. The EPA’s formal complaint accuses Ultra Scientific of dozens of violations the EPA says it discovered during a two-day inspection in September 2002.
The EPA alleges violations occurred at the company’s 18,000-square-foot production building, which includes seven large containers on the property that store hazardous waste. For example, the EPA says investigators found waste acids stored with waste cyanide, which can produce toxic hydrogen-cyanide gas.
Robert W. Varney, the EPA’s administrator for New England, said in a press release that the size of the fine reflects the severity of the violations. He said most of the hazardous materials were removed after the inspection.
When contacted, a company representative would not comment.
Health department gets $2.6 million for bioterrorism
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Rhode Island Department of Health will receive a $2.6 million grant as part of the National Bioterrorism Hospital Preparedness Program, U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy’s office announced Sept. 25.
The program, administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is designed to help hospitals prepare to deliver coordinated care to victims of terrorism or other public health emergencies.
The focus of the grant includes “surge capacity” planning, or the capability of the health care system to absorb 500 patients after a weapons of mass destruction incident.
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