$16,000 in fines for waste shipping violations

[okarol]

01/11/2007

RPH fined for waste shipping violations
 
FOR THE REVIEW
 

The Department of Environmental Protection has fined Sterilogic Waste Systems Inc. of Syracuse, N.Y., $10,000, and Robert Packer Hospital’s Guthrie Dialysis Lab of Towanda, Bradford County, $6,000 for infectious waste shipping manifest violations committed by both parties between January and July 2006.
 
A shipping manifest is a detailed list of the type and quantity of waste that is transported.

“A DEP inspection of infectious waste manifests conducted in early August 2006 at the Guthrie Dialysis Lab revealed that Sterilogic had accepted eight unsigned manifests and two others signed by unauthorized individuals,” DEP North Central Regional Office Director Robert Yowell said. “By accepting these unsigned and improperly signed manifests, Sterilogic violated the Pa. Solid Waste Management Act and DEP’s municipal waste regulations,”

Infectious waste is municipal waste generated in the medical diagnosis and treatment of humans or animals, or in the production and testing of biological materials. It can include cultures and stocks, pathological waste and human blood and body fluid. Generators are usually hospitals, clinics and other facilities, like nursing homes.

“Robert Packer Hospital also showed a disregard for properly documenting the specific types of infectious wastes it was disposing by having unauthorized individuals sign manifests or, worse, leaving them unsigned,” Yowell said.

The fines are being paid to the Solid Waste Abatement Fund, which finances cleanups across the commonwealth.

A statement from Robert Packer Hospital in response to the DEP news release said the following:

During a routine inspection by the DEP it was discovered that there were some inconsistencies between Sterilogic and the Dialysis Unit of Robert Packer Hospital in completing signatures on the paperwork related to the shipping of medical waste from the unit.

The Dialysis Unit has put corrective actions into place and has implemented a new process designed to ensure consistent compliance. 

URL: http://www.thedailyreview.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17697439&BRD=2276&PAG=461&dept_id=465049&rfi=6
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[livecam]

Interesting...Robert Packer Hospital and the Guthrie Clinic are pretty much the premier medical providers in northern Pennsylvania and southern New York.  I'm from that part of the country and am very familiar with those facilities. 

[Sluff]

Now they are real popular.