If Mississippi State University were a human body, Michael Parsons would be the intestines. Parsons is MSU’s chief hazardous waste officer. He is solely in charge of moderating the disposal of toxic waste on campus.
“‘Hazardous waste’ is a legal term that is like 50 pages long,” Parsons said. “But the important thing to realize here is that waste does not have to be chemical to be toxic.”
For instance, ethyl alcohol is a chemical used in beer and whiskey, but Parsons said it is not toxic “unless you drink too much.”
Most of the chemical waste comes from labs, where they are used in experiments.
“The largest amount of waste is solvents like the ones you’d expect from a research lab,” Parsons said. “They are mostly organic (carbon-based) solvents like methyl alcohol, acetone and toluene, and many of them are very flammable.”
While the flammability may rule out the possibility of having cigar socials in the labs, it makes the disposal of waste more efficient.
“The chemical reactions dissolved in solvents are very inexpensive to dispose of because they can be used for fuels,” Parsons said. “We can use the flammable toxic waste to incinerate the non-toxic waste.”
When dealing with various acids and bases, chemical waste cannot be disposed of by simply tossing it out.
“The type of chemical determines how we dispose of it,” Parsons said.
To determine the proper mode of disposal, Parsons must first sort through his options.
“The first thing I do with chemical waste is look for a way to recycle it, but most chemicals offer very few options for recycling,” Parsons said. “The second option is to look for a treatment method so that it can be rendered non-hazardous before it is buried.”
An example of Parson’s second option would be the neutralizing sulfuric acid to make saltwater.
“Thirdly, I look at incineration,” Parsons said. “And lastly, I look at land-filling.”
Parsons said that there are no permitted hazardous waste facilities in Mississippi; therefore, much of the hazardous waste must be shipped elsewhere.
Although hazardous waste is potentially dangerous, Parsons insisted that the safety of the student body is in good hands.
“It’s very well controlled,” Parsons said. “The waste is containerized, the largest container I’ll put in a lab is five gallons. Once a container is full, it is removed and taken to a storage facility by the vet school. We store radioactive waste on one side and hazardous waste on the other.”
In 2000, MSU shipped for disposal 25,528 pounds of hazardous waste. The university also ordered the recycling of 12,115 pounds of mercury-vapor lamps at a cost of $8,500. Perhaps the most peculiar statistic is that in 2000, MSU spent an average of $2 per pound instead of the more typical annual average of $1 per pound.
Now that the renovations are mostly complete, Parsons expects this year’s numbers to be cut in half from 2000.