[B]ENNINGTON — Disposing of potentially explosive chemicals is not as simple as dropping off your used motor oil at a local transfer station.
On Thursday, Bennington College had to work with a hazardous waste treatment firm after applying for a temporary permit from the state Waste Management and Prevention Division for a minutely planned treatment operation, which took place during the morning on campus.
The substance involved was Dipicrylamine, which is described as a yellow dye in powder form, but also “potentially explosive” and “shock sensitive,” and capable of destabilizing over time.
A one milliliter glass container of the substance, which was in a separate storage building near the Dickinson Science Building on College Drive, was carefully moved to an outdoor location by specialists with Chemcept Inc., of Ballston Lake, N.Y., and mixed with a liquid that stabilized it for eventual transport.
Giuseppe Capobianco, vice president of the firm, said his company was contacted by ENPRO Services of Vermont, which had been retained by the college to remove hazardous materials no longer needed. Upon inspection, Capobianco said, ENPRO determined that the Dipicrylamine was a substance that could not be transported under federal Department of Transportation regulations without first being treated.
The college self-reported the situation, said Marc Roy, program manager with the state’s Hazardous Waste Management Program. The permit was the fifth of its kind issued in 2016 for an educational institution or state agency, he said, to allow treatment and disposal of hazardous materials. That figure was up from a typical two to three such permits a year.
While not an everyday occurrence, such assignments are not uncommon, Capobianco said, adding that his company has worked at other colleges in Vermont and New Hampshire and at Williams College, as well as at hospitals, state agencies and other entities that use potentially hazardous materials, such as in a science department or a work-related process or activity.
He said he has traveled the world on various assignments, having begun in the industry in the 1990s.
Chemcept personnel performed the work Thursday in about an hour, he said, first setting up a planned “hot zone” in a parking lot on campus, according to a description of the process submitted to the state for the permit.
After first re-examining the container and the Dipicrylamine, two technicians in protective suits used a Kevlar basket surrounded by vermiculite/absorbent padding to move it from the building and place it in a truck. It was secured with 5,000-pound restraining straps for the move to the designated “hot zone” area for the stabilization process.
“Our students learn by doing,” college Communications Director Alex Dery Snider said Thursday. “For our science students, that often includes working in our chemistry lab. Any disposal process requirements for the chemicals they use are set in the state and federal regulations, and we follow those to ensure everyone’s safety.”
Jim Therrien writes for the Bennington Banner and VtDigger.org. He can be reached at 802-447-7567, ext. 114.
