UNH System Monitors Hazardous Materials

TAPE: Our total count now in terms of containers of chemicals at UNH is approximately 50,000. We had no idea that we had that many before we implemented the CEMS program.

That?s Brad Manning, director of UNH?s Environmental Health and Safety Department.

He says before UNH developed its Chemical Environmental Management System, or CEMS, it did not track any of the chemicals it had on campus.

In fact, officials used pencil and paper to keep a handle on radioactive materials.

TAPE: you know one of the problems that we saw is any professors in the university system could get on the phone, call the ups man, bring in any chemical they wanted.

That's Ken Rota with the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA inspected the campus seven years ago, and the University failed on several accounts.

TAPE: So we think a lot of their problems were due to, you know, a decentralized system. You know, the environmental people weren?t aware of what was being brought into the university.

Now, 3 years after the University developed the CEMS program, Rota is a big fan.

The unique system keeps track of the chemicals and other hazardous materials used in labs and classrooms on campus, anything from cleaning supplies to radioactive isotopes.

It uses a bar-coding system to record when and where hazardous materials enter and exit the University.

The system also allows qualified faculty to accurately record information about safety, legal limitations, and hazardous wastes.

TAPE: the next thing I can show you is the radioactive materials modules. Here we keep track of new inventory, radioactive waste that comes out of the inventory, radioactive waste that?s waiting for its full decay??

Phillip Collins helped developed CEMS.

He shows-off the system.

It?s not flashy to look at or thrilling to use.

But it is useful, as a timesaver, an organizational tool, and as a safety device.

In addition to protecting those who work with hazardous materials, CEMS can help address global security concerns that have become more pressing since September 11th.

In fact, the need to secure radioactive materials has gotten national attention lately.

Federal intelligence agencies report on attempts to steal material to make so-called "dirty bombs," or portable nuclear devices.

Last year Senator Judd Gregg co-introduced the Dirty Bomb Prevention Act.

The bill would establish a task force to determine how best to secure radioactive material in the United States.

a key part of that undertaking would be to establish a classification and tracking system.

Senator Gregg praises UNH for developing a self-monitoring system, and says it?s important that research facilities be held accountable for stored hazardous materials.

TAPE: It?s critical in research communities that are using radiological materials that we know how those materials are being stored, where they?re being stored, who?s in charge of them, and account for them effectively, and that?s the purpose of this legislation to try to set up a regime to accomplish that.

CEMS does not actually prevent someone from pocketing a vile of radioactive cesium and running away.

But it does help the university know when that vile is missing.

CEMS also improves local security, allowing, for example, firefighters in Durham to more effectively respond to emergencies.

First responders can view the system from a computer inside the fire station.

They can even see recently-updated information from a lap-top in the fire truck, allowing them to know what's inside a lab when they arrive.

The university also puts signs outside the door of every laboratory and classroom that identify what hazards are inside the room, something that would?ve been impossible before CEMS.

Other institutions are starting to see the uniqueness and the utility of CEMS.

So far, the University of Massachusetts and Brown University have purchased the system from UNH.

Don Robinson helped bring the program to UMass? Amherst campus.

His sole criticism of CEMS has more to do with UMass than with the software itself.

TAPE: I think the challenge for all of us is the ongoing maintenance of the system, that there be a mechanism for what I call a gatekeeper, so that we know when materials come on campus they come through a central process.

UNH officials have extensive future plans for CEMS.

They would like to see the system used by hospitals and municipalities, in addition to high schools around the state.

Programmers also hope to use CEMS to track biological agents, including anthrax, in the future.

For NHPR News, I?m Rachel Estabrook.