Hospital mistakenly mixes medical waste with regular trash

WATERBURY -- Five bags of medical waste were mixed in by mistake with regular trash at Waterbury Hospital this summer, prompting a notice of violation from the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The bags were discovered by a worker at the Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority station in Watertown on July 30. As the worker opened the compactor door to his garbage truck, the waste that spilled out included red medical bags, according to the DEP, which investigated the incident.

Medical waste by law is disposed of separately from regular trash to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Biomedical waste is burned in a different manner from regular trash, according to DEP spokesman Dennis Schain.

The mistake in July was disclosed by Waterbury Hospital President John H. Tobin during a Board of Aldermen meeting last week. Tobin was speaking against a proposed corporate ethics ordinance, and the mistake as an example of how even the best corporate citizens can unintentionally break the rules.

Waterbury Hospital is the city's largest private employer.

After the discovery of the mishandled medical waste, the bags were collected by Clean Harbor, a company the hospital hired to package the waste, and transported back to the hospital. The hospital contracts with Stericycle Inc., a national company headquartered in Lake Forest, Ill., to dispose of biomedical waste, according to hospital spokeswoman Heather Tindall.

Hospital officials would not elaborate on exactly what type of medical waste the bags contained except to say that they contained no "sharps," such as needles.

The mistake occured when an employee inadvertently put the red bag containing medical waste in a regular trash container, said Matthew Burgard, a public relations specialist with the hospital.

The hospital disposed of 9,006 such medical bags in the one-year period from August 2008 through July 2009. The hospital also disposed of 12,312 boxes of sharps during that period, according to Tindall.

The hospital had a similar incident several years ago, said Tindall.

DEP spokesman Schain said incidents where medical waste is mixed in with regular trash "occur from time to time."

Biomedical waste can include chemotherapy waste; pathological waste such as human tissue, organs or body parts; or infectious disease waste like body fluids. Sharps like needles are also considered biomedical waste but are disposed of in separate sharps boxes.

CRRA spokesman Paul Nonnemacher said that since the beggining of the year there has been only one other incident where medical waste bags were mixed in with regular trash. Nonnemacher said he didn't know what hospital or medical facility the other medical waste came from.

CRRA spokesman Paul Nonnemacher said that since the beggining of the year there has been only one other incident where medical waste bags were mixed in with regular trash. Nonnemacher said he didn't know what hospital or medical facility the other medical waste came from.

Source: Republican-American (Tuesday Edition)