Guilford County Schools receive ironic IAQ award

GREENSBORO, NC — Just weeks after Guilford County Schools (GCS) were forced to relocate Oak Ridge Elementary students due to air quality concerns, the district received the 2009 Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) Tools for Schools (TfS) Great Start Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to the News & Record.

According to the story, GCS recently formed an indoor air quality project team that will be leading the district's efforts in identifying, correcting and preventing indoor air quality problems by implementing the EPA's IAQ TfS program.

GCS hopes the new IAQ team and their efforts will help the district stay proactive, the story stated.

Leo Bobadilla, chief operations officer for GCS, said: "As a district, we want to make sure we stay on top of any environmental concerns. The health of our students is always our number-one priority. We know a safe and comfortable learning environment can help our students excel in the classroom."

The IAQ team is developing a written indoor air quality management plan that will capture best practices for handling air quality issues for other institutions to use as a benchmark, the story noted.

As an award recipient, GCS will receive a "Commitment to School Health" certificate signed by an EPA official; recognition on EPA's website; access to topical web conference calls, training, events and recognition/mentoring opportunities; and regular e-mail updates aimed at advancing the district's indoor air quality program, the story added.

Inadequate housekeeping caused dust explosion

WENTWORTH, GA — The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Board released a final report that claims the February 7, 2008, explosion at an Imperial Sugar Company refinery was caused by inadequately maintained equipment, according to Fort Bend Now.

According to the story, "inadequate housekeeping practices allowed highly combustible sugar dust and granulated sugar to buildup throughout the refinery’s packing buildings," leaving conditions ripe for a dust explosion.

On top of the $8.76 million in fines levied against Imperial by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), 14 workers died and 40 more were injured in the preventable blast, the story stated.

Chemical Safety and Hazard Board Investigation Supervisor John Vorderbrueggen said: "Imperial's management as well as the managers at the Port Wentworth refinery did not take effective actions over many years to control dust explosion hazards – even as smaller fires and explosions continued to occur at their plants and other sugar facilities around the country."

Cleanup and repair costs related to the explosion are estimated at $220 million, the story noted.

The Chemical Safety and Hazard Board does not issue citations or fines but does make safety recommendations; those urged of Imperial include developing a dust training and housekeeping program and improving evacuation procedures, as well as complying with National Fire Protection Association practices for preventing dust fires and explosions, the story added.

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School has no money to purchase basic cleaning supplies

SANIKILUAQ, NT, Canada — The Sanikiluaq District Education Authority is severely underfunded to the point where there aren't enough resources to purchase basic cleaning supplies, according to the Nunatsiaq News.

According to the story, students at Nuiyak School were washing their hands with Sunlight, a popular dishwashing detergent, because the local school committee ran out of money earlier in the month.

The shortfall comes at a time when Nunavut schools are supposed to do more to increase cleanliness and develop action plans to deal with absenteeism caused by sickness among staff and students, the story stated.

To ease the crisis, the Government of Nunavut gave Sanikiluaq's District Education Authority $38,000 earlier this month and began an investigation into why their money disappeared, the story noted.

Peter Geikie, Nunavut's deputy minister of education, said: "As to why they are in this situation, we’re not sure. It’s not our intent to close our schools. The recommendation is out there but that’s not where we want to go."

There are plans in place to help Nuiyak and other Nunavut schools get ready for a possible H1N1 influenza A (swine flu) outbreak by sending antibacterial hand sanitizers and disinfecting wipes, the story added.

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Georgia-Pacific earns 2009 Sustainable Forest Initiative award

ATLANTA — Georgia-Pacific has been recognized for its efforts in increasing understanding of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative^® (SFI) fiber sourcing program and how it supports family forest owners across North America, according to a press release.

Under Sustainable Forestry Initiative fiber sourcing certification, companies like Georgia-Pacific must have an auditable procurement process for fiber they buy from these lands and, among other things, encourage landowners to reforest areas that have been harvested; use best management practices to protect water quality; identify and protect important habitat elements for wildlife, including critically imperiled and imperiled species and communities; and use the services of qualified resource and logging professionals, the release stated.

According to the release, 60 percent of the fiber in forest products manufactured in the United States comes from the 10 million family-owned forests in the country; most are not certified.

Deborah Baker, Georgia-Pacific's vice president of sustainable forestry, said: "North America depends on family forest owners who are dedicated to responsible forest management. Georgia-Pacific may not own forestlands but we can have a positive influence on thousands of acres through the Sustainable Forestry Initiative program — and that's important to our company, our customers and our nation's forests."

Georgia-Pacific conducts extensive Sustainable Forestry Initiative outreach, including communicating with its sales and marketing teams about Sustainable Forestry Initiative fiber sourcing, the release noted.

Georgia-Pacific has produced literature and video materials explaining how Sustainable Forestry Initiative fiber sourcing positively impacts the United States' fiber supply and the health of forests, the release added.

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University of Georgia to vamp up tailgate cleanup

ATHENS, GA — In response to numerous complaints of the thrashing the University of Georgia campus gets from football tailgaters and their pregame partying, university officials vowed to increase cleanup and preventative cleanup efforts, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

According to officials, the university will add more garbage bins, distribute more trash bags and increase the number of portable bathrooms to prevent a repeat of the destruction that followed the September 12 game against the University of South Carolina.

Complaints stemmed from the 70 tons of garbage that included mounds of tents, grills, coolers, chairs and bottles deposited by fans and left for custodial cleaning crews to pick up, the story stated.

University of Georgia President Michael Adams said: "I believe the students, alumni and fans who attend University of Georgia football games do love and respect this beautiful campus. And I fully expect that they will do their part to clean up after themselves and to ensure that others around them do the same."

The new preventative measures, which include distributing 12,000 trash bags in parking lots and around campus and increasing the number of trash receptacles from 300 to 1,500, will be employed for the first time this Saturday when the University of Georgia hosts Arizona State University, the story noted.

American Stadium Services, the company that gets paid $40,000 per contest to clean up following home games, will send crews to North Campus during the first quarter so they can begin picking up trash bagged by tailgaters, the story added.

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Students affect change of paper product supplier

COLUMBUS, OH — Following a campaign by students, Capital University has switched its supplier of paper products from Georgia-Pacific Corporation to Kimberly-Clark Corporation, according to The Chimes.

A group of students took a stand against what they call "unethical practices" employed by Georgia-Pacific, referring explicitly to supposed chemical waste pits that have allegedly polluted the nearby city for decades, the story stated.

After receiving 500 signatures from students around campus, the facilities management department decided to honor the student body's desire to change paper product suppliers; the change officially went into effect the first day of classes in the fall 2009 semester, the story noted.

Troy Bonte, director of facilities management, said: "It is important for all citizens to show concerns for the environment. That is why the university has instructed Aetna Building Maintenance to use green certified chemicals and make the change from Georgia-Pacific to Kimberly-Clark."

Matt Wovrosh, a senior who helped affect the change, said that a part of education is not just equipping students with knowledge, but social responsibility as well, the story added.

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Procter & Gamble sponsors Make-A-Messterpiece

GLENVIEW, IL — Make-A-Messterpiece, a creative arts studio, opened this week under the sponsorship of Procter & Gamble Company and their Bounty brand of paper towels, according to Reuters.

The 15,000-square-foot studio is the first in what could be hundreds of facilities that would allow Bounty to test new products in real-world situations where children are having fun and making messes, the story stated.

Eric Higgs, Bounty's brand manager, said: "Chicago is one of our key markets and we thought that it would make a great place to start."

Though the exact amount of Procter & Gamble's investment in Make-A-Messterpiece was not disclosed, company spokespersons say it is "a very healthy share" of Bounty's marketing spending, the story noted.

According to the story, the art studio is the brainchild of Ryan FitzSimons, founder and chief executive of Gigunda Group Inc., which specializes in experiential marketing, including the free Charmin brand toilet paper restrooms open during the winter in New York's Times Square.

Bounty's sponsorship of Make-A-Messterpiece is initially for 60 days, after which time the company will decide if and how to move forward with their sponsorship, the story added.

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